Selected Electrical Incidents and Occurrences in Canada
Fourth Quarter - October to December, 2008
Date Program Location Incident Description
Fatalities:
There were no fatalities of an electrical nature reported to the Ministry of Labour for the fourth quarter of 2008.
Critical Injuries:
October 31st Industrial Kingston Worker was making an electrical connection when he received
a shock and lost consciousness. Wiring that he was working
on was 600 volt AC. The worker was a maintenance worker,
employed full-time at the industrial establishment.
November 4th Construction Mississauga Worker fixing electrical panel, received flash burns to right
arm, up to the elbow. Voltage of panel not given.
Non-Critical Injuries:
October 2nd Construction Ottawa Electrician received a 120 volt shock, no detail given of work
being done at the time.
October 3rd Construction Welland Worker touched energized 240 volt conductor, received shock
to right arm.
October 13th Industrial Mississauga Worker received an electrical shock and burn to part of his
arm. No other details of event given.
October 15th Construction Brooklin Pedestrian walking by construction project, made contact with
energized electrical wire. Person taken to hospital.
October 17th Construction Johnstown Worker received a shock from bus bars, no other details of
event given.
October 30th Industrial Toronto Electrical contractor working on panel, suffered arcing burns
face, neck and left arm. Details of panel voltage and work
being done not given.
November 7th Construction Richmond Hill Electrical burns to hands, no other details of event given.
November 12th Construction Wolfe Island Worker was making temporary connections at a wind turbine,
received a 670 volt shock. Taken to hospital for observation
then released.
November 20th Industrial Ottawa Worker removing LAN cable from cable tray, noticed some
50 VDC cables that had been cut. Thought cables were
de-energized, continued to work. Jostled one of the cables,
cable end touched the cable tray causing a small arc. Worker
was startled by arc, struck head and arm on an overhead light
fixture in the area.
November 20th Construction Mississauga Worker fastening insulation onto ductwork using a pinner
tool, received a shock.
November 24th Construction Toronto Supervisor handling trouble light, received a 110 volt shock.
Injury was to left arm.
December 8th Industrial Brampton Two technicians received electrical shocks, one worker was
kept in hospital. No details given of work being done at the
time, or of the equipment involved.
December 12th Industrial Brampton Student inserted the end of a paper clip into a receptacle in the
washroom. Student has a linear burn mark on his left hand.
GFCI measures current imbalance, if he had stuck one end
in the neutral slot and the other in the hot slot, the GFCI
may not have seen an imbalance, allowing current to flow
and heat up the paper clip.
December 18th Industrial Toronto Worker received a shock while plugging in the cord of a
floor cleaning machine.
December 19th Industrial Kitchener Worker received an electrical shock while using a baler to
bale clothing. A section of the baling wire went between the
extension cord plug and a trolley plug while the worker was
holding onto it.
December 21st Mining Kapuskasing Worker received a shock when he touched a steel table and a
welding machine at the same time. Welding machine was not
working at the time. Worker stayed overnight in hospital for
observation before being released.
December 30th Industrial Township of Electrical contractor doing repair work on a heater, made
Algonquin contact with an energized conductor. Taken to hospital for
Highlands observation then released.
Powerline Contacts – No Injuries:
October 2nd Industrial Hagersville Dumptruck hit powerline, voltage of line not given.
October 3rd Construction Brampton Backhoe hit buried 27 kV cable.
October 3rd Construction Ottawa Concrete boom truck broke two overhead lines.
October 7th Construction Mississauga Hand-held pliers hit 13 kV powerline. No details given
on why pliers were anywhere close to 13 kV line.
No injuries reported.
October 9th Construction Kingston Backhoe hit buried conduit and conductor. Voltage not given.
October 9th Industrial Ajax Dumptruck hit overhead cables, voltage of line not given.
October 9th Industrial Waterloo Flusher truck ripped down a secondary line and broke the pole.
October 9th Construction Stoney Creek Contact made with 27.6 kV buried cable, no other details of
event given.
October 10th Construction Ottawa Digging, made electrical contact. No other details given.
October 10th Construction Southampton Workers digging without locates, hit buried 240 volt cable.
October 10th Construction Hamilton Roofing worker made contact with 240 volt overhead cable.
October 10th Construction Port Elgin Contractor digging without locates, hit buried primary cable.
October 10th Construction Vaughan Excavator hit buried 16 kV cable. No locates.
October 10th Construction Markham Contractor using heavy equipment to dig down and isolate a
cable, hit a buried 27.6 kV cable.
October 12th Construction Vaughan Worker using auger to dig fence post holes, hit 16 kV cable.
October 14th Construction Gravenhurst Crane contacted power line, line voltage not given.
October 15th Construction Toronto Worker removing door frame, reciprocating saw hit 120 volt
cable.
October 16th Industrial St. Catharines Worker contacted 240 volt overhead line, no details given of
work being done at the time.
October 17th Construction Matheson Dump truck, raised box, powerline hit. Voltage of line not
given.
