These tragic electrocutions, all investigated by NIOSH, show just how widespread and unexpected electrical dangers can be, sometimes involving the most ordinary types of work:

●Truck driver standing on the ground directing crane operator electrocuted when crane cable contacted 7200V powerline. Victim on the ground helping to guide a ladder being positioned by the crane.

●Electrician electrocuted at coal-fired power plant while replacing limit switch on coal sampler. Lockout procedures not followed. Contact with 220V line.

●Painter working on electrical transmission tower electrocuted after direct contact with a grounding line that held a static charge.

●Fast food restaurant employee electrocuted while plugging a portable electric toaster into a 110V/20 amp receptacle.

●Worker electrocuted through direct contact with overhead 69000V powerline while dismantling electric substation tower. Co-worker had advised victim that lines not yet deenergized by power company.

●Transportation worker electrocuted when iron rod used to measure asphalt level in storage tank contacted overhead 7200V powerline.

●Electrical line construction foreman electrocuted by electric arc while attempting to cut 7200V powerline and attach it to new pole.

●Warehouse worker electrocuted after coming in contact with bare 440V runway conductor (trolley wire) and grounded metal pallet storage rack. Victim at top of storage rack helping to remove mining auger by attaching a chain to it so it could be lowered by a crane.

●Two steel erection workers electrocuted while using a crane with a telescoping boom to move an assembly of steel framing members. Contact with 23000V overhead powerline.

●Construction worker electrocuted when crane load line contacted 7200V overhead powerline. Victim in process of hooking a load to the crane.

●Mushroom cannery worker electrocuted while attempting to unclog a drain beneath a processing table. Victim contacted motor connection box while kneeling in water.

●Construction worker electrocuted when crane cable contacted 13800V overhead powerline. Victim in contact with crane’s outrigger.

●Carpenter electrocuted and another worker severely burned when crane with telescoping boom contacted 34000V overhead powerline while he was setting metal forms for a highway retaining wall. Electricity passed from cable through form through victim to ground.

●Foreman electrocuted after contacting one phase of a 23000V conductor within a switch cabinet. Replacing high-voltage distribution switch at the time of the incident.

●Foreman electrocuted, three crewmen critically injured during erection of 36-foot traffic control device pole which contacted 26000V overhead powerline as derrick truck operator attempted to place it.

●Video store owner electrocuted when he contacted an energized circuit while repairing an air conditioning thermostat. Victim grounded through aluminum ladder.

●Lineman electrocuted after contacting a distribution system he believed to be deenergized.

●Maintenance worker electrocuted as he attempted to turn off a welder. Exposed cable, broken insulation, water on floor.

●Textile worker electrocuted while adding a new supply roll of warp to a weaving loom after contacting a loom and a feeder. Faulty receptacle to feeder.

●Electrical worker electrocuted when he slipped and fell into a 7200V, 240/120V single-phase, step-down transformer he was wiring.

●Production welder plugged cord of a portable welder into a defective extension cord and was electrocuted.

●Maintenance worker electrocuted when 20-foot piece of angle iron he was carrying struck an uninsulated supply wire on an electrical transformer.

●Mobile home assembly-line worker electrocuted when he contacted the exterior of a mobile home energized by a short circuit in the wiring of an adjacent home.

●Service technician electrocuted in crawlspace at private home while performing maintenance on an oil furnace.

●Electronic technician electrocuted as he demonstrated how feeders were to be connected to bus bars. Contact with 380 volts.

●Electrician electrocuted after contacting 277 volts while making a connection in a 4-inch junction box at a construction site.