Peter Taylor shared his own near death experience in an arc-fault incident that consumed his colleague in his presentation at the Safety Connect – NSCA Conference in Brisbane (30-Aug-2018). Due to the intense burns, maiming and fatalities these electrical ‘accidents’ represent barely 5% of all incidents, yet almost 50% of the total cost of all incidents.
The presentation shared several case studies of switchboard maintenance and more public events to breakdown the multiple and accumulating failures that are ultimately referred to as an “accident”. He discussed the use of ‘Root Cause Analysis’ and contrasted ‘Causes’ and ‘Contributing Factors’.
Peter, introduced two innovations developed by PTAS that reduced risk to personnel by engineering out the hazard; the new ABCD Arc-containment Outdoor Switchboard technology and the QR – Online Customer Support System. Both of these were on display at the exhibition.
His presentation also set out how the Dreamworld incident was a multiple factor failure, a classic ‘swiss cheese’ event.
Timing of PTAS attendance at Safety Connect conference also worked out well, as the NSCA announcing PTAS as a ‘Finalist’ in the National Safety Awards on the Monday prior.
