12.6 Job-Site Injuries, Health Conditions & First-Aid Response
Key Takeaways
- The first action in any electrical injury is to de-energize the source, never to pull the victim away by hand.
- Heat exhaustion presents with heavy sweating and cool clammy skin, while heat stroke presents with hot skin, sweating often stopped, and requires calling 911.
- Chemical or particulate eye exposure requires flushing with clean water or an eyewash for at least 15 minutes.
- High humidity increases the chance of shock or electrocution because moisture lowers contact resistance.
- Employers must report a work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours and an in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours.
12.6 Job-Site Injuries, Health Conditions & First-Aid Response
Duty E.08 of the Oklahoma blueprint requires candidates to recognize injuries and health conditions commonly encountered at job sites. The CareerTech testing center's own published list of resources used to write these items includes a medical desk dictionary and general first-aid references — so the questions are recognition-and-response questions, not clinical ones.
Electrical Injuries
Electricity is the hazard most specific to this trade.
| Injury | Mechanism | Immediate Response |
|---|---|---|
| Electric shock | Current passes through the body | De-energize first. Never touch a victim still in contact with a live source; use the disconnect, not your hands |
| Electrocution | Shock resulting in death | Call 911, begin CPR once the victim is clear of the source, deploy an AED if available |
| Arc flash burn | Explosive release of energy from a fault | Cool the burn with clean water, cover with a sterile dry dressing, do not apply ice, ointments, or break blisters |
| Secondary fall | Muscular reaction to shock throws the worker from a ladder or lift | Treat as a possible spinal injury; do not move the victim unnecessarily |
Why humidity matters: moisture on the skin and in the air lowers contact resistance and increases the chance of shock or electrocution — which is why high humidity, not high temperature, is the environmental factor tied to electrical injury risk.
Heat-Related Illness
Oklahoma summers regularly put technicians in unconditioned attics, plenums, and new construction with no HVAC.
- Heat cramps — painful muscle spasms from salt and fluid loss. Move to shade, hydrate, rest.
- Heat exhaustion — heavy sweating, cool and clammy pale skin, weakness, nausea, headache, fast weak pulse. Move to a cool place, loosen clothing, sip water, apply cool wet cloths.
- Heat stroke — a medical emergency. Body temperature above roughly 103 °F, hot red skin that is often dry because sweating has stopped, confusion, slurred speech, possible unconsciousness. Call 911 immediately, move the victim to a cool area, and cool aggressively with water or ice packs. Do not give fluids to an unconscious person.
[!WARNING] The exam distinguishes these by skin and sweating: heat exhaustion means cool, clammy skin with heavy sweating; heat stroke means hot skin with sweating usually stopped. Mistaking heat stroke for heat exhaustion is the error that kills workers.
Cuts, Eye, and Impact Injuries
- Lacerations from sheet-metal edges, cut cable jackets, and hole-saw slugs: apply direct pressure with a clean dressing, elevate if practical, and seek care for deep wounds, wounds that will not stop bleeding, or anything involving tendon function.
- Puncture wounds from drill bits and fasteners carry infection risk; they bleed little and are easy to under-treat. Tetanus status matters.
- Eye injuries — dust, insulation fiber, and metal chips from overhead drilling. Flush with clean water or an eyewash for at least 15 minutes. Never attempt to remove an embedded object; stabilize it and get medical help.
- Strains and sprains from lifting battery sets and cable reels, and from overhead work. Remember R.I.C.E. — rest, ice, compression, elevation.
- Falls — assume a head, neck, or back injury after any fall from height and keep the victim still until EMS arrives.
Respiratory, Hearing, and Biological Hazards
- Insulation fiber and drywall dust irritate the airway; respirable crystalline silica from drilling concrete is a regulated long-term hazard requiring dust control or respiratory protection.
- Asbestos may be present in ceiling tile, pipe lagging, and floor tile in older Oklahoma buildings. If suspect material is encountered, stop work and report it — a fire alarm technician is not authorized to disturb it.
- Hearing damage: notification appliance testing produces sustained high sound levels at close range. Horns can exceed 100 dBA at the appliance, and hearing protection is required during acceptance testing and NAC troubleshooting.
- Bloodborne pathogens: treat all blood as infectious, use gloves from the first-aid kit, and follow the employer's exposure control plan for cleanup and reporting.
Reporting and Recordkeeping
Report every injury to the supervisor, no matter how minor — an untreated puncture that becomes an infection is far harder to handle if it was never documented. Employers must report a work-related fatality to OSHA within 8 hours and a work-related in-patient hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye within 24 hours (29 CFR 1904.39).
Exam Watchouts
[!IMPORTANT] De-energize before you touch. Every electrical-injury question has one correct first action: remove the victim from the energy source by opening the disconnect, not by pulling on the victim.
[!TIP] Fifteen minutes is the eye-flush duration, 8 hours is the fatality reporting deadline, and 24 hours is the deadline for hospitalization, amputation, or loss of an eye. These three numbers carry most of the recordkeeping and response items.
A technician pulling cable in an unconditioned Oklahoma attic in July becomes confused and stops sweating, and the skin is hot and red. What condition is indicated and what is the correct response?
A trainee is in contact with an energized conductor inside a fire alarm panel and cannot let go. What is the correct first action?
While removing ceiling tile in a 1974 Oklahoma school building to run fire alarm cable, a technician encounters suspect pipe lagging that may contain asbestos. What is the correct action?
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