Welder electroquted Sad...

[IslandTractor]

I have been shocked while welding when kneeling on wet grass.

Perhaps you should read this.

How Electrical Current Affects the Human Body
Three primary factors affect the severity of the shock a person receives when he or she is a part of an electrical circuit:
Amount of current flowing through the body (measured in amperes).
Path of the current through the body.
Length of time the body is in the circuit.
Other factors that may affect the severity of the shock are:
The voltage of the current.
The presence of moisture in the environment.
The phase of the heart cycle when the shock occurs.
The general health of the person prior to the shock.
Effects can range from a barely perceptible tingle to severe burns and immediate cardiac arrest. Although it is not known the exact injuries that result from any given amperage, the following table demonstrates this general relationship for a 60-cycle, hand-to-foot shock of one second's duration:

Current level
(in milliamperes) Probable effect on human body

1 mA Perception level. Slight tingling sensation. Still dangerous under certain conditions.

5 mA Slight shock felt; not painful but disturbing. Average individual can let go. However, strong involuntary reactions to shocks in this range may lead to injuries.

6-30 mA Painful shock, muscular control is lost. This is called the freezing current or "let-go" range.

50-150 mA Extreme pain, respiratory arrest, severe muscular contractions. Individual cannot let go. Death is possible.

1000-4300 mA Ventricular fibrillation (the rhythmic pumping action of the heart ceases.) Muscular contraction and nerve damage occur. Death is most likely.

10,000 mA Cardiac arrest, severe burns and probable death.

As you know, welding current is typically DC which is very unlikely to affect cardiac rhythm as there is no cycling of the current. Also, in an industrial setting it is unlikely he was using a 120V welder and 220 is much safer in that regard too. I'm sure it is possible to kill with DC but electrocution of welders is still very unusual. I would imagine something related to an extension cord or something of that nature is more likely than just being electrocuted while actually welding.

 

[Scooby074]

I dont want to speak ill of the dead...

But this story smells fishy. I cant see him being locked in there knowingly. You dont suppose he came back after hours to do some remodeling, as in copper removal, and got zapped? It would explain a lot.

 

[Soundguy]

hundreds of possibilities.. lets see what ME and OSHA inspector / investigation shows.

 

[mikehaugen]

As you know, welding current is typically DC which is very unlikely to affect cardiac rhythm as there is no cycling of the current. Also, in an industrial setting it is unlikely he was using a 120V welder and 220 is much safer in that regard too. I'm sure it is possible to kill with DC but electrocution of welders is still very unusual. I would imagine something related to an extension cord or something of that nature is more likely than just being electrocuted while actually welding.

Dc is actually easier to be electrocuted by because it will hold you onto it. Ac will cycle to zero and will usually "throw" you off of it, where dc will make you stick. At least that's how it was explained to me by an electrician.

 

[Jesse masterson]

That opposite what I was always taught, my dad was old school pipe fiter, he wouldn't let me ever weld on a ac machine he said he seen too many deaths on jobs from electrocution a, dc only for him! He was a pipe fiter with pipe fitters Union for 35 years! May be different now tho!

 

[IslandTractor]

Dc is actually easier to be electrocuted by because it will hold you onto it. Ac will cycle to zero and will usually "throw" you off of it, where dc will make you stick. At least that's how it was explained to me by an electrician.

I haven't researched it recently but as I recall, DC will burn you but only AC, and particularly 110v 50/60hz, will cause your heart to stop beating even without a massive shock. It's the 50/60 hz that does the damage. 220V is safer in this regard because the cycling is not as effective at causing an arrhythmia. Even a little 110 is dangerous but obviously enough DC or 220 can also kill you.

 

[TomSeller]

where i work, supervisory staff can't leave untill a walkthru has been done. only after hours staff allowed are scheduled maint and janitor.. janitor ALWAAYS stays until maint is done.

The car in the parking lot would be a dead give away. No joke intended.

 

[tcartwri]

Hard to believe they would wait for someone with a key to initiate a search. That's absolute nonsense.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I have been shocked while welding when kneeling on wet grass.

Perhaps you should read this.

How Electrical Current Affects the Human Body
Three primary factors affect the severity of the shock a person receives when he or she is a part of an electrical circuit:
Amount of current flowing through the body (measured in amperes).
Path of the current through the body.
Length of time the body is in the circuit.
Other factors that may affect the severity of the shock are:
The voltage of the current.
The presence of moisture in the environment.
The phase of the heart cycle when the shock occurs.
The general health of the person prior to the shock.
Effects can range from a barely perceptible tingle to severe burns and immediate cardiac arrest. Although it is not known the exact injuries that result from any given amperage, the following table demonstrates this general relationship for a 60-cycle, hand-to-foot shock of one second's duration:

Current level
(in milliamperes) Probable effect on human body

1 mA Perception level. Slight tingling sensation. Still dangerous under certain conditions.

5 mA Slight shock felt; not painful but disturbing. Average individual can let go. However, strong involuntary reactions to shocks in this range may lead to injuries.

