Arc Flash Injuries

San Francisco Electrical Injury Lawyers: Arc Flash Injuries

Every year, 2,000 workers are admitted to burn centers for extended injury treatments caused by arc flash, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Anyone who works with electricity knows that you do not have to touch a power source to sustain an electrical injury. Just being near a high-amp power source can put you at risk for severe burns from an arc flash or arc blast.

An electrical arc flash is a sudden release of energy through the air. The energy flashes from one exposed live conductor to another or to ground.

Roughly half the people who die because of workplace electrical injuries were injured in arc flash accidents. Five to 10 arc flash explosions and one to two arc flash-related deaths occur in the U.S. every day, according to a report by the Chicago-based research group Capelli-Schellpfeffer, Inc.

Causes of Arc Flash Injury:

• A conductive object gets too close to a power source
• Equipment becomes damaged and fails
• Insulation breaks
• Dust or corrosion accumulate on the surface of the conductor

Electric arcs can heat the air to temperatures as high as 35,000 degrees — four times hotter than the surface of the sun. The intense heat can cause the air to suddenly expand, creating a powerful and dangerous explosion called an arc blast.

Results of Arc Flash and Arc Blast:

• Intense burns from direct exposure
• Vaporized metal that burns the skin and ignites clothing
• Damage to eyesight from the bright flash
• Hearing damage from a blast
• Concussion, loss of memory and other brain injury symptoms
• Collapsed lungs from a blast
• Wrongful death

Negligence is often at the root of arc flash injuries. At Rouda, Feder Tietjen & Zanobini, our attorneys will find out whether you were given proper arc flash training and protective equipment. Were proper lockout/ tagout procedures in place and being practiced? Was defective equipment the cause of the problem? We will investigate your accident to determine what happened and who may be held liable for damages.

If you suffered a serious injury in an arc flash, arc blast or other type of conductor accident, please contact an attorney at Rouda, Feder Tietjen & Zanobini to arrange a free consultation. Located in San Francisco, our lawyers represent clients throughout California and nationwide.

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