Selected Electrical Incidents and Occurrences in Canada
Third Quarter – July to September, 2007
Date & Program Location Accident Description
MIS ID #
Fatalities:
No fatalities of an electrical nature were reported to the Ministry of Labour between July and September, 2007.
Critical Injuries:
August 1st Industrial Mississauga Worker replacing electrical panel when it exploded. Worker
received burns to face and neck, possible burns to throat
passage. All facial hair was burnt off. Operating voltage for
panel was not given, but the building housed multiple
businesses.
August 16th Industrial Ottawa Contactor made electrical contact when he stepped inside
a high-voltage switch enclosure. Switch being used as a tie-
breaker for system, worker made contact with conductors on
energized side of tie-breaker.
August 24th Construction Niagara Falls Line crew replacing pole mount transformer, were in the
process of connecting the secondary conductors. Transformer
was energized, worker wearing protection for voltages on
secondary side of transformer. Worker was working from a
bucket, made contact with 4160 volt primary side conductor.
Worker lost consciousness for a short time.
September 27th Industrial Shelburne Worker was turning off the Argon-CO2 mix for arc welding
equipment, received a 550 volt shock. Worker experienced a
seizure, lost consciousness for a few minutes.
Non-Critical Injuries:
July 16th Construction West Worker using aluminum ladder while re-roofing a house.
Gwillimbury Ladder contacted 4800 volt overhead line, worker has burn
Township marks on his toes.
July 19th Industrial Toronto Worker received a shock from the inside shelf of a
refrigerator, and was taken to hospital. Working voltage of
refrigerator not given.
July 19th Mining Picton Worker working on electrical panel, arc happened.
Worker received flash burns to eyes, taken to hospital.
July 24th Industrial Scarborough Worker replacing hot water tank, received a shock.
Worker taken to hospital.
August 8th Construction Cambridge Drywaller moving wires, ends of wires were not capped.
Made contact with conductors, received 347 volt shock.
Worker was on 2 ft scaffold, fell off scaffold, received
abrasions to right arm. All wiring for the floor was supposed
to be de-energized, a “discussion” was held with the electrical
contractor for the project.
August 8th Industrial Toronto Worker was moving the wires that controlled door opening.
Wires contacted a ballast, ballast burnt through the insulation
on the wires causing an arc. Worker suffered minor burn to
right calf, taken to hospital.
August 14th Construction Sarnia Electrician working in 800 amp incoming service, Allen key
touched the energized buss. Taken by ambulance to hospital.
August 14th Construction Toronto Worker received an electrical shock, had numbness in right
arm, shoulder to hand. Worker taken to hospital, no details
given of work being done or equipment involved.
August 16th Construction Peterborough Fuse box blew up in electrician’s face. Worker received burns
to face and hands.
August 16th Industrial Mississauga Worker installing a new electrical box. Cable insulation was
pierced, caused an arc. Worker received small burn to forearm.
August 16th Construction Ottawa Worker cut through an electrical cable, received burns.
No other details of event given.
August 21st Construction Ottawa Event description states that worker received a shock.
No other details of event given.
August 27th Construction Guelph Workers using elevating conveyor to deliver shingles to
roof. Conveyor touched overhead wires, helper received
entry and exit wounds, taken to hospital.
August 30th Construction Wilmot Crew using boom truck to move guy assembly to location.
Township As boom truck swung load over to location, boom touched
4800 volt overhead line. Worker on ground was guiding
load, received burns to thumb and toe.
September 5th Industrial Etobicoke Worker doing arc welding, only wearing one glove.
Worker felt a shock in left hand, went to hospital.
September 10th Construction Ottawa Worker using aluminum ladder, ladder touched 240 volt
secondary service. Worker received a shock, taken to
hospital.
September 11th Industrial Toronto Worker changing ballast in light fixture, had turned power off.
Worker received a shock, fell off 6 ft ladder.
On 347 volt lighting, must turn off all three phases or
neutral could still carry current.
September 13th Industrial Scarborough Worker was doing work in electrical room while power was
off. Power was turned back on while worker was still doing
the work. Worker suffered 3rd degree burns to both hands.
ENSURE – part of a complete LOCKOUT program.
September 14th Construction Mississauga Concrete pump truck hit overhead high-voltage power lines.
Worker taken to hospital for observation.
September 20th Industrial Scarborough Technician was installing an amplifier for the alarm system.
Received a shock, taken to hospital.
September 22nd Industrial Markham Worker received 120 volt shock while installing a meter at a
residence. Worker received small burn to elbow, taken to
hospital.
September 26th Industrial Thunder Bay Worker received an electrical shock, when the frayed electrical
cord he was using made contact with a metal pipe that the
worker was in contact with. Worker treated at hospital and
released.
