Selected Electrical Incidents and Occurrences in Canada
Third Quarter - July to September, 2008
Date Program Location Incident Description
Fatalities:
************Fatality reported to MOL –Person was not a worker -----not part of report statistics ******
August 22nd Industrial Belleville Owner of commercial strip mall received a shock while trying
to repair an electrical sign. Sign was not locked out, person
was on an aluminum ladder while doing work. Sign secondary
voltage was 680 volts to ground, when person received the
shock, he fell to the ground. Person suffered broken back and
severed brain stem at top of spinal cord.
Critical Injuries:
July 10th Industrial Markham Worker doing testing of transformer, testing station used
foot pedal as safety interlock. There was also a bypass for this
interlock. Secondary leads to transformer energized at 347
volts, primary side of transformer was at 16 kV. The worker
made contact with the high side of the transformer, received
severe burns and was unconscious after the incident.
August 1st Industrial Stratford Worker handling 600 volt welding cord, was unplugging
a welding machine from an extension cord. As connection
came apart, worker dropped to the ground, convulsing.
Investigation showed that ground wire was not properly
connected where a second extension cord plugged into the
welding receptacle. There was a second ground path
present through the welding machine into building steel.
August 3rd Industrial Vaughan Worker on ladder moving armored cable. Armor of cable
contacted a live wire, shock caused worker to fall from
ladder. Worker lost consciousness from fall, taken to hospital.
August 20th Industrial Fort Frances Three workers received burns from an electrical arc. First
worker was a certified electrician, received 3rd degree burns to
both hands and 1st degree burns to face. Second worker was
also a certified electrician, received 3rd degree burns to left
arm and 1st degree burns to face. Third worker was a pre-
apprentice, received 2nd degree burns to left arm.
First worker was involved in installing new wiring for a power
box, breaker feeding box was turned off and locked out.
Breaker was fed from buss bars located just above the breaker,
buss bars were exposed and energized at 460 volts. First
worker had finished wiring in power box, was running new
wires to breaker, noticed that another wire needed to be
removed. First worker got out uninsulated nut driver,
removed bolt making the connection, lost control of wire
as he began to move it. Arc happened. Second electrician
and pre-apprentice were close to first electrician, watching
the work when the arc happened.
September 10th Construction Otonabee Worker installing cable at residence. In back yard, was
Township using a conductive pole to try to find a high-speed internet
signal. Instead, made contact with overhead 4.8 kV line.
Worker knocked unconscious, both boots had burn marks.
Worker recovered, drove himself to local hospital.
September 11th Industrial London Worker on ladder, received a shock and fell off ladder.
Worker was elevator mechanic, doing work on elevator
electrics in pit area. Worker received broken bones, loss
of consciousness.
September 14th Industrial Etobicoke Electrician doing troubleshooting, used channel-lock pliers
to pull fuses from 600 volt disconnect switch. Arc happened
as he was pulling the third fuse, received burns to face, hands
and body. Worker thought power was off at switch, made a
mistake. Switch checked over after the incident, no
deficiencies noted.
September 23rd Construction London Worker was tying in the controls to the transfer switch,
switch circuits were live at the time. Arc happened,
worker has burns to wrist and hands.
September 30th Construction Red Lake Worker in 44 kV substation, using non-insulted elevating
work platform. Made contact with 44 kV, received 3rd
degree burns to about 45% of his body.
Non-Critical Injuries:
July 3rd Industrial Waterdown Worker received electrical shock from the flexible cord
from a machine. Worker experienced numbness in arm.
July 12th Industrial Toronto Worker reached into 120 volt panel, touched a live wire and
received a shock. No details given on why the worker was
reaching into the panel.
July 14th Industrial Port Hope Electrician doing testing in electrical panel, made contact with
energized 110 volt conductor.
July 16th Industrial St. Thomas Worker on ladder repairing electrics for overhead door.
Received a shock, fell about 15 ft from ladder. Worker
has burns to fingers from electrical contact and sore ankles
from the fall.
July 17th Construction Whitby Worker operating a plate tamper, made contact with exposed
120 volt wire.
