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Today's Poll!Dock electrical systems should be inspected periodically
Fire districts make recommendations
Sunday, July 8, 2012
The electrocutions of 13-year-old Alexandra Anderson and her 8-year-old brother, Brayden Anderson, last week at the Lake of the Ozarks have been blamed on an insufficient electrical system connected to the dock where the Ashland children were swimming.
Officers said the dock had several electrically powered devices including a boat lift, but was not equipped with a grounding device designed to automatically shut off the current if an electrical malfunction occurred.
In the Lake region, seven fire protection districts inspect docks, including electrical safety.
Related Resource:
Click on Lake of the Ozarks section, then Dock Electrical Safety at www.amerenmissouri.com
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Comments
gsbcmo 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Newspapers are reporting this tragedy as if it were an accident. This was no accident, this was negligence and incompetence at it's height. These were homicides, death due to negligence. Negligence of the dock owner, negligence from the dock builder, negligence from the dock installer, negligence of the dock permit issuer, negligence of the county, negligence of the state. There is enough negligence to go around so far that no one is responsible. Most of these parties don't know what is safe or not safe.
Ground Fault Interrupter (GFI) equipped docks are REQUIRED by the National Electrical Code. GFI's must be installed and properly functioning. Not because some book says so, but because they prevent this from happening.
Union Electric, as an electric utility is required to comply and enforce the NEC. But where is their inspection program?
The article seems to blame the fire departments for not inspecting this dock. Fire Departments are not qualified or equipped to inspect for electrical issues.
Do these counties have uniform building codes? Do these counties have building inspection programs? If not, why not?
What about the state? UE is a state and federal regulated utility. Who is responsible for assuring that UE complies with it's responsibilities? The Public Service Commission and the Federal Energy Commission.
Dock owners, when was the last time you had your dock inspected? Is your dock safe? Will your children, grandchildren or you be the next one to discover a faulty electrical system on your dock?
UE owns the lake and controls the permit process to operate a dock on their lake. EVERY permit should be voided until every dock is electrically certified by a QUALIFIED electrician.
John 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Don't jump on anyone except the owner too quickly. The specific revision of the NEC must be voted on each year before it becomes a requirement for a political entity. There are some towns/villages/etc. that are still using the 1965 NEC as their guideline. . . . . The owner bears the burden if they did the installation. . . An owner is allowed to do their own work, electrically, plumbing, hvac, etc (as long as it is not commercial property) and in many cases are not required to have it inspected.
John 10 months, 2 weeks ago
I accidentally clicked on "Flag for removal." Sorry bout that editor.
JCsleeper 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Tragic. So sad. Sympathies with that family.
whocares 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Apparently you have never been to the Lake of the Ozark on private docks. Most were built years ago. Do you have your home inspected yearly, doubt it. Stop blaming people that had nothing to do with a tragedy and offer your condolances to a grieving family.
tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago
You offer a good example of cognitive dissonance. Sure, we should offer condolences to the parents, but two kids from one family died because of someone's ignorance. I'm trying to be generous by calling it ignorance.
It's not something that people should just let go because letting it go will lead to more people dying. I've been to the lake, and I have seen thousands of those older docks. Way too many of them have amateur, cobbled-up wiring for lights, battery chargers, boat lifts, steros, and whatever else bubba wanted hooked up.
A fire district is a form of government, and some situations require government to step in and protect people from their own incompetence. This might be one of them. Maybe electrical power should not be provided to a lake property without a recent dock inspection.
whocares 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Add the same with your home... without a recent inspection, no power for you.
tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago
My house would pass inspection; however, I think there's a difference between running electricity to a house wired by an electrician and running electricity to a metal structure that's partly under water.
Your dock, we are not so sure about. How many more kids have to die?
John 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Who mandates that a house "wired by an electrician"?
Silverado_Phil 10 months, 2 weeks ago
In the past, there were no "building codes" around the lake concerning the building of houses or docks. But that is all changing now. Counties are realizing that there needs to be building codes. There are codes that have to be followed concerning permitting and installation of new docks. Ameren has these requirements here: ht.tp://w.ww.ameren.com/sites/aue/lakeoftheozarks/Documents/DockElectricalInstallRequirements.pdf
Older docks are grandfathered in to whatever code they were under. All docks are considered personal property and taxed accordingly. Once a dock is permitted and installed, anything could happen to it to bring it out of compliance, but there isn't a requirement that the docks be reinspected. Ever. When you buy a house at the lake and there is a dock included, you may or may not know that the dock is a safety hazard.
Maybe this is something that should be brought up with the lawmakers - that ALL docks in ALL bodies of water be inspected yearly or every two years for safety violations.
JCLifer 10 months, 2 weeks ago
WHO is going to do the inspections? Governments in Missouri have cut back so much at all levels, and Missourians are so opposed to government and to paying taxes. There isn't anyone left to do the work.
tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago
All good questions, and all too accurate an assessment of the situation. Maybe, just maybe, this is important enough that people should find a way to make it happen. What's a kid's life worth? There are two innocent but dead kids in this story, and there was at least one other similar story recently.
