Construction
1
Running Head: Unit VII
1
Running Head: Unit VII
Introduction
The electrocution construction hazard is one of the four categories of hazards that have been identified by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to be associated with almost 50% of accidents that are experienced on construction sites. According to OSHA, out of 50%, electrocution contributes to 8.6% of the total accidents. It is important to note that electrocution results when an individual is working at the construction site and is exposed to a lethal amount of electrical energy. Therefore, an electrical hazard may be referred to as a severe construction site hazard, which tends to expose workers to a danger that may be fatal (Gales, 2019). In other words, electrocution can be defined as death by electric shock, which is specifically caused by exposure to fatal amounts of electrical energy. It must be noted that electricity usually flows via wires as well as power lines that are usually referred to as conductors. These conductors create a path to the electricity flow or even completes a given circuit. When the human body comes into contact with such exposed electrical wires, the body tends to act as a conductor, leading to electrocution. Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Citations for the statistics? Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Where does AKOSH actually state this?
Common Causative Factors of Electrocution Hazard
Direct Worker Contact with an Energized Power Line
According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), of all the Americans who are exposed to electrocution hazards, almost 28% are as a result of direct worker contact with an energized power line. An energized power line has electricity flowing through it in the form of electrons. When a worker comes into contact with it, his or her body acts as a conductor. This causes the electric current to travel through the worker's body. This ends up causing electrocution since the flow of electric current through the human body ends up interfering with the normal electrical signals between the human brain as well as muscles, an action that possesses the potential of making the heart stop beating (Babaei, Jabbari, & Babaei, 2018). Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Citation? Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: The issue with electrocution is not that it interferes with brain function and control. Where in the article from the Iranian Journal of HSE is this stated?
Direct Worker Contact with Energized Equipment
This is a factor that is the cause of 21% of all electrocution hazard victims, according to NIOSH. Just like being in contact with an energized power line, if a worker comes into contact with energized equipment, he or she has the possibility of being electrocuted. This especially happens when the equipment is not adequately earthed. Therefore in such a case, the electrons tend to flow through the worker's body to the ground. Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Citation?
Boomed Vehicle Contact with an Energized Power Line
This is another factor that has been classified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health as causing 18% of the total electrocution hazards concerning construction sites. Baby boomers usually drive such vehicles. When they accidentally hit an energized power line, the whole vehicle tends to be electrically charged, leading to the electrocution of the workers inside (Babaei, Jabbari, & Babaei, 2018). Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Citation? Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: This information is not in the Iranian Journal of HSE.
Improperly Installed or Damaged Equipment
As per the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, almost 17% of the individuals electrocuted with electricity is caused by improperly installed or even damaged equipment that is already supplied with electricity. Mostly, improper grounding of equipment, as well as electrical circuits, can lead to electrocution (Brenner, Cawley, & Majano, 2020). Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Citation? Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: This article “examined to determine which occupations experienced fatal electrical injury.” More specifically from the abstract: This paper examined 1,004 OSHA cases of electrical injury that occurred between January 1, 2011 and June 28, 2017. The data were examined to determine which occupations experienced fatal electrical injury. Characteristics such as the degree of injury, the nature of injury, and task assignments at the time of injury were determined. There were 705 fatal electrical injuries from all causes. There were 17 occupations with 10 or more fatal cases, led by, in order: “Electricians”, “Construction laborers”, “Laborers, except construction”, “Electrical power installers and repairers”, and “Tree trimming occupations”. In addition, the data were also examined to isolate fatal overhead power line injuries. Overhead power lines were involved in 246 fatal electrical shock injuries to workers and 10 burn injuries. Occupations most affected by overhead power line injuries were studied in greater detail. Just 6 occupations account for more than one half of all those fatally injured by electricity in overhead power line cases. Occupations with 10 or more fatal overhead power line injuries include, in order, “Construction laborer”, “Laborers, except construction”, “Tree trimming occupations”, “Electrical power installers and repairers”, “Roofers“, and “Truck drivers, heavy”. Several identified occupations with unexpected electrical exposure such as “Roofers”, “Tree Trimmers”, and “Truck drivers” are not usually associated with electrically hazardous jobs. Erecting, moving, and dismantling scaffolding, the use of conductive ladders, booms and tag lines, and tree trimming in the vicinity of overhead power lines were common scenarios in the fatal electrical injuries studied.