July 17th Industrial London Worker trying to move an electrically powered saw.
Received a shock when one hand was on saw and the other on
a nearby metal gate. Voltage of saw not given.
July 23rd Construction Tiverton Worker was supervising welding work, part of his body was
touching the steel being welded upon while his hand was on
a nearby I-Beam. Worker felt a tingle through his body.
Clause 6.3.2.4 of the CSA Standard W117.2-06, Welding
Safety Code, requires the WORK (ground) lead to be located
as close as practicable to the location being welded upon, to
ensure that the welding current returns directly to the source
through the work lead.
July 31st Industrial Caledon Worker doing electrical maintenance, was restoring power by
turning on the main switch. Worker wearing PPE such as
gloves, coveralls and face shield, also used the ‘left-hand’ rule
while closing switch. Switch exploded, worker thrown about
10 feet. Only injuries, worker did complain about sore hips.
July 31st Industrial Sault Ste. Marie Worker doing routine maintenance, lifted cover off battery.
Battery exploded, worker received acid splash in eyes.
August 1st Construction Cornwall Worker doing work on 600 volt panel, arc happened.
Worker received burns to his hands.
August 7th Construction Toronto Worker drilling into metal studs, made electrical contact.
Taken to hospital then released. Contact voltage not given.
August 8th Industrial Algonquin Park Worker struck by lightning, taken to hospital then released.
August 15th Construction Sarnia Licensed electrician made electrical contact while working in
the ceiling area of the plant. No other details of event given.
August 15th Industrial Newmarket Worker doing work with cable TV cable. Cable was supposed
to be isolated, it wasn’t. Worker received minor shock, taken
to hospital.
August 18th Construction Nipissing Flag person struck by lightning, taken to hospital for
District observation then released.
September 5th Construction Cambridge Worker installing bus plug, plug shorted out. Worker
received burns to right hand.
September 15th Industrial Brampton Worker drilling hole about three feet deep, made contact
with 120 volt street lighting cable. Worker received
electrical shock.
September 20th Mining Windsor Electrician doing maintenance work, closed a main disconnect.
There was a fault on the circuit, overcurrent caused meter to
blow apart. Worker received minor injuries, injuries not
specified.
September 25th Industrial Chapleau Worker had wet feet, went to unplug one machine and plug
Township in another. Received a shock.
September 25th Construction Blanford- Worker received a shock while doing quality assurance tests
Blenheim on an installed gas line. Worker was using a hand-held
detector at the time.
September 27th Industrial Oshawa Laundry machine overflowed, water caused a short circuit
and fire. Worker received a slight burn from flash.
Powerline Contacts – No Injuries:
April 3rd `Industrial Hamilton Contact made with 240 volt cable, no other details given.
April 7th Construction Brampton 16 kV buried cables severed, equipment not specified.
April 7th Construction West Gwillimbury Excavator contacted overhead 48 kV power line.
Township
April 8th Construction Oakville Contractor had proper locates, still hit a 120 volt cable.
April 8th Industrial Etobicoke Truck being moved while boom was extended, 600 volt
cable contacted.
April 10th Construction Ottawa Large shovel made contact with buried cable, voltage not
given.
April 14th Construction Alliston Dump truck passing under overhead lines, box caught neutral
of line. Line voltage not given.
April 14th Construction Oakville Sign being pounded into ground, post hit buried cable.
April 14th Construction Richmond Large shovel dug into primary buried cable, severing it.
April 16th Construction Toronto Worker drilling through concrete, hit 240 volt cable.
April 17th Construction Winchester Worker using auger, hit 600 volt cable. Locates not
accurate.
April 18th Construction Thunder Bay Contractor felling and removing trees, contacted buried
240 volt cable.
April 18th Construction Thunder Bay Crew dug up a de-energized buried cable. Locates had been
done, did not pick up the de-energized cable.
April 19th Mining Sudbury Worker cut into cable, tool contacted 110 volt conductor.
No electrical contact by worker himself.
April 23rd Construction Kingston Backhoe pulled up primary cable.
April 24th Construction Ottawa Electrical contact made, no other details given.
May 5th Construction Hamilton Contact made with buried 240 volt cable, no other details
of event given.
