WORKER SUFFERS TERRIFYING ARC FLASH BLAST FIRE SAFETY FEATURE
M
itchell Cerisola, an employee for Clancy Group, experienced a cable strike whilst attending a house service, resulting in a terrifying Arc Flash strike.
Working as part of the dig team at the time of the incident, Mitchell
was undertaking a routine dig at the property when he pushed his foot down on the shovel and, despite meticulously completing all safety checks, accidentally struck a live underground cable. The cable strike in turn caused an Arc Flash - an intense burst of energy
that can reach temperatures more than four times hotter than the surface of the sun, and can burn an operative’s skin within fractions of a second. Thankfully Mitchell escaped without serious injury, thanks entirely
to the PPE he was wearing at the time. Mitchell’s employer, Clancy Group, had carefully invested in ProGARM Arc Flash protective clothing (PPE), which is specially designed to protect against the extreme heat and flames of an Arc Flash. Discussing the incident, Mitchell, now a field program manager at
Clancy Group, says: “Thankfully the incident wasn’t too serious. It was on a house service of a property and we were digging down when I pushed my foot on the shovel, and suddenly I saw a big flash all up my chest and up to my face. “The incident really shook me, and afterwards when I took my PPE
off, I saw that there were no marks on the inside of my top, but on the outside you could see a big line up to my throat showing where the Arc Flash had actually stopped towards my face. “The Arc Flash could have obviously caused permanent internal and
external damage, I could have had facial scarring, body scarring – it could have really affected me. “In my new role, I make sure to really stress the importance to my team of wearing PPE correctly. Obviously now having the experience
of what happened to myself, I do know how much Arc Flash PPE really can protect you. At the end of the day, we all want to go home, see our families, and do our job safely.” To ensure others are made aware of the importance of wearing specialist
Arc Flash PPE, Mitchell and his employer Clancy Group have teamed up with ProGARM, the supplier of the Arc Flash PPE that Mitchell was wearing, to help promote safe working practices. Mitchell, ProGARM and Clancy Group have created an educational video
showcasing the importance of wearing PPE and ProGARM is offering employers free consultations to offer advice to businesses looking to increase their employee protection against such risks. The video can be found here:
https://www.progarm.com/arc-flash-protection/the- importance-of-using-arc-flash-ppe-to-protect-your-team/
ProGARM
www.progarm.com
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