Deaths from electrical shock

Electrocutions kill an average of 143 construction workers each year. Data from 1992 through 2003 indicates electrical workers suffered the highest number of electrocutions per year, 34 percent of the total deaths caused by electrocution ( Alarming statistics, by D. Bremer, 2007, Electrical Contractor). Direct death from electrical shock results from ventricular fibrillation, paralysis of the respiratory center, or a combination of the two. Electricity can be hazardous to the process employees in a variety of forms. They are ... 

Lee, W.R. 1966. Death from electric shock. Proceedings IEEE 113. 

An AED is an electronic device designed to deliver an electric shock to a victim of sudden cardiac arrest. Ventricular fibrillation may be restored to normal rhythm up to 60 percent of the time if treated promptly with an AED, a procedure called defibril-lation. The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that approximately 890 deaths from coronary heart disease occur outside of the hospital or emergency room every day. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in 2001 and 2002, there were reported 6628 workplace fatalities 1216 from heart attack, 354 from electric shock, and 267 from asphyxia. The AHA and OSHA have estimated that up to 60 percent of these victims might have been saved if automated external defibrillators (AEDs) were immediately available. Chances of survival from sudden cardiac death diminish by 7 to 10 percent for each minute without immediate CPR or defibrillation. After 10 minutes, resuscitation rarely succeeds. See Figure A.7 for an AED provided in a wall-mounted case. 

Workers exposed to electrical hazards face a risk of death or serious injury from electric shock. According to the Bru eau of Labor Statistics, there were 192 and 170 fatalities involving contact with electric crurent in 2008 and 2009, respectively. About half of these fatalities (89 in both years) occrured in construction. OSHA explains that the use of properly designed, manufactured, and cared-for electrical protective equipment helps protect employees from this risk. 

Injury Death or personal injury from electric shock, electric burn, electrical explosion or arcing or from fire or explosion initiated by electrical energy where such death or injury is associated with the use of electrical energy... 

Another use for defibrillators is to shock either atrial flutter or fibrillation, which are abnormally rapid atrial rhythms. These atrial rhythms are much less likely to spontaneously proceed rapidly to death than ventricular arrhythmias. Using electrical shock to treat rapid heart arrhythmias other than VF is usually referred to as cardioversion and hence some users refer to the tachycardia treatment devices as cardioverter—defibrillators. Cardiovertor and defibrillator treatment is different from pacemaker treatment (discussed elsewhere in this book) because a pacemaker stimulates a slowly beating heart and uses much weaker shocks. Pacemaking increases the rate of the relatively healthy heart, which increases blood flow. 

As can be inferred from Table 22.1, the medical consequences of electric shock range in severity from no effect through minor burns, nerve and muscle damage, to death. Determining factors are... 

The classification fourth-degree burn has been applied to electrical burns that char the overlying tissues in a manner that an underlying bone is exposed. This is the type of injury that can be produced by contact with high-voltage transmission lines. If death does not occur from the shock, permanent physical disability can be expected. 

Electric current, even as low as three milliamperes, can also cause injuries of an indirect or secondary nature in which involuntary muscle reaction from the electric shock can cause bruises, bone fractures, and even death resulting from collisions or falls. In some cases, injuries caused by electric shock can be a contributory cause of delayed fatalities. 

Table 5.3.5.1 shows the effect of various currents on the body. Of particular note is the range of current where muscle contractions make it difficult to let go of the current source. The smallest fuses and circuit breakers are generally 15 A so an electrical shock from a live electrical AC circuit is easily enough to cause the most serious effects, including death, without tripping the circuit breaker. 

Arc welding can be done safely, provided that sufficient measures are taken to protect the operator from the potential hazards. If the proper measures are ignored or overlooked, welding operators can be exposed to such dangers as electrical shock and overexposure to radiation, fumes and gases, and fire and explosion, any of which could cause severe injury or even death. With the diversification of the welding that may be done by maintenance departments, it is vitally important that the appropriate safety measures be evaluated on a job-by-job basis and that they be rigidly enforced. 

Electric shock is the sudden pain or convulsion which results from the passage of an electric current through the body. Minor electrical shocks may cause mishaps due to involuntary reactions. Major electrical shocks may cause death due to burns or paralysis of the heart or lungs. An electric shock results from the passage of direct or alternating electrical current through the body or a body part. Electrical current/voltage in a system is a basic hazard source for many types of electrical related hazards, all of which should be identified in a system safety HA. 

Liposomal ATP protected human endothelial cells from energy failure in a cell culture model of sepsis (21). ATP-L increased the number of ischemic episodes tolerated before electrical silence and brain death in the rat (22,23). In a hypovolemic shock-reperfusion model in rats, the administration of ATP-L increased hepatic blood flow during shock and reperfusion of the liver (24). The addition of the ATP-L during cold storage preservation of rat liver improved its energy state and metabolism (25,26). Co-incubation of ATP-L with sperm cells improved their motility (27). Finally, biodistribution studies demonstrated significant accumulation of ATP-L in ischemia-damaged canine myocardium (28). 

For example, in the construction industry there are four leading causes of construction-related deaths. They are falls (from elevation)— 33%, struck by (a vehicle, falling material, etc.)— 22%, caught-in/between (excavation collapse)—18%, shock (electrical)—17%, while all other types make up 10% of these deaths. At present Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducts focused inspections of construction worksites, where it looks specifically for these hazards or for the lack of controls for each of these four causes of construction deaths. 

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