Worker suffers 600-volt electric shock
Quebec’s workplace health and safety arm has identified a lockout mishap as one of the main reasons behind a worker’s electrocution in mid-2024, according to a report.
The incident happened on June 3, 2024 at a wastewater pumping station in Saint-Pamphile, in the Chaudière-Appalaches region.
The workers were doing an electrical installation at the site when they suffered a 600-volt electric shock.
However, the main switch of the electrical installation on which he was working had not been padlocked before the work was carried out, reported The Canadian Press, citing findings released by Commission des normes, de l'équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail (CNESST).
“In occupational health and safety, lockout is a set of procedures for neutralizing all the energy in a machine before a worker goes to work on it,” CP noted in the report posted in CTV News.
Also, while trying to straighten three electrical wires on a device, the worker had touched the copper part of two wires.
CNESST also found that the project manager did not ensure that the electrical work was carried out using an energy control method.
“It is not enough for the employer to have provided the appropriate equipment and given instructions to the employees, on the assumption that they would follow them, notes the CNESST in its report,” wrote CP.
“Nor can the employer rely solely on a worker’s experience as a guarantee that the tasks entrusted to him will be performed safely.”
