Contributing factors of work-related electrical fatalities

• Main Authors: Chong-cheng Yang, 楊忠政
• Other Authors: Chi , C.-F.
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2008
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/21843682222450058733

博士 === 國立臺灣科技大學 === 工業管理系 === 96 === In Taiwan, approximately 50-80 workers died from electrical fatalities each year which accounted for 14.6% of all occupational fatalities. The average annual incidence rate-0.91 per 100,000 workers was relatively high as compared to 0.4 in U.S. and 0.49 in Australia indicating that occupational electrical fatal injury is a significant problem. In-depth accident analysis is an important source of information for deriving potential risk factors and developing effective prevention strategies. The first part of the dissertation analyzed 423 work-related single fatalities from the years 1996 to 2002 in terms of industry, month, and voltage for these accidents. The result indicated that majority of the victims were construction workers (255, 60%) and died from low voltage electricity, almost half of the fatalities took place in summer (45%). Fatality rate was found to probably have a relationship with the monthly average temperature. The second part of the dissertation focused on the analysis of 255 electrical fatalities of construction industry. Each electrical fatality was analyzed in terms of individual factors (age, gender, experience of the victim), task factors (performing tasks), environmental factors (wet condition and cramped space), management factors (company size measured by number of workers), source of injury, and causes for these accidents. The result indicated most victims were male (254, 99.6%), less than 34 years old (148, 58%), worked for companies with less than 30 workers (226, 89%), and had less than 1 year of work experience (182, 71%). Besides, These electrocution accidents were divided into five accident patterns: (1) direct workers contact with an energized power line (41, 16%), (2) boomed vehicle contact with an energized power line (36, 14%), (3) conductive equipment contact with an energized power line (19, 8%), (4) direct workers contact with an energized equipment (53, 21%), (5) improperly installed or damaged equipment (101, 40%), and other unclassified (5, 2%) to identify contributing factors for each. According to the significant associations between accident cause and accident pattern Improper use of PPE, and improper grounding, failure to maintain safe distance, failure to de-energize, and poor work practices can contribute to worker’s contact with energized power line accidents. Failure to maintain safe distance was the majority cause for boomed vehicle and conductive equipment contact with energized power line accidents. Direct workers contact with energized equipment was most commonly caused by improper use of PPE, contacts with live parts, poor work practices, and failure to de-energize. Improperly installed or damaged equipment accident was most likely be caused by defective tools and equipments, poor work practices, lack of effective safety devices, and unsafe environments. Contributing factors and prevention measures (safe work practices, guarding, grounding, insulation, and electrical protective devices) for each accident patterns were derived based on the identified common scenarios. The result from the analysis could lead to more effective safety policy, system, training, and compliance with safety regulation in order to reduce the electrical fatality.