Safety Bulletin
Recently, one of our Encore team members was exposed to an energized conductor. Our electrician was in the process of terminating the panel feeds in a temporary construction trailer, an Encore energization team was beginning to energize some of the construction trailers. Unknown to the Encore energization team, temporary panel feeds had been mislabeled, the temporary panel feeds had not been megged out, no circuit verification had been done, the proper lock-out tag-out was not in place, and one of our team members was working on one of the electrical panels at the time of energization.
An electrician remembering the training of “All conductors are to be considered energized until proven otherwise” used a meter to test the 2nd phase conductor before it was stripped out and found it to be energized.
Lesson Learned:
Remember at all times: “All conductors are to be considered energized until proven otherwise.” This action, in this situation, saved our teammate from being seriously injured.
Construction power is to be treated, installed, and oversaw just like permanent power. There is no difference between the two. All company policies, procedures, and precautions should be in place and utilized at all times, while working with construction power.
Verify that the project approved lock-out/tag-out procedure is being followed and that all lock-out/tag-outs and labels are in place.
Take the time to think about your task, surroundings, and others involved, and what the successful outcome of a task should be. Production and doing things efficiently is very important for keeping Encore Electric competitive and for getting the project complete. But, taking the time to stop and think, before we do, is a crucial step in our competitive advantage.