May 6th Construction Stoney Creek Driver hit utility pole, no other details of event given.
May 9th Industrial Hamilton Contact made with 240 volt buried cable, no other details
of event given.
May 12th Construction Stouffville Digging at intersection, hit buried cable. Voltage of cable
not given.
May 13th Construction Thunder Bay Cutting concrete floor, hit 208 volt cable. No locates or floor
scan done.
May 14th Construction Tecumseh Trenching equipment hit buried primary cable. Locates had
been done, still hit the cable.
May 15th Construction Burlington Excavator being serviced, boom contacted overhead power
line, voltage of line not given.
May 20th Construction Dundas Contact made with 240 volt overhead line, no other details
of event given.
May 20th Construction Southampton Boring a trench, severed a 240 volt buried cable.
May 21st Industrial Crystal Beach Crane being used to remove tree limbs, one limb hit
hydro wires.
May 22nd Construction Thunder Bay Power line contacted, no other details given.
May 22nd Construction Brampton Backhoe hit buried 16 kV cable.
May 23rd Construction St. Catharines Contact made with 240 volt buried cable, no other details
of event given
May 23rd Construction Sarnia Forklift being used to move scaffolding components, during
one of the moves a piece of scaffolding hit an electrical
conduit. Voltage of cable in conduit not given.
May 27th Mining Cambridge Raised box of haulage truck hit neutral of power line,
broke the conductor.
May 28th Construction Peterborough Excavator backing up, hit overhead lines and snapped a
pole.
May 28th Construction London Worker using post-hole digger, hit buried 4 kV cable. Locates
were 2 months old, lines had faded.
May 29th Construction Tiverton Worker’s tool made contact with 110 volt cable. No info
given on work being done at the time.
May 30th Farming Hudson Tractor doing spraying, arm of sprayer hit hydro line.
Township Voltage of line not given.
May 30th Construction Mississauga Truck backing up, hit hydro pole. Wires knocked off top of
pole.
May 30th Construction Marmora Residential service line hit, no other details given.
June 2nd Construction Stoney Creek Contact made with 240 volt cable, no other details given.
June 2nd Construction Clifford Truck hit guy wire for pole, shaking caused lines to touch and
breaker to trip.
June 2nd Construction Aylmer Excavator dug up a 16 kV buried cable.
June 3rd Industrial Wellesley Dump truck hit overhead power line, voltage not given.
June 7th Construction Thunder Bay Excavator hit electrical pole, snapped it off.
June 7th Construction Cambridge Worker using an aauger, cut the 240 volt buried cable to a
residence. No locates.
June 11th Construction Niagara Falls Contact made with powerline, no other details of event given.
June 12th Construction Richmond Hill Backhoe contacted 27.6 kV buried cable.
June 12th Construction Mississauga Worker cut through conduit with SAWSALL, cable inside
conduit was still energized at 347 volts. Fortunately, just had
to replace the blade on the saw.
June 13th Industrial Hamilton Crane boom hit 13 kV overhead powerline.
June 16th Construction Toronto Trolley of tower crane went to end of boom, hit power line.
June 16th Industrial Belleville Raised box of dumptruck hit powerline.
June 17th Industrial Sarnia Front end loader pushed some trees into the powerline.
June 18th Industrial Hamilton Contact made with overhead 240 volt cable, no other details
given.
June 19th Construction Ottawa Boom truck contacted overhead power lines, voltage of lines
not given.
June 19th Construction Cornwall Contact made with buried cable, no other details given.
June 20th Construction Cambridge Worker sawing through roof, hit electrical conduit holding a
110 volt cable.
June 20th Construction Port Elgin Backhoe hit 240 volt buried cable. No locates.
June 23rd Construction Port Elgin Forklift being used to try to tow a stuck vehicle. Mast of
forklift contacted neutral of overhead line, tore it down.
June 23rd Construction Hamilton Raised box of dump truck hit residential overhead line.
June 25th Construction King City Excavator contacted buried power line, Voltage of line
not given.
June 25th Construction Sault Ste Marie Truck pulled down the BELL cable and the cable TV lines.
