Electical Contractor

In August 1979, late in the morning, lightning struck the antenna and communications center of a police station in central Florida––a high lightning-incidence state. Pieces of communications equipment and telephones were damaged, and several workers in the communications room were injured.

A laborer received major blunt force and lacerating injuries in the early morning of March 29, 1974, when he fell through a hole in the second floor of an unfinished room in a federal building under construction in Washington, D.C.

Whenever energized electrical equipment is being examined, serviced, maintained or adjusted in any way, there is always the potential for an electrical explosion to occur, resulting in injury to the electrical worker and damage to the equipment.

I have rarely come across a piece of equipment on a job site that mimics the sparkling look of a showroom model. Its use and abuse in the field does more than take away its appearance. Equipment and tools wear and can break down. It is expected.

Recent events require some further precautions to be taken when preparing an estimate. Safety has always been a concern that contractors have had to cover as far as a cost basis, productivity and worker morale.

Electrical contractors are now often required to be familiar with not only the National Electrical Code (NEC), which applies to service installations, and equipment and appliances in occupancies, but also with the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) provisions, which apply to electrical supply li

While testing a household microwave oven near the end of a manufacturing and testing line, a worker received a fatal high-voltage (HV) shock.

In February 1980, a 12-year-old boy climbed past a vent through a duct leading into an indoor transformer vault, which was installed in an apartment house basement in Ontario, Canada.

CODE CITATIONS Article 210—Branch Circuits Article 250—Grounding Article 424—Fixed Electric Space Heating Equipment Article 700—Emergency Systems Bonding gas piping Q: The November 2000 issue of Electrical Contractor magazine included a question about the required size of the bonding conductor to be