Three dead kids, because of someone's ignorance. That's what we can't afford.
whatif 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Why do we need inspectors. Each property owner should be responsible for their property and maintaining it. If they fail to do that and something happens, tragically or otherwise, they loose their property. What if we make ourselves responsible rather than expecting the government to hold our hand every step we take. I just don't get why we continually expect the government to monitor what should be common sense. I know there are i d i o t s out there, but it doesn't help to let them off the hook, consequences are the best tool for learning. Unfortunately, we take away the real consequences and scream for government to hold our hand. Book em, Daniel - is that really what we need , is it really making a difference, all that does is relieve them of any responsibility and have their every minute of every day laid out of them - where's the responsibility in that and what are we really teaching. I know having your freedom taken away from you is a huge deal - but a free ride just the same. Take their property away from them without any possibility of acquiring any future property ownership seems to me to be a better deterent to being irresponsible.
Sequoia 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Oh good grief. You spend a paragraph ranting about government intervention, then propose one of the most radical ideas for government intervention I've ever seen: confiscating property as punishment for failure to "be responsible" and maintain private property.
Who gets to decide what level of irresponsibility or lack of maintenance justifies taking property? The government? Who actually executes the confiscation? The government? You say we don't need "inspectors," but how else are you going to determine whether a piece of property needs to be confiscated?
We have a whole system of criminal and civil laws that apply to situations like this. I don't believe that this accident was caused by lack of adequate punishment, and I don't think this accident calls for dramatic, expensive over-reaction.
I think this accident had PLENTY of consequences.
Accidents happen. That's tragic. That's life. But I don't see why the wiring on a private, residential dock is anybody's business but the property owner. I do agree there needs to be building codes to protect property owners from unscrupulous builders trying to get by on the cheap. Sounds like those already exist.
P.S.: The phrase is "Book em, DANNO," from the tv show Hawaii 5-0. Surely I'm not the only one old enough to remember that show?
JCLifer 10 months, 2 weeks ago
The property owners have been made out to be victims too. How can they be punished for having kids die on their property? The real responsibility belongs to the water and the electricity- they are the ones that did the deed. Besides, people who intentionally kill kids do not get much punishment by the courts. How can these folks be punished by a fluke accident?
bluesfan13 10 months, 2 weeks ago
So all of the sudden everyone is instantly qualified to make judgements about the safety of their property? For all you know, these owners may have thought their property was perfectly safe. They probably even had a licensed electrician do the work years ago. By your logic, anyone driving a car without the newest side-curtain airbags should have it confiscated.
tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago
"They probably even had a licensed electrician do the work years ago." You're joking, right? Bubba don't need no steenkin' electrician.
whocares 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Not many "Bubba's" can afford a lake home.
Silverado_Phil 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Many homes at the lake were built before the 1980's and have been in the "family" since then. Bought and built back when things were less expensive. The property gets passed down generation to generation. And the newer generations do not necessarily keep up the maintenance on the property, including the docks. Many of the "full timers" at the lake have gotten too old to keep up with the maintenance or are on limited income and can't afford the cost of modernizing their docks, or just don't see the reason for it.
tonto_goldberg 10 months, 2 weeks ago
"Bubba" refers to an attitude rather than a financial status. Quite a few of them have the means to buy a lake home, and a really big boat, etc.
whatif 10 months, 2 weeks ago
About the same as any other scenario.....what good does jailing them do to the family of a lost child. They get out of jail and live their lives as before.....because more than likely they are not going to get life in prison, they will get out, after having learned their way around the law in the meantime. They have nothing better to do in prison than to think, and believe me they aren't thinking about why they are there, they are thinking how wrongfully they been accussed, or it wasn't their fault.....or how to behave in order to get early parole....the list goes on.....
Littleinvestor 10 months, 2 weeks ago
Insurance companies will start demanding inspections of dock wiring before they issue policies at lake properties. The lawsuits that will follow these three tragic deaths will prompt them to. But, the lake counties do not have good building codes and often no building codes outside cities. It's time for those in the Ozarks to enter the modern world and have building codes for unincorporated areas. Inspection fees placed on the property owner could pay the salary of an inspector.
JMO 10 months, 2 weeks ago
If I were in the homeowner's insurance business, I would insist on it! Electricity + water = an inherintly dangerous condition. I don't even see why there needs to be a fee. The savings in NOT paying out when someone is injured or killed should pay for the inspector.
beechnut40 10 months, 2 weeks ago
My condolences to the families. This all just seems so senseless. I can't help but wonder...Could some sicko be tampering with the electrical wiring to intentionally harm people? How often does this sort of thing happen?
JMO 10 months, 2 weeks ago
I lived six years at the lake and never heard of such a thing happening. In fact, I haven't ever heard of such a thing happening.
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