Conductive Equipment Contact with an Energized Power Line
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health indicates that this factor causes almost 16% of the electrocution hazards. This goes explicitly to those workers in the construction sites who have not correctly protected themselves by wearing the recommended protective gear, especially when they are dealing with machinery that has not been adequately grounded, and it happens to come into contact with the power lines. The electric leakage, in this case, tends to flow to the ground through the worker's body, causing electrocution (Adekunle, Asaolu, Adiji, & Bamiduro, 2016) Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Citation? Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: How did this article provide this information? Electrical hazard remains a global occurrence that plagues construction industries in Nigeria Electricity is one of the most common causes of fires, electric shocks, electrocutions and thermal burns in construction industries. Because electricity is a familiar part of our lives, it is often not treated with enough caution. As a result, an average of one worker is electrocuted on the job every day of every year during construction work. No one can replace a worker or loved one that has died or suffered an irreparable consequence of an electrical accident. Researchers are of the opinion that electrical safety in the construction sector is an indispensable component for economic development of the country. In the light of the above, this paper examines the impacts of electrical hazards on the Nigerian construction industries with a view to provide safety measures using Kaaptron technologies as case study. The amount of current the body can withstand, the time it takes a body to be electrocuted when in contact with electricity and risk analyses were issues considered in this study. This study also used a participatory appraisal technique whereby, the electrical engineers and technicians were made to identify the types and magnitude of electrical hazards they encounter in their daily lives. The overall study shows that tasks performed under wet conditions could draw current as high as 480mA and that a body of 500Ω resistance has just 0.2s to be electrocuted when in contact with a 120v supply. The risk analysis revealed that 6 out of 10 construction devices were not safe to work on. Safety measures to eliminate injuries or deaths at construction sites were proffered.
Effective Proven Corrective Measures
There are proven safety measures that are approved by OSHA as well as NIOSH. Firstly, when dealing with overhead power lines on the construction site, a minimum distance of ten feet should be observed from overhead power lines as well as nearby equipment. This entails the conducting of a construction site survey on a routine basis to ensure that there is nothing stored under the power lines, nor is there work being carried out under there. Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Citation? Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Neither OSHA, nor NIOSH approve of safety measures.
Secondly, on the damaged tools as well as equipment, it's recommended that unqualified individuals should not fix anything on the construction site. Also, a thorough check on the cables and wires should be regularly conducted. In case of any electrical defect, they must be replaced or repaired immediately (Zhao et al, 2016). Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Where in Zhao et al’s article does it provide specific recommendations for controls such as inspecting cables and wires.? Electrocution is one of the four leading causes of worker deaths in the construction sector, and thus it is paramount to identify its mechanisms. This work interprets the mechanisms of an electrical accident as a chain of decision mistakes throughout the entire task process. The objective of this paper is to visualize the decision-making chains in workplace electrical safety for construction workers. Because of construction’s “one-off” nature, the researchers narrow the decision-making chain for specific “features of work” (FOW), a group of distinct activities possessing higher occupational safety and health (OSH) risks and requiring particular attention. By analyzing National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) electrocution reports, the authors identify five features of work and illustrate their decision-making chains. This work promotes electrical safety and injury prevention through the decision-making lens and contributes to the scholarly body of knowledge by introducing a comprehensive approach to the decision-making chain that is applicable to other safety research.
On the improper grounding, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends that the workers on the construction site must not remove the metallic ground pin since it's responsible for returning the unwanted voltage to the ground which might otherwise flow through the human body who might come into contact with the guarded equipment, leading to electrocution (Pham et al., 2019). Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: Again, how does this reference apply? Hazard investigation education plays a crucial role in equipping students with adequate knowledge and skills to avoid or eliminate construction hazards at workplaces. With the emergence of various visualization technologies, virtual photoreality as well as 3D virtual reality have been adopted and proved advantageous to various educational disciplines. Despite the significant benefits of providing an engaging and immersive learning environment to promote construction education, recent research has also pointed out that virtual photoreality lacks a 3D object anatomization tools to support learning, while 3D-virtual reality cannot provide a real-world environment. In recent years, research efforts have studied virtual reality applications separately, and there is a lack of research integrating these technologies to overcome limitations and maximize advantages for enhancing learning outcomes. In this regard, the paper develops a construction hazard investigation system leveraging object anatomization on an Interactive Augmented Photoreality platform (iAPR). The proposed iAPR system integrates virtual photoreality with 3D-virtual reality. The iAPR consists of three key learning modules, namely Hazard Understanding Module (HUM), Hazard Recognition Module (HRM), and Safety Performance Module (SPM), which adopt the revised Bloom’s taxonomy theory. A prototype is developed and evaluated objectively through interactive system trials with educators, construction professionals, and learners. The findings demonstrate that the iAPR platform has significant pedagogic methods to improve learner’s construction hazard investigation knowledge and skills, which improve safety performance.
