Overview of electrical injury accidents and post-injury rehabilitation considerations

Summary form only given as follows: While the total number of employees affected by electrical injury accidents in the United States is relatively small, electrical injury is a significant cause of workplace death and disability. Recent U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that electrocution (i.e., fatal electrical injury) ranks as the second leading cause of death in the construction industry. An average of over 3600 disabling and 4000 nondisabling electrical work-related injuries are recorded annually (FR 55(151):32011, Table 5). Electrical injury accidents typically involve male employees between the ages of 20 and 45 years. Contact injuries from accidental exposure to high voltage (>1000 V) electrical energy affect at least one extremity in almost 70% of cases. Severe trauma from the electrical and thermal mechanisms of injury can result in the need for survivors to undergo multiple surgeries, including amputations. Disability from electrical injury can be related to the patient´s loss of physical abilities, and/or to the occurrence of neurologic, psychologic and psychiatric sequelae. The assessment of disability following electrical injury requires a multidisciplinary team effort. In returning survivors to their pre-injury personal and work activities, serial assessments which include refractory spectral analysis of nerve conduction correlated with physical exam can provide objective physiologic information supporting employee rehabilitation. Post-injury rehabilitation considerations are detailed further in the presentation