September 29th Industrial Windsor After a house fire, firefighter went to a propane tank to ensure
that it was shut off. As he touched the tank, he felt a tingle.
September 30th Construction Toronto Worker doing arc welding, cut the return lead. Worker
continued to weld, received a shock. Taken to hospital.
Powerline Contacts – No Injuries:
July 3rd Construction Toronto Backhoe contacted 600 volt buried cable.
July 4th Construction Toronto Contact made with power line. Voltage, type of equipment
involved not given.
July 4th Construction Barrie Directional drilling, hit buried cable. Locates had been done.
July 5th Construction Thunder Bay Tree trimming, branch fell on primary line.
July 5th Construction Huntsville Contact made with buried 7200 volt cable. Locates had said
that area was clear.
July 6th Construction Toronto Suspension rope of swing stage contacted 4,000 volt overhead
power line.
July 9th Construction Hamilton Contact made with buried 240 volt cable, no other details
given.
July 9th Construction Guelph Jackhammer hit 13.8 kV buried cable.
July 9th Construction Woodstock Raised box of dump truck hit wires.
July 9th Construction Whitby Expanding the system, lost control of new conductor.
Conductor hit 13 kV line.
July 9th Construction Toronto Backhoe hit 27 kV buried line. No locates.
July 20th Construction Burlington Directional drilling, hit buried HV cable. Locates had been
done, work was within 3 feet of marks.
July 20th Construction Toronto 3500 volt cable was contacted. Locates had been done,
cable had been de-energized.
July 23rd Industrial Kapuskasing Tarp on moving dump truck caught phone line. Phone line
snapped, caught hydro line.
July 23rd Construction Brantford Mini-excavator hit overhead line. Voltage of line not given.
July 23rd Construction Toronto Tower crane contacted HV overhead line.
July 24th Construction Brampton Crane contacted 16 kV power line.
July 26th Construction Tiny Township Dump truck hit overhead lines. Voltage of lines not given.
July 27th Construction North York HIAB crane boom contacted 27 kV overhead line.
July 30th Construction Oakville Contractor digging holes for fence posts, no locates.
Hit 240 volt buried service to residence.
July 31st Construction Lakeshore Raised box of dump truck hit high-voltage overhead line.
Township Two tires blew on truck.
July 31st Industrial Stoney Creek Contact made with 27 kV cable, no other details given.
August 2nd Construction Stoney Creek Contact made with 240 volt cable, locates off by about
3 metres.
August 3rd Construction St. Catharines Contact made with buried 240 volt cable, no other details
given.
August 7th Construction Toronto Bucket teeth of backhoe hit 13.8 kV cable. Locates had found
cable, workers were hand-digging in layers to expose cable.
As each layer was cleared, bucket used to remove layer. Cable
bowed up in a spot away from hand-digging location, bucket
found cable.
August 8th Construction Richmond Dump truck hit overhead power line.
August 8th Construction Barrie Excavator dug up buried 5 kV cable. Locates did not show
cable.
August 11th Construction Elmira Excavator hit 27.6 kV overhead line.
August 13th Construction Brampton Directional boring machine contacted a buried primary cable.
August 13th Construction Ottawa Contractor severed a buried cable. Locates had been done.
August 15th Construction Guelph Equipment touched high-voltage overhead cables. No details
given of equipment involved.
August 16th Construction Hamilton 120 volt overhead cable contacted, no other details given.
August 16th Construction Oshawa Contractor doing excavation, hit buried primary cable.
August 16th Industrial Hagersville Dump truck hit primary hydro line.
August 17th Construction Ottawa Event description said “Powerline contact, no injuries” No
other details of event given.
August 17th Construction Bolton Event description said “Hydro contact, no injuries”. No other
details of event given.
August 20th Construction Scarborough Backhoe excavating a trench, cut two 16 kV cables.
August 20th Construction Sudbury Dump truck, raised box, power line taken down.
August 20th Construction Georgetown Workers doing hand-digging, one worker hit what he thought
was a rock. Used spud bar to pick at it, knocked off power to
area. “Rock” was a 4 kV cable.
August 20th Construction Toronto Worker cutting through metal electrical conduit with saw,
hit 120 volt cable.
August 20th Construction Timmins Dump truck dumping his load, hit service to residence.
August 21st Construction Brampton Directional boring equipment hit primary buried cable.
August 22 Construction St Catharines Doing directional drilling with locates done. Found the first
cable, locates did not show a second cable. Not to worry, the
drilling equipment found the lost cable, energized at 8 kV.
August 22nd Construction Ottawa Worker hit secondary cable, no other details of event given.