Finally, on the damaged insulation, The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recommends that all the power sources should be turned off before replacing any damaged insulation. It's also recommended that such damaged insulation must not be covered with electrical tape (Brenner, Cawley, & Majano, 2020). Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: This article “examined to determine which occupations experienced fatal electrical injury.” More specifically from the abstract: This paper examined 1,004 OSHA cases of electrical injury that occurred between January 1, 2011 and June 28, 2017. The data were examined to determine which occupations experienced fatal electrical injury. Characteristics such as the degree of injury, the nature of injury, and task assignments at the time of injury were determined. There were 705 fatal electrical injuries from all causes. There were 17 occupations with 10 or more fatal cases, led by, in order: “Electricians”, “Construction laborers”, “Laborers, except construction”, “Electrical power installers and repairers”, and “Tree trimming occupations”. In addition, the data were also examined to isolate fatal overhead power line injuries. Overhead power lines were involved in 246 fatal electrical shock injuries to workers and 10 burn injuries. Occupations most affected by overhead power line injuries were studied in greater detail. Just 6 occupations account for more than one half of all those fatally injured by electricity in overhead power line cases. Occupations with 10 or more fatal overhead power line injuries include, in order, “Construction laborer”, “Laborers, except construction”, “Tree trimming occupations”, “Electrical power installers and repairers”, “Roofers“, and “Truck drivers, heavy”. Several identified occupations with unexpected electrical exposure such as “Roofers”, “Tree Trimmers”, and “Truck drivers” are not usually associated with electrically hazardous jobs. Erecting, moving, and dismantling scaffolding, the use of conductive ladders, booms and tag lines, and tree trimming in the vicinity of overhead power lines were common scenarios in the fatal electrical injuries studied.
References:
Adekunle, A., Asaolu, G. O., Adiji, K., & Bamiduro, H. A. (2016). Impacts of Electrical Hazards on Nigerian Construction Industries with a View to Provide Safety Measures-Case Study of Kaptron Technologies. Journal of Sustainable Development Studies, 9(2), 267-289. Retrieved from https://www.infinitypress.info/index.php/jsds/article/view/1365
Babaei, M. M., Jabbari, M., & Babaei, A. A. (2018, March). Human injuries risk assessment of medium voltage electrocution using bow tie model in fuzzy environment (case study: Golestan province electricity distribution company). Iranian journal of health, safety, and environment, 5(2), 997-1006. Retrieved from http://ijhse.ir/index.php/IJHSE/article/view/285
Brenner, B. C., Cawley, J., & Majano, D. (2020, March 12). Electrically Hazardous Jobs in the US. IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications. Retrieved from https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/abstract/document/9034134
Gales, T. (2019, January 2). Local Emphasis Program to Reduce and/or Eliminate Occupational Safety and Health Hazards in Construction Industry in Alaska [AKOSH Program Directive #19-08]. Retrieved from https://labor.alaska.gov/lss/program_directives/PD_19-08.pdf
Pham, H. C., Dao, N. N., Cho, S., Nguyen, P. T., & Pham-Hang, A. T. (2019, October). Construction Hazard Investigation Leveraging Object Anatomization on an Augmented Photoreality Platform. Applied Sciences, 9(21), 4477. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/9/21/4477
Zhao, D., McCoy, A. P., Kleiner, B. M., Du, J., & Smith-Jackson, T. L. (2016, January). Decision-making chains in electrical safety for construction workers. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 142(1), 04015055. Retrieved from https://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001037 Comment by Fuller, Barb A.: This should be the page numbers that the article is on.