Hydro Worker dead, electrocuted , Queens Quay Condos

[unassuming]

No power in area, Queens Quay and Rees steet

Hydro worker dead after industrial accident in Toronto

A hydro worker is dead after an industrial accident in the city’s downtown core. CP24's Courtney Heels with the details.

www.cp24.com

 

[bazokajoe]

Nobody should die at work.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Not to jump to conclusions, but it wouldnt surprise me if he died due to maintenance negligence in that building.
A lot of those buildings on Queens Quay are horrible managed by property management companies

 

[bazokajoe]

Not to jump to conclusions, but it wouldnt surprise me if he died due to maintenance negligence in that building.
A lot of those buildings on Queens Quay are horrible managed by property management companies

My guess he/someone else never pulled the breaker and locked it out.

Thoughts are with his family and co-workers.

 

[Robert Mugabe]

My guess he/someone else never pulled the breaker and locked it out.

Thoughts are with his family and co-workers.

Electrician is a king trade, but one that can kill you every day. I had a boss who asked me to work on a circuit on a compressor. I pulled the main switch and started unscrewing wire connections. I noticed some lights were still on. Got my tester and the whole thing was live. I went back down to the shop and asked him what gives? He said. " oh sorry. They switched the power to another main switch. The switch you pulled is not connected to that unit any more. I have been so busy with paper work......and on and on. " I restrained myself from smashing his head in with a hammer. Too busy to mark the switch panel with a felt tipped pen to pass on the information.

 

[SchlongConery]

My guess he/someone else never pulled the breaker and locked it out.

Thoughts are with his family and co-workers.

I understand the incident occurred in a concrete hydro vault, where the high voltage transformer(s) would be located.

 

[HotDogger]

A very sad day for a fellow that has a respectable trade.

 

[Ponderling]

Something went way wrong either in the way the work was being done, or a tool or equipment failure.

Power workers are very well trained, and have a ton of protective wear and tools to do the job safely.

Below grade vaults use insulated high voltage 'elbows' and 'inserts' to insulate all high voltage connections.

Low grade connection are insulated as well.

But these are big buildings in the area so the secondary voltage would be 600/347V, which in a damp below grade vault is something you must always respect.

I feel bad for the worker who died., and for those who knew and loved him for their loss as well.

But something went wrong, and an inquest will provide more information over time on this since ths happened on the clock.

 

[drstrangelove]

Electrician is a king trade, but one that can kill you every day. I had a boss who asked me to work on a circuit on a compressor. I pulled the main switch and started unscrewing wire connections. I noticed some lights were still on. Got my tester and the whole thing was live. I went back down to the shop and asked him what gives? He said. " oh sorry. They switched the power to another main switch. The switch you pulled is not connected to that unit any more. I have been so busy with paper work......and on and on. " I restrained myself from smashing his head in with a hammer. Too busy to mark the switch panel with a felt tipped pen to pass on the information.

Your boss needs to be reported. Question for you though, why didn't you use your tester before you started pulling things apart?

 

[dotdotdot69]

Never trust others and test things prior to starting I'd say. There's too many incompetent people out there and yeah at times people go through a lot and slip to even mark something with a felt marker. Personally when it's a matter of safety saying he forgot due to paperwork is a joke. Someone like that should have a marker in their hand. Too many managers and higher ups have the same issue I find where they don't pass the message along and follow up.

 

[Robert Mugabe]

Your boss needs to be reported. Question for you though, why didn't you use your tester before you started pulling things apart?

Boss did a bunch of stuff that was frankly criminal, but the place I was working, management didn't give a shit. Why didn't I use my tester before starting? I should have, but I trusted the big disconnect switch that had been in the electrical room for 10 years. Didn't suspect that he had gotten the power changed over to another disconnect switch without telling anybody.

 

[Ponderling]

If the work to move the compressor motor feed source was done by an electician, it is their responsibility to properly label changes.
So if you are realy pissed, call in ESA and ask where the permit was, of if self administring the work, where the work log is kept, and is it up to date.
Again the maintenance electricain responsibility.

