For over 30 years, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has warned of the most dangerous hazards facing construction workers with its “Fatal Four” announcements. In the latest Fatal Four message, OSHA warns that the leading causes of death in the construction industry are: (1) falls; (2) caught in/between incidents; (3) struck-by object accidents; and (4) electrocutions.
We have discussed the risk of death for construction workers resulting from falls and struck-by-object risks before; for more, read:
- Deadly Construction Accidents: Falls Remain a Leading Cause of Death for Construction Workers;
- Construction Fall Accidents in Indiana or Illinois: Great Danger of Fatal Injury in a Fall on the Job; and
- Fatal Construction Work Accident: Injuries from Being Struck By Object.
While falls remain the greatest fatality risk facing workers in Indiana, Illinois, and the rest of the country, electrical accidents and electrocutions are also a tremendous concern for safety advocates as far too many workers are permanently harmed or killed by electricity injuries on the job.
What are the Electricity Dangers on a Construction Site?
Any construction site, residential or commercial, will bring construction workers into contact with various electricity hazards. Electrical hazards that create serious workplace risks include:
- Electric tools operated with cord or plug not properly insulated or grounded;
- Electrical equipment that is not properly grounded;
- Electrical wiring not in proper polarity (hot to hot, neutral to neutral);
- Electrical circuits without proper fuses or breakers allowing for overloads;
- Wet conditions (rain, puddles, sweat) on the job site as they allow for a greater amount of current to flow through the human body upon contact;
- Failure to have a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI);
- Overloaded or unapproved extension cord wires;
- Overhead power lines that are not properly insulated, or do not have de-energizing and grounding lines; and
- Underground power lines that are hit with metal tools or equipment while digging.
Electric Current and the Human Body
The severity of the injury sustained on the construction site will depend upon the amount of electric current that a construction worker experiences in his or her body. The greater the electric current, the more dangerous and potentially lethal the risk to the individual.
OSHA provides the following current-reaction correlations:
- Below 1 milliampere – no harm
- 1 milliampere – tingle but no harm
- 5 milliampere – slight shock; pain
- 6-25 milliampere (women) – painful shock, loss of muscular control
- 9-30 milliampere (men) – freezing current, individual cannot “let go” but can be thrown away from the current if extensior muscles are stimulated
- 50-150 milliampere – extreme pain, respiratory arrest, sever muscular contractions, possible death
- 1000 – 4000 milliampere – rhythmic pumping action of the heart ceases; muscular contraction and nerve damage; death likely
- 10,000 milliampere – cardiac arrest; severe burns; death.
The risk of fatal exposure to electric current is very high on any construction site. For instance, 120-volt outlets are commonplace in Indiana and Illinois. If a worker is sweating, his or her vulnerability to the current will be lowered to a resistance of 1000-ohms hand to hand.
Under the industry’s “Ohm’s Law,” current equals voltage divided by resistance. One ampere equals 1000 milliamperes. A worker exposed to electricity through a bare wire on a power tool plugged into a standard outlet for instance, will experience a flow of 0.12 amperes, or 120 milliamperes. See, Construction Focus Four: Electrocution Hazards Instructor Guide, page 9.
Accordingly, using the OSHA table above (50-150 milliampere), even a simple brush against a bare wire on a power tool can result in extreme pain, respiratory arrest, severe muscular contractions, and possible death of a construction worker on the job.
Variety of Construction Worker Injuries from an Electrical Accident
The construction worker who is exposed to electrical current on the job can suffer any number of bodily injuries. These include:
- Electrical burns: injuries sustained from electric current flowing through the body;
- Arc/flash burns: high temperature injuries from an explosion or electric arc;
- Thermal contact burns: bodily harm resulting from skin contacting with overheated electrical equipment;
- Electrocution: death from lethal amount of electrical energy exposure;
- Shock: injuries sustained from electricity passing through the body when current enters the body at one juncture and leaves at another point; and
- Fractures, TBI, and other injuries: harm sustained in explosions or fires caused by electrical fires or electrical explosions.
The severity of the construction worker’s injuries, ranging from shock, fire, burns, fractures, or death, will depend upon the amount of electrical current exposure. According to OSHA statistics, in 2019 around 8.6% of construction workers died from electrocution on the job site.
Most of these fatalities involved electrical workers; however, electrocutions also took the lives of various non-electricians including mechanics; laborers; carpenters; roofers; and supervisors of non-electrical workers.
OSHA explains that the most common electricity accidents on the construction site were caused by:
- failure to recognize and come into contact with energized sources (energized conductors and circuit parts, damaged or bare wires, defective electrical equipment or power tools);
- Improper use of extension and flexible cords; and
- Contact with overhead power lines (some think these are “telephone wires”).
For more, read “OSHA’s “Fatal Four” – Leading Causes of Fatalities in the Workplace,” written by Dennis K. Neitzel and published by EHS Daily Advisor on May 1, 2019.
Construction Site Electricity Accidents in Indiana and Illinois
For workers in the construction industry, working alongside electrical hazards is a daily part of their job. Death can occur from direct exposure to electricity, such as coming into contact with an underground power line while excavating. Fatal injuries can be sustained indirectly, as well, when workers are busy operating tools or machinery and suffer electrical contact.
Employers have a duty of care to keep workers safe while on the job. This includes making sure the job site is safe from electrical hazards as well as educating workers on the dangers that come with working alongside electricity in its various sources.
Any construction worker that is severely harmed or killed due to electrical injuries or electrocution may have legal avenues for justice based upon a breach of this duty of care under the workers’ compensation, wrongful death, negligence, or product liability laws of the states of Indiana and Illinois.
For more on workers’ compensation after an on the job construction accident, read:
- The Increasing Danger of Dying on the Job: Fatality Risk Just Keeps Growing for Workers
- Construction Worker Injury Behavior Study: Higher Risk of Accident
- Workers Compensation in Indiana and Illinois: Work-Related Injuries and the Fight Against Corporate Greed
- Job Site Injury in Illinois or Indiana: When Accidents at Work Are Not Worker’s Compensation Claims.
Electricity is an unseen killer lurking on every construction site. Sadly, the OSHA Fatal Four warnings demonstrate that all too often, employers fail in their duty to keep employees safe on the job from electrical hazards with tragic consequences. Please be careful out there!
