We have investigated many electrical incidents and trained thousands in electrical incident investigations. The results of an investigation should be mainly focused on preventing similar incidents in the future but also to comply with legislation and hopefully minimise fines imposed by the courts.
Of course, it is much better to prevent incidents in the first place. Risk assessment and control of all electrical processes and as a take-5 or SWMS process prior to each job is important in incident prevention.
Unfortunately, when an electrical incident happens, poor quality investigations occur for a variety of reasons. Some of the common mistakes made with investigations that we see are as follows:
- Not starting with a de-energised investigation.
- Not understanding the technical issues associated with the electrical system and test instruments. Even the use of a digital multimeter on the voltage range is not understood by many electrical workers e.g. 240 volts measured may be lethal or the shock victim may not even feel it. Voltage readings with high impedance voltmeters may be meaningless – you need training if you don’t understand how this can be possible.
- If de-energised testing proves fruitless and energised tests are needed, many fail to test across the shock path e.g. someone receives a shock off a switchboard surround through their bare feet to the ground – measure from the switchboard surround to a metal plate on the ground (to simulate the feet in contact with the ground).
- Failing to understand the levels of current through the body that cause issues and then failing to assess the likely level of current through the body against those effects.
- Not testing at the shock site to ensure safety after repairs have been made.
- Non-electrical lead investigators not working closely enough or failing to listen with/to their electrical specialist.
- Writing a poor-quality report due lack of knowledge on the technical issues or from lack of experience in report writing.
- Failing to ensure corrective and preventative actions identified in the incident report are followed through.
- Not conducting a post-investigation review and determining how investigations can be improved in the future. This is equally as important for safety regulator investigators.
These are some of the mistakes we see with electrical incident investigations. Keep in mind that near misses are so very important to investigate thoroughly. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you need any advice with electrical incident investigations.
