“`html
Southern California – A 32-year-old line worker died in 2018 when unexpectedly energized wires delivered a lethal shock, highlighting the hidden dangers of induction-a phenomenon where electricity can “leak” onto de-energized equipment.
Protecting Line Workers from ‘Sneaky’ Electricity
New conductive suits offer an extra layer of safety against induction injuries, a risk that’s growing as grids become more crowded.
- Induction occurs when an electric or magnetic field causes current to flow through de-energized equipment.
- Standard safety practices like grounding aren’t foolproof, and accidents still happen.
- Budapest-based Electrostatics developed specialized suits with conductive straps to redirect risky currents.
- The suits are gaining traction with utility companies in the U.S., Europe, Canada, Indonesia, and Turkey.
Justin Kropp was restoring a fire-damaged transmission circuit when the accident occurred. Grid operators had de-energized the 115-kilovolt circuit, but six nearby high-voltage lines remained active. Rogue current flowed onto the wires kropp was working on,traveling through his body and the elevated work platform.
“It went in both of his hands and came out his stomach where he was leaning against the platform rail,” recalled Justin’s father, Barry Kropp, a retired line worker. “Justin got hung up on the wire. When they finally got him on the ground, it was too late.”
The danger stemmed from induction, a hazard where an electric or magnetic field causes current to flow through equipment that’s supposed to be off. While safety protocols emphasize grounding to provide an choice path for electricity, accidents can-and do-happen. In kropp’s case, the grounding system failed to prevent the lethal current from flowing through him.
“the problem is that line workers are frequently enough electrically floating,” explained Ramirez Bettoni, an electrical safety consultant. “Standard personal protective equipment (PPE) like rubber gloves and sleeves provides insulation, but that shields the wearer from electric fields. However, standard suits have limited capacity to shunt current. Like a bird perched on a wire, bare-hands workers are electrically floating, allowing current to bypass them through the line itself.
Suit Design and performance
Electrostatics received a $250,000 investment from Xcel Energy in 2019 to adapt its standard suits. The key addition was low-resistance conductive straps designed to redirect current around the worker’s body. “When I’m touching a conductor with one hand and the other hand is grounded, the current will flow through the straps to get out,” explained Bálint Németh, Electrostatics’ CEO and director of the High Voltage Laboratory at Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
The suits went on sale in 2023 and have since been adopted by over a dozen transmission operators in the United States and Europe, and also in Canada, Indonesia, and Turkey. They cost approximately $4,500 in the United States.
A critical design goal was to keep body exposure below the 6-milliampere “let-go” threshold, the point at which an electrocuted worker loses muscle control. “If you lose control of your muscles, you’re going to hold onto the conductor until you pass out or possibly die,” Ramirez Bettoni stated.
The suit, gloves, and socks combination can withstand 100 amperes for 10 seconds and 50 amperes for 30 seconds. It also provides insulation against heat from high current and flame retardancy for protection against electric arcs.
Kropp, Németh, and Ramirez Bettoni hope that the advancement of industry standards for induction safety gear, including those published in October, will encourage wider adoption. the recently enacted Justin Kropp safety Act in California, championed by the elder Kropp, now requires automated defibrillators at power-line work sites.