October 18th Construction Ajax Worker doing digging, hit 13 kV buried cable. Locates had
been done.
October 21st Construction Wellesley Dump truck, raised box, powerline hit. Voltage of line not
Township given.
October 21st Construction London Excavator clipped overhead line, voltage of line not given.
October 22nd Construction Kingston Electrical contact made, no other details of event given.
October 27th Construction Barrie Excavator removing pipe section from truck, hit 44 kV
overhead line.
October 28th Construction Ottawa Contact made with primary cable, no other details given.
October 28th Construction Cochrane Excavator backfilling a truck, contacted 2500 volt overhead
line.
October 29th Construction Toronto Worker using Quick-Cut saw, cut into electrical conduit.
Voltage of conductors not given.
November 3rd Construction London Dump truck, raised box, 16 kV overhead line brought down.
November 3rd Construction Southampton Workers cutting down a tree, dropped it onto a 4160 V line.
November 5th Construction Hamilton Ladder found in contact with secondary wire at rear of
residence. No one would admit to owning the ladder.
November 5th Construction Sudbury 7200 volt overhead line contacted, no other details given.
November 5th Construction Cayuga Dump truck, raised box, 4800 volt line downed this time.
November 9th Industrial Tavistock Worker cutting down a tree, knocked down both primary and
secondary lines.
November 10th Industrial Aylmer Dump truck dumping a load, contacted 600 volt overhead line.
November 11th Construction Hamilton Contact made with overhead 240 volt line, no other details
of event given.
November 12th Construction Vaughan Worker using auger to dig fence post holes, hit 16 kV buried
line.
November 13th Construction Waterloo Boom of boom truck hit 2700 volt line.
November 19th Construction Worthington Digging with mini-excavator, hit a buried 13.8 kV line.
November 19th Construction Hamilton Contact made with 13.8 kV overhead line, no other details of
event given.
November 20th Construction Tottenham HiHoe excavator doing digging, contacted the neutral of a
4800 volt overhead line.
November 21st Construction Hagey Township Worker using excavator, hit pole and knocked off the top of
the pole. Voltage of overhead lines not given.
November 24th Construction St. Catharines Contact made with overhead 8 kV line. No other details of
event given.
November 24th Construction Toronto Workers doing core drilling, hit 120 volt cable.
November 27th Construction Toronto Three inch spike went through 600 volt cable feeding the
crane. No details given on what work was being done at the
time.
November 28th Construction Gloucester Workers doing excavation work, hit buried cable. No other
details of event given.
December 1st Construction Oakville Worker doing directional boring, drilled into 4100 volt buried
cable.
December 2nd Construction Hamilton Dump truck, raised box, 240 volt overhead line.
December 2nd Mining Sudbury Scoop was backing up with bucket raised, hit 1000 volt trolley
line.
December 4th Construction Blenheim Part of power line was embedded in a concrete footing.
During excavation work, the footing was moved, severing the
cable.
December 4th Construction Newmarket Worker chipping concrete, hit 600 volt cable.
December 4th Construction Tiverton Worker installing beam clamp, did not check beam first.
Clamp pinched a 347 volt lighting cable, causing a short.
December 8th Construction Belleville Dump truck, raised box, 240 volt line.
December 8th Construction Woodhouse Installing new pole, pole tongs touched 120 volt line.
December 8th Construction Vaughan Sewer construction, backhoe contacted 27 kV buried cable.
December 11th Construction Toronto Worker breaking out a concrete encased duct. Jackhammer
tip contacted 13.8 kV cable.
December 15th Construction Stoney Creek Crew working, made contact with buried 240 volt cable.
No details given of work being done at the time.
December 17th Construction Collingwood Excavator made contact with overhead lines. Voltage of
lines not given.
December 17th Construction Wingham Doing directional boring, contacted 2400 volt buried cable.
Locates had been done, had expired by about two weeks.
December 23rd Industrial Brockville Dump truck dumping snow, raised box hit street light
December 23rd Construction Lindsay Installing street lights, truck contacted 2400 volt wires. No
details given of what part of the truck made the contact.
DATA SUMMARY - Fourth Quarter
Fatals: Criticals: Non-criticals: Powerline Electrical
Contacts: Equipment:
2008 0 2 17 60 0
2007 1 3 23 69 3
2006 2 1 24 69 0
2005 1 2 26 44 2
2004 0 6 19 28 0
2003 0 7 19 37 0
2002 0 4 15 37 1
2001 5 9 28 33 1
2000 2 8 15 30 1
1999 2 7 21 30 1
1998 1 8 15 29 2
And Finally…..
November 20th Industrial Niagara Falls Students playing outside, one decided to kick the ground and
missed. Student fell backwards, hit head on ground and lost
consciousness for a couple of minutes. No, the student’s name
was not Charlie Brown.
Information taken from Ontario Ministry of Labour MIS database
Report prepared: April 9, 2009
Assembled by: Mike Reiser, P. Eng.,
Engineer,
PSS-Kitchener District
E-Mail: mike.reiser@ontario.ca
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