[brother]

What do you think of this? I thought all pool lights had to be GFCI protected. Wouldn't the gfci had saved this man?


HOUSTON (CN) - Hilton Worldwide negligently allowed a known electrical system problem to become a "pool of death" for a Texas man visiting the hotelier's Houston Westchase property, his family claims in court.
According to a lawsuit filed in Harris County, Texas, Raul Hernandez Martinez succumbed to injuries from electric shock a week after rescuing family members from the pool during Labor Day weekend, 2013.




http://ecmweb.com/around-circuit/family-sues-hilton-over-electrocution-pool


http://www.courthousenews.com/2013/10/07/61815.htm

 

[dmxtothemax]

Need tk know more details ! There are plenty of reasons for a gfci to not work.

 

[RGH]

From whats shown here we don't known if there was one.....there should of been a gfic in this circuit...perhaps it was removed.... there isn't enough information here to determine what was wrong....as for the family wow this is just terrible...permits are not always required for repairs...the AHJ will make that determination...pool should of been closed or de-energized light circuit till it could be repaired..

 

[Jlarson]

Yeah, neither of those stories contain anything even close to details :laughing:

 

[Meadow]

Yeah, neither of those stories contain anything even close to details :laughing:

AS with any media article

This is one reason I highly recommend low voltage lighting for pools regardless of GFCI and the like.



CMP might use this to push some new code amendment that has nothing to do with the incident.

 

[flyboy]

CMP might use this to push some new code amendment that has nothing to do with the incident.

What makes you say that?

...just curious.

 

[Meadow]

What makes you say that?

...just curious.

Ive seen the CMP pass rules based on lawsuits and tragic events that would not necessarily prevented the incident by the concept they are passing.

 

[Sparky J]

If it was a pool at a hotel/motel, if there was GFCI protection, it was probably removed because it kept doing its job and tripping. It constantly amazes me how much is f ed up behind the scenes in these places. The past couple of years I have done electrical inspections to certify pools for commercial locations and stuff like this really is common when you have jack of all trade masters of none maintenance people who are paid to "make it work" but have no idea why/how it works let alone safely works.
It is a shame my condolences to his family.

 

[McClary’s Electrical]

Ive seen the CMP pass rules based on lawsuits and tragic events that would not necessarily prevented the incident by the concept they are passing.

Examples please

 

[flyboy]

If it was a pool at a hotel/motel, if there was GFCI protection, it was probably removed because it kept doing its job and tripping. It constantly amazes me how much is f ed up behind the scenes in these places. The past couple of years I have done electrical inspections to certify pools for commercial locations and stuff like this really is common when you have jack of all trade masters of none maintenance people who are paid to "make it work" but have no idea why/how it works let alone safely works.
It is a shame my condolences to his family.

Are you an electrical inspector?

 

[dmxtothemax]

It's not always just the fault of the maintenance people,
Althou they always seem to cop it, when the s#*t hit's the fan.
Imagine what would happen if the maintenance guy said
"we have to shut the pool down, it's not safe"
The management would have kittens !
So pressure would be put on him, to do something temporary to keep it open!
But it's always easiest to blame the maintenance dept, to deflect
the bad reputation away from the management.
Happens all the time !

We need to know a LOT more before we start blaming people !
Not to mention the out right lie's in the media just to get a good story !

I don't know what or who to believe any more !

 

[480sparky]

I got a dollar that says if there was a GFCI in place, it was never tested since the day it was installed.

 

[B4T]

GFCI's fail all the time.. people don't do the monthly test as per instructions..

If that has anything to do with product failure is up to the lawyers..

 

[BBQ]

I got a dollar that says if there was a GFCI in place, it was never tested since the day it was installed.

You are likely correct, and even on the odd chance it was tested there will be no testing log to verify it.

The company I work for requires weekly testing of the GFCIs on the temps and we keep a log of the dates and GFCIs tested.

 

[Celtic]

You are likely correct, and even on the odd chance it was tested there will be no testing log to verify it.

Is that a legal requirement or a company policy?

The company I work for requires weekly testing of the GFCIs on the temps and we keep a log of the dates and GFCIs tested.

Is that a legal requirement or a company policy?

Is temp. power on a construction site treated the same as a finished product/installation?

 

[BBQ]

Is that a legal requirement or a company policy?

Is temp. power on a construction site treated the same as a finished product/installation?

OSHA via the instructions but we do it weekly instead of monthly.


As far as the hotel my point was if they claim they did the required testing they won't be able to prove it.

 

[Magnettica]

Very sad story about the guy dying trying to save his brother. Imagine that ****? This could've been anyone of us really. At best they should've closed the pool for the weekend.

 

[dmxtothemax]

Is that a legal requirement or a company policy?


Is that a legal requirement or a company policy?

Not sure about USA but in Australia it is law !

Depending on which clasification it comes under (6 currently)
then it must be tested by the in built test button every six months
by a compitent person, and tested with a proper tester at the outlet
every 1-2 years (depending on clasification).

And a log must be kept of the testing.

 

[five.five-six]

If it was a pool at a hotel/motel, if there was GFCI protection, it was probably removed because it kept doing its job and tripping. It constantly amazes me how much is f ed up behind the scenes in these places. The past couple of years I have done electrical inspections to certify pools for commercial locations and stuff like this really is common when you have jack of all trade masters of none maintenance people who are paid to "make it work" but have no idea why/how it works let alone safely works.
It is a shame my condolences to his family.

I was involved in the aquarium hobby for many years (reefcentral.com) It was amazing how many people would remove GFICs because they would trip instead of finding out why they were tripping, I would plead with these people to put the GFICs back to no avail. Several times, they just stop logging in or posting for no apparent reason.

 

[BBQ]

If it was a pool at a hotel/motel, if there was GFCI protection, it was probably removed because it kept doing its job and tripping. It constantly amazes me how much is f ed up behind the scenes in these places. The past couple of years I have done electrical inspections to certify pools for commercial locations and stuff like this really is common when you have jack of all trade masters of none maintenance people who are paid to "make it work" but have no idea why/how it works let alone safely works.
It is a shame my condolences to his family.

Sadly you will often find the same advice here when it comes to appliances tripping GFCIs in garages, basements etc.