But bad on you for not at lease stabbing a neon light power checker.
That would be standard work practice that goes aliong with using lock out proceedures.

I would have put the lock out on the right circuit once you found it, then not taken it off until you get real answers on how the situation got screwed up.

 

[dotdotdot69]

Sadly some of these companies don't care even if you whine. They'll lie or whatever and at the end of the day they'll just somehow take it out on ya. A few factories deal with safety issues and management will tell ya to stfu or go find another job.

 

[Phil C. McNasty]

Sadly some of these companies don't care even if you whine. They'll lie or whatever and at the end of the day they'll just somehow take it out on ya. A few factories deal with safety issues and management will tell ya to stfu or go find another job

Maybe because of this guy's death there will changes in the industry??

 

[dotdotdot69]

To a certain degree sure otherwise it's business as usual. Most of the time it's fast pace without caring much for safety. How many truckers call up their dispatch at times to report issues and get told it's fine and keep driving then something happens on the hwy. Some don't care about dealing with the fines or will say nobody told them about that issue. That's not to say there are good companies out there, but bad apples too.

 

[bazokajoe]

Was this work being performed by a City of Toronto electrician, or a contractor?

 

[SchlongConery]

Was this work being performed by a City of Toronto electrician, or a contractor?

According to this article it was a Toronto Hydro employee.


“We can confirm that we experienced a tragic workplace incident early this morning while our crews were completing planned maintenance inside a vault in the York St. and Queens Quay area,” a spokesperson for Toronto Hydro told CityNews. “We’re deeply saddened to share that this incident resulted in a loss of life.”


Given the time of the accident and there being just two workers on site, and it happening in the transformer vault, it was more likely to be a response to a power outage rather than for reg scheduled work.

Read specifically he "came into contact with live wires".

High Voltage Transformer arcing doesn't even need you to actually touch a bare wire. If it's damp, or there is a defect/deterioration of the housing or terminal insulator, or even carbon (or other mildly conductive) dust can also serve as a weak link.

Distribution Transformer Arc Discharge High Voltage Transformer #shorts #highvoltage #shortcircuit

Warning! Do not try anything you see in this video at home. I have a lot of knowledge and experience.Also security measures have been taken that can not be s...

youtube.com

 

[corrie fan]

Look at these guys transferring from a helicopter to a high voltage line.

 

[SchlongConery]

Flying helicopters around hydro lines would pucker my asshole so much that the upholstery would be pulled up into it!

This is particularly crazy! The Hughes/McD 500 series are single engine choppers with a low inertia rotor system. That means if you have an engine failure down low you are not likely going to be able to autorotate to a safe landing. Flying with one of these buzzsaws is about as crazy at it gets!

 

[Robert Mugabe]

Sadly some of these companies don't care even if you whine. They'll lie or whatever and at the end of the day they'll just somehow take it out on ya. A few factories deal with safety issues and management will tell ya to stfu or go find another job.

Same boss. back a long time ago, but same year. Our water in the hotel was turning a greenish brown. One of my co workers and myself started getting the trots. The kitchen staff asked if there was something wrong with the water. City hall was across the street so I phoned them. They said they would be right over because the hotel was long overdue for a visit. 4 people in yellow and orange vests showed up. I asked them to say it was just a random visit, not prompted by a phone call. The manager was furious. Grilling me. Who made the call? I said I don't know, but you should be worried that we have green brown drinking water and people in the restaurant might get sick. But WHO MADE THE CALL?!!
The posse went down to the boiler room and found that somebody (the same boss) had turned some valve on the boiler where now dirty boiler water was flowing into the pottable water.
Best one was where he turned off the entire sprinkler system because a sprinkler head had broken off in the parkade.
He quit shortly after that and a year later a fire inspector noted that all the sprinkler system for the entire building 17 floors was turned off. (same boss) Could have been a towering inferno.
He got a better job somewhere else with a glowing reference from the place he sabotages.