Learn from These Mistakes
Take a lesson from these terrible, true stories about mishaps with
electricity and natural gas. The "Don’t do what they did!" links will
take you to relevant safety information on this site, so you can prevent
similar tragedies.
Don’t Mess with Electrical Equipment
A 20-year-old man was electrocuted in California when he broke into the base of
a streetlight and attempted to sever a ¾-inch electrical wire carrying 4,000
volts. The young man had wanted to darken the street to help his 17-year-old
sister get a better view of the Perseid meteor shower. (Source: Long Beach
Press-Telegram) Don’t do
what he did!
Watch for Downed Lines After Storms
A 48-year-old woman, her 11-year-old twin boys, a 14-year-old friend, and the
family dog went out walking after Hurricane Irene. Strolling ahead of the
woman, the three boys and the dog walked into a puddle where a downed power
line was submerged in the murky water. They were all instantly electrocuted.
The woman ran toward the fallen children. Upon stepping into the water near the
boys, she was electrocuted too. (Source: Associated Press) Don’t do what they did!
A Fishing Pole Is Safer
A 43-year-old man in Kiev electrocuted himself while fishing in a river. The
man connected cables to the main power supply of his home and placed the ends
in the river. The electric shock killed the fish, which floated belly-up to the
top of the water. The man waded in to collect his catch, having neglected to
remove the live wires, and tragically suffered the same fate as the fish.
(Source: Deutsche Press-Agentir) Don’t do what he
did!
Know How to Cut Power in Case of Shock
An 18-year-old male restaurant worker kneeled to plug a portable electric
toaster into a floor outlet. After a scream was heard, the victim was found
convulsing on the damp floor, with one hand on the plug and the other on the
receptacle box. The assistant manager went to the electrical panel but was
unable to locate the appropriate circuit breaker. After telephoning the
emergency medical service, the manager returned to the panel and managed to
de-energize all the circuits—but not until 3 to 8 minutes after the man had
first contacted the electricity! Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and
the man was pronounced dead on arrival at the local hospital. (Source: National
Institutes of Occupational Safety and Health) Don’t do what he did!
She Dried Her Hair in the Tub
A 33-year-old former beauty queen died from electric shock in her apartment.
She dropped a hair dryer into the water while bathing. (Source: Warsaw Voice
News) Don't do what she
did!
He Tried to CUT a Power Line
An Oregon man drove his truck into a mailbox, then collided with a utility
pole. The impact flipped the truck onto its side and sent a 7,500-volt power
line falling to the ground. The 25-year-old man apparently was uninjured in the
collision and safely exited the truck, a witness told investigators. However,
his luck ran out when he attempted to cut the line with a pair of pruning
shears. When authorities arrived at the scene, the man was lying motionless and
face down on the power line, the pruning shears in his hands. (Source: The
Oregonian) Don’t do what he
did!
A Sad Sailing Tale
A university student who was one of the best small boat sailors in the United
States was killed when his boat mast touched a power line at a Massachusetts
yacht club. The young man had recently won a boating championship and was to
have assisted at the first U.S. Youth Championship Regatta. (Source:
International Lightning Class Association) Don’t do what he did!
If the Tool Shocks, Get Rid of It
A 45-year-old man was putting metal siding on a house, using an electric drill
while standing in the bucket of a backhoe. His older brother was standing
beside him when the man began to scream and shake. The brother grabbed him,
received an electric shock, and was thrown from the bucket. The man dropped the
drill and then collapsed. CPR was administered at the site and during the
90-minute drive to the nearest hospital, where the man died. The brother
indicated they had repeatedly had problems with the drill and had taken it to
the repair shop several times with the complaint that it was delivering shocks.
In each instance, nothing was found to be wrong with the drill. After the death
the drill was tested one more time; it delivered a shock so intense that the
electrician involuntarily threw the drill across the room. (Source: Southern
Medical Journal) Don’t do
what they did!
If You Smell Gas, Get Out Fast
A 39-year-old Canadian woman refused to leave her home despite a gas line
rupture and was killed when the gas exploded. The woman’s husband had hit a
buried natural gas line while digging footings for a room addition. He went
into the house and warned his wife of the gas leak, but she assured him she was
safe. The man went back outside to wait for repair technicians to arrive. The
explosion knocked the man down, and he was dragged away from the flames by a
friend. The woman died in the fire. (Source: Alberta.com news report) Don’t do what she did!
That Cigarette Could Have Been His Last
A man who was upset because his girlfriend had left him decided to kill himself
by causing a gas explosion in his apartment. After leaving the gas on for a
while, he reconsidered and turned it off. Then he sat down and lit a cigarette.
The resulting explosion blew the roof off the building, but (amazingly) no one
was seriously injured. (Source: Bozo Criminal Reports) Don't do what he did!
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