Electrical Incident Investigations
Investigations Overview
Arc flash and electrical incident investigations may be performed in cases of litigation or following arc flash or electric shock accidents. An expert witness can provide insight into technical aspects of cases and can be retained by either side to assist in litigation. Technical understanding may be communicated regarding standards and compliance, common practice, or in rare cases, product failures which are typically due to improper hazard assessments or care and maintenance.
Even if litigation is not involved, using an electrical safety expert with extensive experience can provide insight into the real causes and lead toward effective and efficient solutions to prevent future incidents or lessen injury.
Our Expert Witnesses:
Zarheer Jooma
Professional Engineer Partner
Zarheer Jooma conducts nationwide electrical safety training and arc flash studies. He joined e-Hazard U.S. after ten years of managing e-Hazard South Africa and many years of experience with Eskom Generation and ArcelorMittal, the world’s leading steel and mining company. He has been regarded as the specialist on arc flash safety in South Africa, having convened and chaired SANS 724, the South African national standard for personal protective equipment and protective clothing against the thermal hazards of electric arc. He has extensively researched and published on arc flash incident investigations and how to implement them in industry.
Ken Sellars
Electrical Safety Consultant Partner
Ken Sellars is a partner at e-Hazard Management, LLC. He is an electrical consultant with the company and teaches electrical safety, NEC, NESC, OSHA, grounding/bonding and arc flash safety courses nationwide. He obtained his electrical training in the U.S. Navy, where he served on a nuclear ballistic submarine from 1985 to 1991. He holds a master (unrestricted) electrical license in the state of Georgia, and is a Certified Electrical Safety Compliance Professional. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management.
Ken worked at Alcoa Warrick Operations in Newburgh, Indiana, for 16 years, serving as the electrical construction project coordinator. He was responsible for electrical and telecommunications installations of multi-million dollar projects including fiber optics, furnace electrical overhauls, fire alarm systems, data networks, medium voltage electrical new construction, and more. He was one of the founding members of Alcoa’s Electrical Safety Lead Team, responsible for electrical safety, regulatory and electrical code compliance, including OSHA, NEC, and NESC, and Alcoa Warrick Operations electrical policies and engineering procedures. Since Ken joined e-Hazard in 2006, he has trained thousands in electrical safety across the United States and internationally (over twelve countries). He works extensively with companies to revamp electrical safety procedures and auditing processes, and assists companies with training development, including electrical qualification procedures.
Derek Vigstol
Electrical Safety Consultant
Derek Vigstol joined e-Hazard in June2021 as an electrical safety expert responsible for training, course development and consulting. Since 2015 he had been with the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) as Senior Electrical Specialist, Electrical Technical Lead, and Senior Electrical Content Specialist. He was responsible for the subject matter expertise in the development of the entire suite of training on the 2020 National Electrical Code and was the technical reviewer for the 2017 NEC and 2018 NFPA 70E training products from NFPA. Previously, he was an instructor at Minneapolis Electrical JATC and owned a home inspection business. A resident of the Boston area, he authors a regular column in IAEI Magazine and the NFPA Journal, and is a regular contributor to other periodicals including EC&M, Electrical Contractor, and IEC Insights.