Arc Flash Injures Maintenance Worker Replacing a Circuit Breaker Without De-energizing the Panelboard

Location: Kamloops
Regulated industry sector: Electrical - Low voltage electrical system (30V to 750V).

Incident Overview

A maintenance worker without electrical qualifications was attempting to replace a circuit breaker in an energized panelboard in the electrical room of a hotel. This resulted in an arc flash that injured the worker, damaged the bus bars, and caused fire damage to the branch circuit wiring. The incident occurred because the panel was worked on without de-energizing and locking out the equipment. The injuries and damage sustained were also the result of the circuit breaker not being originally installed with approved mounting hardware as per the manufacturer’s installation requirements.