A 29-year old male welder was assigned to work on an outdoor concrete platform

attached to the main factory building. He wheeled a portable arc welder onto the

platform. Since there was not an electrical outlet nearby, he used an extension cord to

plug in the welder. The male end of the cord had four prongs and the female end was

spring-loaded. The worker plugged the male end of the cord into the outlet. At that

instant, the metal case around the power cord plug became energized, electrocuting

the worker.

An investigation showed that the female end of the extension cord was broken. The

spring, cover plate, and part of the casing were missing from the face of the female

connector. Also, the grounding prong on the welder power cord plug was so severely

bent that it slipped outside the connection. Therefore, the arc welder was not grounded.

Normally, it would have been impossible to insert the plug incorrectly.

Enlist safety practices before, during and after work to prevent this from happening to

you or one of your co-workers.​