Electrical injury in relation to voltage, “no-let-go” phenomenon, symptoms and perceived safety culture: a survey of Swedish male electricians

Abstract

Electrical injury in relation to voltage, "no-let-go" phenomenon, symptoms and perceived safety culture: a survey of Swedish male electricians Rådman, Lisa; Nilsagård, Ylva; Jakobsson, Kristina; Ek, Åsa; Gunnarsson, Lars-Gunnar General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights.• Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.• You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal 1 2 3 Results Nearly all reported having symptoms directly after the injury, mainly paraesthesia and pain. For the first weeks after injury, pain and muscle weakness dominated. The most frequently occurring symptoms at follow-up were pain, muscle weakness and loss of sensation. HV injuries and "no-let go" phenomenon were associated with more sustained symptoms. Deficiencies in the reporting routines were present, as well as shortage of preventive measures. Conclusion The results indicate that symptoms are reported also long time after an electrical injury and that special attention should be paid to HV injuries and "no-let go" accidents. The workplace routines to reduce the number of work-related electrical injuries for Swedish electricians can be improved.

Life-changing or trivial: Electricians’ views about electrical accidents

“…A strength of this exploratory study is that it is embedded in a larger project using mixed methods – postal questionnaires, clinical investigations and semi-structured interviews – for investigation of the long-term consequences of electrical accidents [ 5, 11– 13 ]. Also, the informants represent a broad spectrum of working electricians, in contrast to previous interview studies emanating from burn and rehabilitation clinics (e.g.…”

“…50 %) identified those who had experienced an accident that involved electrical current passing through the body. These ( n = 1156) were sent a second questionnaire which included questions about the accident and potential immediate and long-term symptoms (response rate 49 %, n = 561 of which 523 were male electricians) [ 5 ]. From the second questionnaire, all male electricians who reported residual sensory, musculoskeletal, cognitive or emotional health problems which they attributed to an electrical accident ( n = 58) were invited to participate in a clinical study.…”

“…Thus, the findings from such studies will likely not reflect the broad spectrum of minor and major consequences in the aftermath of an electrical accident. The present study is part of a Swedish research project in which a questionnaire study on electrical accidents had a study population based on electricians’ union member lists and workplace electrical accident reports [ 5 ]. Electricians who reported persisting symptoms which they themselves attributed to an electrical accident were invited to a clinical investigation of sensory and motor function [ 11 ], and cognition [ 12 ].…”

Cognition and mental wellbeing after electrical accidents: a survey and a clinical study among Swedish male electricians

“…A strength of the current study is that it examined a relatively unselected group, i.e., not patients seeking treatment for cognitive or psychiatric impairment in the sequelae of an electrical accident. Only about 25% of the respondents had sought medical care after the accident (Rådman et al 2016b). However, in contrast to the reported subjective cognitive problems, we found no objectively verifiable reduction in cognitive function in the clinical examinations of a subgroup of electricians.…”

“…Of those with residual health complaints, the majority (74%) reported pain, muscular, or sensory symptoms, whereas 47% reported cognitive or mental symptoms, and 29% reported symptoms of the eyes or ears. For a more detailed description of the survey study group, see Rådman et al (2016b).…”