Applied correctly, NBR 5410 prevents fatal accidents

Last Sunday (21), a 52-year-old man died after being electrocuted in Lagoa do Taquaral, in Campinas, in the interior of São Paulo.

Eduardo Girotto was playing tennis when he touched one of the lamp posts between the Lagoa courts. Despite the activation of SAMU (Emergency mobile care service) and the Fire Department, the man had a cardiac arrest and died instantly. 

The site has been isolated and is undergoing forensic examination by the scientific police and inspection by the Public Services department. The city council stated that it will take all necessary measures and provide full support to investigations.

Second Simone Girotto, your husband he received the electric shock when he leaned on the pole to pick up a tennis ball. 

“He leaned on the pole to get the tennis ball and stayed there, he couldn't take his hand off the pole because of the electrical discharge. They tried to take him out and also got shocked, they ran to the administration to ask to turn off the power while he was getting the electric shock”, reports the widow.

Electrical engineer Paulo Freire states that if the circuit that powers the pole had three resources provided for by the NBR-5410 standard – grounding of the pole, ground conductor connected to the pole structure and DR (Differential-Residual) device – this fatality would probably not have occurred. 

“The grounding combined with the earth conductor would provide adequate value and a return path for the current back to earth, which would result in the circuit breaker actuating, turning off the circuit and de-energizing the pole”, explains the engineer. 

According to Freire, the accident occurred due to installation and maintenance failures of the public lighting network, with probable non-compliance with the applicable ABNT standards and the lack of a DR device.

“It could be that the contact between the wire and the pole was poor, characterizing what is called a high impedance fault, which would not result in sufficient short-circuit current to guarantee the circuit breaker’s operation. In this case, the DR device would detect the current leakage to earth and disconnect the circuit, the light post must be protected by a DR device”, adds Freire.