Training standards essential to electrical safety
former apprentice suffered horrific injuries from electrical work
It was a typical day on the job for third-year electrician apprentice Mark Graham when, suddenly, the unimaginable happened.
He had been running conduit at a raw sewage plant while on a wooden step ladder when one of the drill bits went into the ventilation hole that was carrying 600 volts, 3,000 amps. It caused a dead short and an explosion that threw him off the ladder in flames so strong, his hardhat melted into his head.
Graham awoke in the hospital six weeks later, unable to see, with second- and third-degree burns to 60 per cent of his body. Today, he’s speaking out about the tragedy that happened so long ago to help ensure others don’t suffer a similar fate. “Communicating with others and proper training and supervision is critical,” Graham says.
Mark Lloyd, President of T. Lloyd Electric Ontario Ltd. in Hamilton and a member of the Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario (ECAO), agrees. “Current standards have been developed over decades to ensure safe electrical installations,” he says. “If you wire something the wrong way, it can be extremely dangerous and can lead to a fire and unknown consequences.”
Lloyd “firmly” believes that doing things safely means they’ll be done properly the first time, saving the costs associated with redoing work. His company, which has worked on hospitals and schools, was hired to fix a project in which a non-union company took shortcuts by burying electrical feeder lines just a few inches below the ground instead of to code.
“Someone could simply have stuck something in the ground and been electrocuted,” he says. Doing work properly also safeguards workers. “We’re a mid-sized family-owned company that’s been around for 45 years. I consider the people I work with my family,” Lloyd says. “We have to make sure everybody goes home to their families safely every night.”
But industry experts are worried there’s a movement to relax the rules, putting new workers and young people like Adam Goulet at risk. At age 16, he was hired by a contractor to work as a labourer but found himself doing electrical work without training or supervision. A promised apprenticeship never materialized.
At first, Goulet’s greatest fear was getting caught by inspectors but he eventually realized how dangerous it was to be doing electrical work without training or supervision. On the advice of a trusted teacher, he left the job and later landed an apprenticeship with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). “I now feel safe at work, knowing I am being supervised and getting the proper training,” he says.
ECAO members work with IBEW electricians to ensure a high level of training and commitment to safety. “Unionized contractors in Ontario have a 23 per cent lower rate of injuries than non-unionized contractors. ECAO provides training to support all our member contractors, which goes hand in hand with quality,” says Lloyd.
He advises purchasers of electrical services not to be duped by people advertising themselves as providers of electrical services. Ask for their contractor’s licence, proof of insurance, bonding for larger projects and a safety policy.
Rules are in place for compulsory trades like electrician. Journeyperson-to-apprentice ratios, for instance, determine the number of apprentices who can be sponsored or employed in relation to the number of employed journeypersons employed to ensure proper oversight and safety. “Unfortunately, ratios are not being enforced and we continue to hear stories of young people doing work that could cause them serious injury or death,” says James Barry, Executive Chairman of the IBEW-Construction Council of Ontario.
A former member of the Board of Governors for the Ontario College of Trades, Barry is concerned the college is failing to fulfil its role to elevate the status of the trades and to protect the public and young workers through the enforcement of ratios. He’s worried the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities may reduce the length of an apprenticeship and change the scope of practice for an electrician as a shortcut to addressing a skilled trade demand.
“Right now, the IBEW has no trouble finding apprentices because we ensure the proper training, a fair wage and a safe work environment,” he says. “If there is a lowering of training and safety standards, then that would hurt, not help, in attracting people to the trade.”
Given the complexity and risks of the job, Graham agrees it’s important — at the very minimum — to maintain current training standards. “I don’t want other people to go through what I’ve been through,” he says. “It’s a place you don’t want to go.”
“We ensure the proper training, a fair wage and a safe work environment. if there is a lowering of training and safety standards, that would hurt, not help, in attracting people to the trade.” —James Barry, Executive Chairman, IBEW-Construction Council of Ontario.