Poles shook, power outage occurred.
June 26th Construction Belleville Event classified as electrical occurrence, no other details
given.
June 26th Construction Hamilton Contact made with overhead 240 volt line, no other details
given.
June 26th Construction Trenton Contractor doing pipeline work, knocked down an overhead
line.
June 27th Construction Hamilton Worker nicked a buried cable, equipment involved not given.
June 27th Construction Kitchener Contractor hit 14 kV line, blew the fuses. Details of
equipment involved not given.
June 27th Construction Ajax Workers doing core drilling, drill contacted 120 volt cable.
Floor had been scanned, scan said area was clear of electrics.
Powerline Contacts – No Injuries:
July 2nd Construction Stoney Creek Contact made with buried 240 volt cable, no other details of
event given.
July 7th Construction King City Contact made with secondary cable, no other details given.
July 7th Construction Arnprior Worker using pneumatic drill, contacted 2400 volt cable.
July 8th Construction Kingston Event classified as electrical occurrence, no other details of
event given.
July 9th Construction King City Excavator contacted buried 13.8 kV cable.
July 10th Construction Sudbury Utility crew were cutting into a buried cable, wrong cable.
No injuries to workers.
July 10th Industrial Brampton Worker operating a front fork lift garbage truck, hit
overhead 4800 volt line.
July 11th Construction King City Digging around a primary cable, adjacent sidewalk collapsed
into excavation, damaged the cable.
July 14th Construction Hamilton Roofing contractor made contact with 240V overhead cable.
July 15th Industrial Hamilton Worker doing forestry work, made contact with 240V cable.
Details of contact not given.
July 15th Construction Windsor Worker doing shoveling, brought down overhead line.
No details given on equipment being used or line voltage.
July 15th Construction Cambridge Delivering shingles, conveyor boom brought down overhead
conductor. Voltage of line not given.
July 15th Construction King City Excavator hit buried secondary line.
July 15th Industrial Hamilton Backhoe touched overhead line, line voltage not given.
July 15th Construction Niagara Falls Backhoe dug up 8 kV buried cable.
July 17th Construction Walkerton Contractor digging without locates, dug up 240 volt cable.
July 17th Construction Etobicoke Dumptruck hit neutral of overhead line, line voltage not given.
July 17th Construction Port Elgin Contractor had locates for one area, thought the cables would
remain at same depth in another location. Backhoe ripped up
three cables, voltage of cables not given.
July 17th Construction Sparta Excavator hit overhead service to a house.
July 17th Construction Belleville Backhoe hit buried secondary cable.
July 21st Construction Hamilton Contact made with buried 240 V cable, no other details given.
July 24th Construction Hamilton Contact made with buried 240 V cable, no other details given.
July 28th Construction Barrie Contractor installing sewer lines, damaged a buried 2400 volt
cable.
July 28th Construction Wellesley Hi-Hoe being loaded, boom ripped down a 240 volt overhead
Township line.
July 31st Construction Brantford Workers installing new power vault in close proximity to
2400 volt buried cable. Hit cable.
July 31st Construction Sarnia Worker doing core drilling, hit wire feeding an energized
door latch.
August 5th Construction Aurora Primary cable hit, no other details of event given.
August 5th Construction Thunder Bay Contractor hit buried service to residence. Locates had been
done.
August 11th Industrial Wellesley Dumptruck hit overhead power line, line voltage not given.
Township
August 12th Industrial Bolton Crane hit overhead power line.
August 15th Construction Port Elgin Boom of Hi-Hoe excavator hit overhead power line.
August 18th Construction Mississauga Backhoe hit overhead 13 kV power line.
August 18th Construction Port Elgin Dumptruck with raised box hit 4100 volt overhead line.
August 18th Construction Toronto Swing stage had been taken down due to high winds. As
worker was pulling cable back up, cable end swung out from
force of wind, hit overhead power line, line voltage not given.
August 20th Construction London Contractor hit buried 16 kV power line. No locates or hand
digging.
August 20th Construction Pickering Excavator hit buried 13 kV power line.
August 20th Construction Oshawa Backhoe hit buried high voltage line.
