electrocution - isolated accident?

[Rick215HO]

Arizona lake 'electrocution incident' leaves 1 dead, 2 critically hurt, fire official says

One person was killed and two others critically injured at a lake in Arizona on Sunday night after a possible electrocution incident, according to officials.

www.foxnews.com

This article calls it a "isolated accident" but I have read about accidents like this several times since I started boating. The boating safety courses tell you not to swim around marinas/docks, and now I have seen some local marinas post "Do not swim, electrocution danger" signs around the docks, only to find people swimming at the dock.

Most marinas have old wiring and wiring is often not visible for easy inspection, many use underwater wiring as well that they can't tell it has failed until is too late.

Reading this I thought it may be interesting if the site had a "Safety" forum to post "near misses" and incidents/accidents we can all learn from.

 

[jjmparsons]

Terrible and senseless accident. Sadly the majority of people we come across swimming and playing in the water around marinas are people who have their own boats in the slips on a permanent basis. Not always the case but man, why do people find it so necessary to push the safety net off to the side and allow for their kids or other adults to get in the water near the docks/slips? So sorry to see this happened though.....

 

[ripler]

One of my rules is to never swim around docks. The marina where I boat removes the docks every year, so they are un-wired and re-wired every year and the wiring is not inspected after reinstallation. I asked a code inspector if the marina needs to be inspected after the docks are reinstalled and their answer was no. Not only can the docks be a hazard, wiring on boats that use shore power are also an issue. I can guarantee that boat owners don't have certified marine electricians doing the wiring on their boats, usually it's a buddy who knows house wiring that does it for a case of beer and usually they drink the case of beer while doing the wiring.

Just last weekend I was pulling my boat out of the water and saw a few guys trying to figure out a power issue on one dock poles. The guy up on the ladder was arguing with the marina owner on how the wiring was supposed to be. They couldn't decide on how many blacks, whites and greens there were supposed to be and none of the wires coming from the docks were color coded or marked. I got out as fast as I could.

My marina has a home made water slide and it's always full of kids, I cringe when I see the kids sliding into the river right next to the docks. I've said something to parents before about the dangers and got a blank stare back or the mind your own business look.

 

[rrmidden]

Someone died swimming around their own dock in northern Wisconsin several years ago, bad wiring for their 120V Boat Lift. One reason I went with the 24V Boat Lift, didn't like the idea of running wiring down to the Lake. After that I think I found some Electrical Alarms you could install on your Dock/Mariana that checked for currents in the water and sounded an alarm if it detected anything. If I had wiring down to the lake, I would definitely have one of these installed.

 

[Beachbummer]

It happens very infrequently compared to other accidents, but you hear about it every year....(Want to freak out? find out how many homes burn in your county on a daily basis...it doesn't make the news anymore, but impact is devastating!)

 

[ripler]

It happens very infrequently compared to other accidents, but you hear about it every year....(Want to freak out? find out how many homes burn in your county on a daily basis...it doesn't make the news anymore, but impact is devastating!)

What's different is that the electrocution is easily preventable, don't swim around marinas.

 

[Julian]

Yeah....I think most people have no clue why there are signs that say "No Swimming" - I'll bet that most think it is there to keep people away from the boats vs trying to save their lives.

I can't imagine how a dock with power could have a slide for the kids!!!!

At our marina there is a guy with a small houseboat there that gets up every morning and swims the length of the docks - so at least I know that the docks are check daily for stray voltage!

 

[Beachbummer]

What's different is that the electrocution is easily preventable, don't swim around marinas.

Don't disagree with you, If you look at fire investigations many fires are also preventable.

I tend to be less wound up by these types of accidents than others. Folks are free to do risky things, it just has consequences, and they are free to do the risky thing. (1 out of 100,000? 100? get fried while swimming at the marina, knock yourself out, I will pass, thanks.) I also don't sky dive, and that is probably less risky than swimming in the marina.

It's Risky, It's a bad idea, it can kill them. Shouldn't do it.

 

[Julian]

It's Risky, It's a bad idea, it can kill them. Shouldn't do it.