6-30 mA Painful shock, muscular control is lost. This is called the freezing current or "let-go" range.

50-150 mA Extreme pain, respiratory arrest, severe muscular contractions. Individual cannot let go. Death is possible.

1000-4300 mA Ventricular fibrillation (the rhythmic pumping action of the heart ceases.) Muscular contraction and nerve damage occur. Death is most likely.

10,000 mA Cardiac arrest, severe burns and probable death.

I am aware of the small milliamp needed to cause cardiac arrest but it just isn't there for a properly functioning welding machine. You can get a pretty good tingle but it is super low in amperage, not normally enough to hurt you other than the tingling like touching an electric fence only much milder in most instances. In my 40 years of construction work, we never had a welder electrocuted while welding (we did several hundred million of manhours of work per year)and I never heard of one being electrocuted and we always got the OSHA safety bulletins when an injury on any construction site happens. We worked in all kinds of weather conditions also and only the 110v power cords required a GFCI. IF welding current was inherently dangerous, OSHA and other Federal agencies would have put an end to it well before now. This is why I say it was other issue. That company is going to face some substantial fines for violation of safety protocols for confined space and I hope and can pretty much guarantee the widow will get a good portion also.

 

[arrow]

The car in the parking lot would be a dead give away. No joke intended.

Thinking about this some more, the police there must have confronted a situation that they dealt with similar to this, otherwise, it sounds ludicrous for them to have waited for morning. Only things I can think of is 1. they experienced a seemingly abandoned car or two before and it was more about a person "running away". 2. A person was shacking up with "the affair" and they used the other car to go to the motel. At any rate, to me it was inane of them to even consider other possibilities until they eliminated the fact that the guy was there or not by getting access to the building. The local media didn't even express the outrage that should have followed with such shallow seeking of evidence. I have to agree with those speculating "something else is not being told" as what we know now seems incomprehensible with the given facts.

 

[IslandTractor]

I am aware of the small milliamp needed to cause cardiac arrest but it just isn't there for a properly functioning welding machine. You can get a pretty good tingle but it is super low in amperage, not normally enough to hurt you other than the tingling like touching an electric fence only much milder in most instances. In my 40 years of construction work, we never had a welder electrocuted while welding (we did several hundred million of manhours of work per year)and I never heard of one being electrocuted and we always got the OSHA safety bulletins when an injury on any construction site happens. We worked in all kinds of weather conditions also and only the 110v power cords required a GFCI. IF welding current was inherently dangerous, OSHA and other Federal agencies would have put an end to it well before now. This is why I say it was other issue. That company is going to face some substantial fines for violation of safety protocols for confined space and I hope and can pretty much guarantee the widow will get a good portion also.

Agree.

 

[tcartwri]

AC or DC doesn't matter. If the conditions are right it can be lethal. It's the current that kills you and your bodies resistance to that current. So if you're sweating heavily or your gloves become saturated and you put yourself into that circuit you are taking a risk. I personally have received a nasty shock from a car battery when I rested a sweaty forearm across the terminals.

 

[Jesse masterson]

That is true but I personally have never heard of a car battery killing!it may have occurred but rare! Without s doubt most deaths are ac current

 

[DarkBlack]

40,000 people die each year in the US from auto accidents. I'd say a welder's life is in much greater jeopardy driving to/from the welding job.

 

[Jesse masterson]

As my wife tells me! "True that"lol

 

[IslandTractor]

AC or DC doesn't matter. If the conditions are right it can be lethal. It's the current that kills you and your bodies resistance to that current. So if you're sweating heavily or your gloves become saturated and you put yourself into that circuit you are taking a risk. I personally have received a nasty shock from a car battery when I rested a sweaty forearm across the terminals.

That is like arguing that both a BB gun and 155mm howitzer can kill you. Comparing shocks of similar power, DC is much less likely to kill than AC. And, 220 is much less likely to kill than 110. There is a difference.

 

[Jesse masterson]

True that again! Lol

 

[tcartwri]

That is like arguing that both a BB gun and 155mm howitzer can kill you. Comparing shocks of similar power, DC is much less likely to kill than AC. And, 220 is much less likely to kill than 110. There is a difference.

Dead is dead. Thinking that AC is less dangerous because you can let go " because the power oscillates " is an interesting theory.

 

[CNC Dan]

220 is much less likely to kill than 110. There is a difference.

You know, when you get a shock from a 220 volt cord to ground, you are only getting 110 volts. You would have to contact both hot wires to get a 220 volt shock. Either hot wire to ground is only 110 volts.

 

[IslandTractor]

You know, when you get a shock from a 220 volt cord to ground, you are only getting 110 volts. You would have to contact both hot wires to get a 220 volt shock. Either hot wire to ground is only 110 volts.

I don't know if 220 in Europe is different but they have far fewer problems with electrocution at home. Maybe theirs is a true 220 while ours is piggybacked double 110.