August 22nd Industrial Wellesley Boom truck tore down neutral of power line.
Township
August 22nd Construction Bowmanville Contractor was using auger within area outlined by
locates. Auger hit buried cable.
August 22nd Construction Ottawa Contractor doing excavating, hit buried primary cable.
August 25th Construction Kitchener Paving contractor hit buried 8 kV cable while digging.
August 27th Construction Richmond Hill Contractor digging, hit buried primary cable.
August 27th Industrial North York Boring machine hit buried power line.
August 28th Construction Ottawa Electrical contact, no other details of event given.
August 30th Construction Manotick Boom truck hit neutral of overhead lines.
September 3rd Construction Hamilton Contact made with overhead 240 volt cable. No other
details of event given.
September 3rd Construction St. Catharines Contact made with buried 240 volt cable. No other details
of event given.
September 4th Construction Brampton Directional boring machine hit buried 13.8 kV cable.
September 4th Construction Waterloo Contractor doing excavating, hit 240 volt cable.
September 5th Construction King City Dumptruck hit power lines, caused pole to break.
September 8th Construction Toronto Contractor doing digging with torpedo, hit buried primary
cable.
September 8th Construction Cambridge Contractor using Hi-Hoe, hit 4800 volt overhead line.
September 8th Construction Manotick Worker using directional boring machine at driveway,
contacted buried cable. Locates had been done.
September 10th Construction Brampton Boom truck hit 4800 volt line.
September 10th Construction Dundas Crane lifting trusses, hit 27 kV overhead line.
September 10th Construction Beeton Crane moved in wrong direction, hit overhead lines.
Line voltage not given.
September 10th Construction London Workers digging trenches, hit buried cable. Locates had
been done, buried cable not mentioned.
September 11th Construction Huntsville Dumptruck knocked over hydro pole.
September 12th Industrial Barrie Bobcat hit down wire from pole, causing pole to break and
fall. This caused overhead lines to fall.
September 16th Construction Thunder Bay Contractor digging, utilities were exposed. Worker put
shovel into service line.
September 18th Construction Tiny Township Driving a ground rod, hit buried 4800 volt line.
September 18th Construction Exeter Paving contractor knocked down overhead line.
September 23rd Construction St. Catharines Buried 220 volt line contacted, no other details given.
September 23rd Construction Ajax Aluminum ladder being used to get on/off scaffold.
Ladder contacted overhead lines, no injuries reported.
September 30th Mining Sudbury KUBOTA chipping out old concrete, hit buried 6.9 kV
power line.
September 30th Construction Sudbury Contractor doing directional boring, hit 240 volt buried cable.
September 30th Construction London Workers had locates. Were removing a concrete pad and dug
too deep, hit a buried primary cable.
September 30th Construction Brampton Contractor digging for watermain work, hit buried 4800V line.
September 30th Construction London Worker drove a mulching machine into a tree to mulch it, tree
hit hydro pole behind it. Pole broke, 2400 V line came down.
Electrical Equipment – No Injuries:
July 15th Mining Timmins Mechanic cleaning top of battery with steel brush. Brush
made contact between battery post and frame of vehicle.
Spark caused small fire, no injuries.
July 23rd Construction Sarnia Journeyman electrician went into the wrong panel to do
electrical work, one of his tools made contact, caused an arc.
No reported injuries to worker.
LOCKOUT procedures include: VERIFY!!!
September 24th Construction Ottawa Worker moving refrigerator, caused the 120 volt cord to
short out. No reports of any injuries to worker.
DATA SUMMARY - Third Quarter
Fatals: Criticals: Non-criticals: Powerline Electrical
Contacts: Equipment:
2008 0 9 21 69 3
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…..
August 31st Industrial Oakville Worker found some blasting caps, while on break started
fooling around with them. Started hitting one with a hammer,
it went off, piece of casing stuck in his hand.
Information taken from Ontario Ministry of Labour MIS database
Report prepared: January 20, 2009
Assembled by: Mike Reiser, P. Eng.,
Engineer,
PSS-Kitchener District
E-Mail: mike.reiser@ontario.ca
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