August 23rd Construction Markham Crew digging, hit buried 27.6 kV cable.
August 23rd Construction Port Elgin Contractor doing augering without locates, hit primary cable.
August 23rd Industrial St Catharines Equipment from a moving contractor hit a 240 volt cable.
August 23rd Construction Southampton Dump truck, raised box, hit 240 volt overhead cable.
August 24th Construction Waterloo Worker drilling through wall, hit a cable causing an arc.
August 28th Construction St Catharines Contact made with overhead 240 volt line, no other details
of event given.
August 28th Construction Jackson’s Point Using metal ladder to put in a garden roof, ladder contacted
overhead lines. No reported injuries, line voltage not given.
August 30th Construction Burlington Workers doing demolition, broke a duct bank containing
600 volt energized cables.
August 30th Construction Mississauga Backhoe contacted overhead secondary line.
September 4th Construction Ottawa Contractor hit buried primary cable, no locates done.
September 6th Construction Thorold Boom truck lifting material, boom hit overhead lines.
Truck tires popped.
September 6th Construction Kincardine Backhoe contacted buried cable. Locates had found
cable, heavy equipment was used in the digging.
September 7th Construction Englehart Dump truck hit overhead service to residence.
September 7th Construction Thunder Bay Contractor digging a trench, hit a secondary line. Locates
had been done, said area was clear.
September 10th Construction Hamilton Backhoe bucket being used to remove sidewalk slabs.
Locates found the 13.8 kV cable, hand digging had uncovered
the duct it ran in. Bucket movement accidentally hit the duct,
damaging the cable inside.
September 10th Construction Hamilton Unknown person made contact with 13.8 kV buried cable.
Indications of possible theft of copper as motive.
September 12th Construction Hamilton Contact made with buried 240 volt cable, no other details
given.
September 13th Construction Hamilton Contact made with buried 240 volt cable, no other details
given. Note – different location from previous entry.
September 14th Construction Toronto Power line contact, no other detail given.
September 14th Construction Stratford Dump truck delivering asphalt, hit neutral of power line.
September 14th Construction Oneida dump truck with raised box, hit cables feeding a residence.
Township
September 17th Construction Hamilton Event description said contact made with 4160 volt cable.
No other details of event given.
September 17th Construction Fort Erie Augering holes, contacted buried cable.
September 18th Construction Toronto Cable had been exposed, workers using backhoe to dig
around it. Bucket hit cable.
September 18th Industrial St Catharines Tree trimming operation, contacted 4 kV power line.
September 18th Construction Oakville Workers dup into a buried 13 kV cable.
September 18th Construction Sudbury Excavator being unloaded from truck float, contacted
7200 volt overhead line.
September 18th Construction Oakville Worker doing chipping, contacted a buried 600 volt cable.
September 18th Construction Kanata Crane contacted overhead power lines.
September 19th Construction Sarnia Dump truck, raised box, neutral of 4800 volt power line.
September 19th Construction Walkerton Dump truck, raised box, voltage of overhead line not given.
September 20th Construction Brampton Auger dug up buried primary cable.
September 21st Construction Ottawa Backhoe dug up a buried cable, voltage of cable not given.
September 24th Construction Courtright Trenching machine cut a buried cable, cable voltage not given.
September 28th Construction Thunder Bay Contractor dug up a secondary cable.
Electrical Equipment – No Injuries:
September 28th Construction Hamilton Worker was using a puller to remove meter from base. Meter
broke apart, worker used screwdriver to try to pry out the
remainder of the meter from the base. Screwdriver made
contact with an energized lug, arc happened. No injuries to
worker.
September 29th Construction Guelph Contractor doing work on distribution system, system
protection issued by local utility as per Work Protection Code.
Contractor finished work, signed the permit that all grounds
had been removed and returned permit to utility. Utility
re-energized circuit, explosion and flash since temporary
grounds were still attached.
DATA SUMMARY – Third Quarter:
Fatals: Criticals: Non-criticals: Powerline Electrical
Contacts: Equipment:
2007 0 4 24 79 2
2006 2 7 33 56 0
2005 2 4 39 67 0
2004 3 5 24 56 1
2003 5 6 24 50 4
2002 1 10 34 59 0
2001 2 5 25 44 1
2000 2 5 26 42 0
1999 3 11 24 40 0
1998 5 13 13 40 2
And Finally…..
Nothing this quarter was sufficiently off-the-wall to merit being placed here. Stay tuned though.
Information taken from Ontario Ministry of Labour MIS database
Report prepared: January 11, 2008
Assembled by: Michael Reiser, P.Eng.,
Engineer, PSS – Kitchener District
E-Mail: mike.reiser@ontario.ca
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