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Proforma Safety, LLC Proforma PSI…when performance counts. Failure to Remove Damaged Equipment Results in Electrocution The plant electrician received a report of a damaged plug cover on a power cable of a welding machine. The protective aluminum cover was broken, and as he did not have another aluminum cover in stock, he taped rubber around the plug and left it in the work area. That was mistake #1; mistake #2 was that he walked away, assuming no one would try to use the damaged plug. Another worker comes along. Mistake #3: he unwraps the tape around the rubber shield and connects the plug so that he can use the welding machine. Mistake #4: he also leaves the area. A third worker comes to use the same welding machine. He touches the plug and is fatally shocked. This incident illustrates that simply reporting a hazard is not enough; it must be removed from the work area. Defective equipment should be tagged, repaired or replaced. A warning should be posted and the hazard communicated verbally to anyone in the area or associated with the work being perfomed. Remember the old saying about when you assume? You can kill
you and me.
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