At the time of the incident, Eversource employees were doing maintenance work on electrical equipment located inside an underground electrical vault at 28 Bowdoin St.
As one employee set the equipment back into place, an arc flash and blast occurred inside the vault. The employee suffered severe burns and later died.
Investigators found Eversource:
- Did not fully deenergize the electrical equipment or follow the manufacturer’s maintenance recommendations when employees conducted maintenance
- Failed to make a reasonable estimate of the heat energy to which employees would be exposed if an arc flash and blast occurred
- Did not adequately train the employees on electrical equipment hazards, provide rescue equipment nor test oxygen levels before the employees entered the vault, an enclosed space
“Eversource could have prevented this arc flash and blast – and its tragic outcome – by ensuring effective and necessary training, procedures and work practices were provided and followed,” said OSHA Area Director James Mulligan in Braintree, Massachusetts. “The company knew the hazards related to this type of high voltage equipment, yet it failed to safeguard its employees as the law requires.”
OSHA cited Eversource for two willful and three serious violations.
Eversource transmits and delivers electricity and other energy products to customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.