Under the OSHA regulation, before beginning equipment operations an employer must complete a number of steps. First, the employer must identify the work zone. The employer can either mark off the boundaries and prohibit equipment operators from going beyond the marked boundaries, or the employer can define the work zone as 360 degrees around the equipment up to the maximum working radius.

If any part of the construction equipment could get closer than 20 feet to a powerline within the identified work zone, the employer must take additional steps and complete one of the following options:

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The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries is investigating five companies involved in the accident: Seaburg Construction Corp., GLY Construction, Northwest Tower Crane Service Inc., Omega Rigging and Machinery Moving Inc., and Morrow Equipment Co. LLC. The Department of Labor and Industries spokesman said that it is too early to speculate on the cause of the accident and the investigation could take up to six months and would including interviewing workers and accessing company records among other investigation.

According to an article by CNN, after a construction company is finished using a crane, disassembly can take between two and three days. The disassembly process requires taking the crane apart piece by piece. The article suggested that construction workers could have prematurely removed or loosened the pins connecting the crane all at once instead of in sections. Workers sometimes do this in order to save time during dismantling. But if pins are removed prematurely, portions of the crane become unsecure and unstable. At the time of the accident, relatively minor wind gusts between 18 and 23 mph were reported in the area and could have contributed to the collapse.

The post Seattle Crane Collapse Gives Rise to Potential Claims Against General and Subcontractors appeared first on Seattle Injury Lawyer Blog.

Powerlines create a serious hazard to aircraft. Approximately 66 aircraft strikes occur annually in the United States and an estimated 30% of these strikes result in fatalities. Strikes occurring at night or in limited visibility are particularly dangerous and have a 60% fatality rate. Helicopters are particularly at risk of striking powerlines, because they operate in the wire environment (below 1,000 feet) 90% of the time.

One of the things that makes powerlines so dangerous is that they can appear invisible to pilots.  In only 40% of the aircraft strikes were pilots aware that the powerline or structure were there. In an effort to prevent these aircraft strikes, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) created both notice regulations for certain constructions and standards for the marking and lighting of powerlines.

14 C.F.R. Part 77.9 sets forth when developers are required to give notice of construction or alternation to the FAA, including:

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The NESC clearance requirements are different depending on whether or not the waterway is suitable for sailboating. Additionally, the NESC publishes separate clearance requirements for areas that are posted for rigging or launching sailboats. Where the body of the water is not suitable for sailing or where sailing is prohibited, the minimum clearance for electrical lines is always 17 feet.

In waterways suitable for sailing, the NESC clearance requirement changes depending on the surface area of the body of water. The larger the body of water, the higher the required clearance. Below are the NESC clearances for waterways suitable for sailing:

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The NESC, published by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, is considered the industry standard for electrical safety regulations. Most state regulatory commissions adopt the NESC.

The NESC publishes both vertical clearance requirements for electrical lines running over buildings and horizontal clearance regulations for electrical lines running adjacent to buildings. The vertical clearance regulation is dependent on whether or not the roof is available to pedestrians. If the roof is not accessible to pedestrians, the electrical line must be no less than 12.5 feet from the highest point of the roof. Whereas if a roof is accessible to pedestrians, the electrical lines must be no less than 13.5 feet from the highest point of the roof. The NESC considers a roof to be accessible to pedestrians if it can be casually accessed through a doorway, ramp, window, stairway, or permanently-mounted ladder by a person on foot who does not need to use extreme physical force or any special tools or devices to gain entry.

The post Required Clearance for Electrical Lines Over Buildings – both vertical and horizontal – under the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) appeared first on Seattle Injury Lawyer Blog.

According to an article by the Seattle Times, Tom Cook attempted to exit his car when a bystander shouted out for him to stop because of the live electrical wires that were strewn across the road. This advice may have saved Tom Cook’s life. Even if he did not directly touch a live wire, the ground around the wire may have been energized up to thirty-five feet. Instead of leaving his car and risking electrocution, Tom Cook and his wife waited for over an hour while emergency crews turned off the power and safely extracted them from their car.

Seattle City Light does not know what caused the poles to fall. Often power lines are brought down either to do a sudden event, like a lightning strike or strong gust of wind, or deterioration of the pole over time. Here, the weather does not appear to have caused the incident. According to the National Weather Service in Seattle, there were no lightning strikes hitting the poles. There were gusts of wind between 20 and 30 mph that day, but nothing out of the ordinary for the area. It is possible that deterioration played a role. The Puget Sound is classified as a “high deterioration zone” by the American Wood Pole Council due to the coastal climate.

The post Downed Powerlines Trap Seattle Couple Inside SUV appeared first on Seattle Injury Lawyer Blog.

The NESC is published every five years by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.  The NESC creates rules and guidelines for electric supply stations, overhead lines, underground lines, and safety-related practices for utility workers. It is considered the industry standard for safety guidelines across the United States. The NESC may be adopted by state regulatory commissions. Although the NESC regulations are the industry standard, transportation departments, cities, and states may require additional clearances.

The required clearance under the NESC is dependent on the activity under or adjacent to the electrical lines and the type of cable or conductor. The minimum required height clearances for electrical lines over roadways subject to truck traffic are below:

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Electrical faults may be caused over time by a deterioration of the insulation protecting the electrical equipment. Additionally, electrical faults may also be caused by a sudden storm, vehicle collision, or aircraft collision. Finally, electrical faults can occur during switching surges when there is a sudden interruption in the circuit.

A protection device can eliminate the dangers that are associated with electrical faults. Fault protection systems detect fault conditions and remove the voltage on conductors, if there is an unwanted connection. Common protection devices include a circuit breaker or a fuse.

The post Injuries and Deaths Caused by Improper Power Company Fault Protection Systems and Improper Grounding Methods appeared first on Seattle Injury Lawyer Blog.

The stronger the electrical current charging throughout a person’s body, the more serious their injuries will be. Electrical injuries range from a slight tingling sensation to respiratory paralysis and cardiac arrest caused by ventricular fibrillation. Deep tissue burning is likely to occur wherever the current flows throughout the body. Much of the burning may be internal and not immediately apparent to first responders. Internal burning can be deadly and cause serious injuries to internal organs. The most severe injuries occur when the electrical current passes through the person’s heart and lungs.

Electrical injuries occur when you comes into contact with an electrical source, such as a downed powerline. The electrical current is transferred from the powerline to your body. One way you can come into contact with an electrical source is by directly touching a downed powerline. You may also suffer electrical injuries, if you touch anything in contact with the fallen powerline, such as a fence or car. If a downed powerline has fallen on your car, you should stay inside your vehicle, if possible, and wait for rescue crews to arrive.

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The risk of impaired driving with alcohol in combination with marijuana is greater than the risk of driving under the influence of either substance by itself. From 2008–2016, 44 percent of fatal crashes involving drivers testing positive for substances were drivers that tested positive for both alcohol and one or more other drugs. The most common drug drivers combined with alcohol was marijuana. Deaths involving drivers with multiple substances in their systems have been increasing at a rate of about 15 percent per year since 2012.

Like driving under the influence of alcohol, driving under the influence of marijuana is illegal. Initiative 502, which legalized the recreational use of marijuana, included the establishment of a blood per se DUI level of 5 nanograms of THC per milliliter of blood. THC is the active ingredient in marijuana.

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