NEW YORK — One Amtrak worker was killed and two others were injured in an accident at a power substation in the Bronx on Thursday, the New York Daily News reports.
The newspaper reports the worker was electrocuted in an electrical explosion about 11:30 a.m. at Van Nest Yard, an electrical facility shared by Amtrak and Con Ed. Trains through the area were delayed while emergency crews responded.
WABC-TV reports the victim was doing fuse work on a transformer; power was supposed to have been turned off but wasn’t.
Amtrak said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened to report the death of an Amtrak employee” and that a full investigation is under way. It described injuries to the other workers as “non-life-threatening.”
Once again I can’t comment on a specific incident. I can say that not all high voltage systems are alike. Some systems are more prone to backfeed than others; some are more prone to equipment failure than others. There’s high voltage equipment that’s relatively easy to work on; and other high voltage equipment I wouldn’t get within thirty feet of live or dead. All railroad electrification equipment is in the latter category.
As someone who has had to work electrical equipment hot, I never trust even meters or lights to say it is off. It is always worked as hot unless I can see all connections from where I am. As often a breaker was supplied by power that could not be turned off, that also meant insulated gloves and tools in hot, humid Florida. Leather covered rubber gloves soon had to have the sweat drained out of them.
Unless the explosion was caused by trying to ground a line that was hot. Test prove test, unfortunately its all too common the basics are bypassed. Alot of test equipment now has a light that lights up if high voltage is present, causes a few surprises when around supposedly dead equipment. simple life saver.
So much for “Lock Out…tag Out”!!
While this is unfortunate this is precisely why electricians carry wiggins and meters. YouALWAYS check to see if power is truly off before you start work.
Tag-out procedures are written in blood and must be followed exactly, or this is the result. But how do you know you got all sources of power? Answer, you don’t. So you check.
The life you are protecting is your own.
The above comments are generic in nature and do not form the basis for an attorney/client relationship. They do not constitute legal advice. I am not your attorney. There is no place for a flip comment when discussing an avoidable fatality.
Amtrak’s ET folks have this drilled into them: It’s either grounded or it’s hot. Period. Apparently no one checked to be sure a ground strap was attached before proceeding. Very sad.
Anna. Ditto on the general case but I cannot comment on a specific incident on the basis of a media report
The tolerance for OJT fatalities is zero whatever the cause or whoever is at fault this is horrible