The statistics are well known. Each day three or four workers are killed due to electrical related accidents, according to NIOSH. A Michigan burn center found that 34 percent of patients injured on the job received flash injuries. Arc flash injuries represent 55 percent of the electrical work-related burn injuries in research conducted in Ontario. A study of electrical injuries during a 20-year period at a Texas burn center found that 40 percent of burns were electrical arc injuries.
Despite the well-documented risks of arc flash incidents – burns, injury from the blast, lung damage, hearing loss, vision loss – many companies and contractors tread lightly on the dangers. Why?