But I think what the OP @Rick215HO is trying to convey is that many people are clueless as to why you shouldn't in the first place. I'll BET that if you sat next to the sign saying no swimming on the ramp down to my dock, that less than half would tell you the correct reason WHY you shouldn't swim around an electrified dock, and most would say "just because someone doesn't want us swimming around the boats....I'm smart enough to avoid a boat"

Similar to the "Drowning doesn't look like what you see in the movies" thread.....

 

[Bluewater272]

But I think what the OP @Rick215HO is trying to convey is that many people are clueless as to why you shouldn't in the first place. I'll BET that if you sat next to the sign saying no swimming on the ramp down to my dock, that less than half would tell you the correct reason WHY you shouldn't swim around an electrified dock, and most would say "just because someone doesn't want us swimming around the boats....I'm smart enough to avoid a boat"

Similar to the "Drowning doesn't look like what you see in the movies" thread.....

Yep. Sign should say something like "Electrocution Hazard - No Swimming". I'm aware of the risks swimming near a marina, so I don't do it (and when I fell off my boat at a marina, it was all i could think about for the half second before I hit the water), but most times when I see a No Swimming sign, I think its just a CYA thing for the property owner in case you don't know how to swim and drown.

It's a unique and non-obvious risk, so should be communicated that way.

 

[Julian]

And then there are people like this....hunting for Darwin Awards! LOL

 

[Miitch]

Don't disagree with you, If you look at fire investigations many fires are also preventable.

I tend to be less wound up by these types of accidents than others. Folks are free to do risky things, it just has consequences, and they are free to do the risky thing. (1 out of 100,000? 100? get fried while swimming at the marina, knock yourself out, I will pass, thanks.) I also don't sky dive, and that is probably less risky than swimming in the marina.

It's Risky, It's a bad idea, it can kill them. Shouldn't do it.

oh come on now, you can’t talk about not being risky. Everyone on this forum is a risk taker - we all have boats!!

In all seriousness, swimming in the marina is just a bad idea from any angle you look at it.. for me, I was aware of the electrical hazards, but it was the water itself that turns me away. Gasoline, oil, cleaning chemicals, grey water... I think electrocution is the quick way out!

 

[rrmidden]

I'm actually surprised that commercial marinas aren't required to have an Electrical Current Monitoring System around their docks. I can understand an individual homeowner, not wanting/needing a system at their wired Docks, but a Commerical Entity is a totally different animal, with a much higher risk factor.

 

[captras]

When we had our boathouse rebuilt, the electrician made sure that there was a breaker for every circuit, and each had a ground fault. In addition there was another master box that also had a ground fault. I have read far too many cases and actually lost a cousin many years ago to exactly what is being discussed here.

 

[Canuckjetboater]

Arizona lake 'electrocution incident' leaves 1 dead, 2 critically hurt, fire official says

One person was killed and two others critically injured at a lake in Arizona on Sunday night after a possible electrocution incident, according to officials.

www.foxnews.com

This article calls it a "isolated accident" but I have read about accidents like this several times since I started boating. The boating safety courses tell you not to swim around marinas/docks, and now I have seen some local marinas post "Do not swim, electrocution danger" signs around the docks, only to find people swimming at the dock.

Most marinas have old wiring and wiring is often not visible for easy inspection, many use underwater wiring as well that they can't tell it has failed until is too late.

Reading this I thought it may be interesting if the site had a "Safety" forum to post "near misses" and incidents/accidents we can all learn from.

@Rick215HO ......this type of incident is far more common than you think. Many marinas where i boat have no swimming signs posted and enforce them rigorously. One guy who constantly let his guests swim - take a dip was refused slippage the next year. The electrical hazard can be from the marina's electrical system but even more likely from a boat whose shore power is not properly isolated. Never ever should anyone swim in a marina within 100 yards of slips with electrical or cruisers running generators. In had a cruiser that had on-board generator that would run the AC, fridges, ice maker, etc. When on the anchor and with it running no one was allowed in the water and that was a new cruiser with a state of the art isolator.