Correlation between electrical accident parameters and injury

Management of electrical hazards is a multidisciplinary challenge. Injury from electrical hazards affects working adults in a majority of the reported cases. Electrical arcs occur frequently in the electrical trauma setting, reportedly in as many as 75% of accidents. It is nearly impossible to precisely determine the tissue exposure to current in most cases. Reports have been unable to identify relationships between exposure parameters in electrical trauma and clinical outcome. If such a relationship exists, its knowledge would be of great value to treating physicians, therapists and safety engineers. In this article, the thermoacoustic wave effects or "blast explosion" from arcs are reviewed. The authors estimate the magnitude of pressure that would be created as a result of the thermal acoustic energy released from hypothetical electrical arc events. The published thresholds for injury from blast are presented. Finally, the relationships between how an electrical accident occurs, the exposures at the accident scene and the potential for injuries are addressed.