1 / 5

Fatal Electrical Accident at New Mexico Potash Operation: A Review and Safety Recommendations

On August 6, 2008, a tragic electrical accident in New Mexico claimed the life of a 38-year-old shift supervisor with 15 years of experience. The victim contacted energized conductors from an abandoned heat tape installed in a shared conduit. This heat tape, connected to a live 480-volt circuit, was found to be under voltage, leading to fatal injuries. The incident highlights the critical failure in management policies to identify and mitigate electrical hazards. Recommendations for best practices emphasize safety examinations, labeling, grounding, and proper maintenance of electrical systems.

tatum-mclaughlin
Télécharger la présentation

Fatal Electrical Accident at New Mexico Potash Operation: A Review and Safety Recommendations

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. MNM Fatal 2008-12 • Electrical Accident • August 6, 2008 (New Mexico) • Potash Operation • Shift Supervisor • 38 years old • 15 years experience

  2. Overview The victim was fatally injured when he contacted conductors for a heat tape that had been installed in a shared conduit body with the conductors of a 480-volt circuit. Both the heat tape and circuit had been abandoned but neither of them had been removed. The 480-volt circuit was energized and short-circuited to the heat tape causing it to be energized to 277 volts to ground. The heat tape overheated and portions of the heat tape insulation melted away, leaving bare conductors. He contacted the bare heat tape conductors or adjacent energized parts while checking water valves in the area around the heat tape.

  3. Root Cause Management policies and procedures failed to ensure that all potential electrical hazards were identified and corrected.

  4. Best Practices • Examine the work area for any potential hazards. • Label all power switches to identify which units they control. • Ground all metal enclosing electrical circuits. • Conduct continuity and resistance tests of all grounding systems. • Keep workplaces clean and orderly. • Remove all abandoned electrical circuits.

More Related