Comments on: Earthing Fail

By: žogi

žogi — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 17:58:37 +0000

Earting win.. you can’t get better at this!

By: w00b

w00b — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 17:49:11 +0000

lmfao…
u guys should really figuere this out in a dark room with other mad scientists or idiots.
u know what u are

By: JC

JC — Thu, 05 May 2011 00:24:40 +0000

I may just be being retarded, but how is this an ‘earthing’ fail?

By: jimimij

jimimij — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:05:56 +0000

Dude, he’s barefoot and wet…

By: Rick

Rick — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 04:19:48 +0000

ok forget the electrical issues, am i seriously the only one who sees what seems to look like beer or hard liquor in the lower left of the picture, on the edge of the pool…

By: Sandvich

Sandvich — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 02:23:05 +0000

it kinda looks like hes defying all the laws of physics…

By: thecookiemonster

thecookiemonster — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:40:37 +0000

idk the roof jk lol

By: goat milk soap

goat milk soap — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 16:37:19 +0000

and what is he fixing, anyway?

By: Rose

Rose — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:28:16 +0000

*looks very close* dude… hes barefoot. EPIC fail.

By: Teebagsu

Teebagsu — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 20:01:23 +0000

Juk I think you mean well insulated not grounded with his boots.

By: Jukantos

Jukantos — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:04:31 +0000

Wrong, he is well grounded with his boots cause they wont pass the electricity to the ladder.

the fail is his ellbow which is in direct contact with the ladder and therefore removes that barrier.

but anyway: how could you do better grounding in a place like THAT? XD

By: Foxfire

Foxfire — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 08:43:23 +0000

Yep bad things happen when your grounded. Unless your going for somewhere between well done and crispy.

By: solo piano

solo piano — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:23:54 +0000

zap! what a fail

By: solo piano

solo piano — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:22:14 +0000

OSHA violation FAIL?

By: jesse

jesse — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:58:28 +0000

he get zapped if something go wrong.

By: Schwayback

Schwayback — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:24:08 +0000

Of course the electrical thing, but notice how the guy looks wet from his chest down. I think he jumped in the water to ascend up the ladder (instead of stepping on the first rung above water).

By: PzYcHo

PzYcHo — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:59:54 +0000

Listen. He WILL get electrocuted.See that drill cord?

By: prsn_w/conshuns

prsn_w/conshuns — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:00:16 +0000

the title is a fail! it’s not called being earthed it grounded!!!

By: Ash

Ash — Sat, 02 May 2009 09:10:31 +0000

it depends where you are, it’s called earthing in nz.

By: kad

kad — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:56:33 +0000

So the plastic caps on the base help because luckily the feet of the ladder are resting on the surface of the water. Right?

By: vlad

vlad — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:02:03 +0000

there’s really only one way to tell if he would get shocked…

By: boomer

boomer — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 02:24:25 +0000

he won’t get electricuted if his drill falls, ladders have plastic caps on the base for a reason, but yea, what he’s doing is a fail

By: J

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:44:35 +0000

Honestly, many of the comments appear to be made without accurately referencing the pic. He is barefoot and wet up past his waist. But I don’t see anywhere where the extension cord is touching the water as some said. However, it definitely does not appear to be the safest way to do the job, but if the drill did hit the water it would more than likely short out and trip the breaker delivering at worst a brief shock.

By: Shawn

Shawn — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:11:05 +0000

It might be plugged into a different breaker. lol

By: anonymous

anonymous — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:58:31 +0000

dipstick, its called sarcasm. FAIL!

By: *sigh

*sigh — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 22:32:41 +0000

people people, hes in no real danger, i work professionaly with pools… there is a seperate ground for the pool thats used so he wont get shocked… think about it, how do u think we change the light bulbs below the surface of the water without dying? besides that, pool water is actually a very poor conducter of electricity, its much purrer than average water in terms of iron and other elements that make “normal” water more conductive…

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:58:37 +0000

some of these comments are beyond ridiculous… not to mention there are TONS of jobs that are far more dangerous than the tiny amount of danger represented here.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:53:59 +0000

if the breaker is off he’s still going to get electrocuted.. ….because?

By: markm

markm — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:20:53 +0000

Another thought – is he working on a buddy system? Having a buddy standing by the power socket to plug in the extension cord only when you’re ready to use the drill, and to kill power and initiate a rescue if something goes wrong considerably reduces the risk.

By: markm

markm — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 22:15:21 +0000

1. It’s clearly a corded drill. You can see the drill cord and the extension cord plugged together and hanging from the next to the top rung of the ladd. The extension cord is in the water.

2. That’s the drill cord, not a strap, but he’s probably got the cords secured so neither the drill not the plugs will hit the water if he drops it.

3. It looks like he’s wearing a wader (like what fishermen wear to wade in cold streams). Notice the “waistband” is almost to his armpits. That’s how you get to a ladder in 3 or 4 feet of water and not get soaked.

So the main hazard possibility is that there’s a fault in the drill wiring, making the handle “hot”. such things are no fun to discover when you’re up a ladder over dry ground either, but the hazard is increased by the ladder being apparently aluminum and presumably very well grounded through the water, and the good chance that the guy’s hands are wet. Maybe the wader will keep him from grounding through his feet or belly, but when he puts his other hand on the ladder… And the wader might fail as insulation, too.

And the extension cord apparently draped into the water is another hazard – not much of one while the guy is on the ladder, but if the insulation fails while he’s wading to or from the ladder, the current just might seek him out and find pinholes in the wader.

My opinion of this depends on when this picture was taken. Nowadays, you’re a fool to do this kind of work with anything but cordless tools (or pneumatic so you can leave your electric motor in the compressor on dry land). That drill isn’t big enough to be of a horsepower that requires a cord, and the cord is too thin for good pressure hose. 20 years back, most workers didn’t have cordless tools, so he had to take a few chances, but he could have at least used a fiberglass ladder and looked for a way to hang the extension cord above the water. Go back a few decades further, and your choices in ladders are wood or metal, and I think wood would be an even worse choice for this job, adding the chance of soaked-through wood crumbling under your weight to the electrical hazards.

Sometimes you’ve just got to make sure your cords and tools are in great shape, reduce the risk as much as possible, and get the job done. Especially in the not-so-good old days!

By: fee

fee — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 04:33:20 +0000

yer, it would go around in the water, but he’s standing on a metal ladder! wouldn’t
that mean that he was going to get electrocuted anyway, even if the electrical current was in the water? cos isnt metal a conductor of electricity?

By: matt

matt — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:49:49 +0000

If the drill hits the water electrical current will go ground through the water, not the ladder. If he’s on the ladder he’s fine. If he’s in the water he will feel a shock and might get hurt.

He could be at risk as well if he drills in to a live wire (although even then current may go through the drill ground wire).

Otherwise he should be OK. You need training on how electricity works to know this (a functioning brain helps!)

By: matt

matt — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:28:12 +0000

Yes. If he drops the drill in the pool the current will go through the water to ground, not through him.

He’s in trouble if he drills in to a live wire. Then he’s part of the circuit. So hopefully the breaker is off for whatever he is drilling in to.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:14:17 +0000

Ok, I’m going to cover all the comments at once here.

1. BATTERY POWERED DRILL. Duh.
2. There is a strap connecting the drill to the ladder, thus it will not hit the water if it falls.
3. He’s not barefoot, you were right before, rubber soled shoes.
4. If he’s using a drill, he better not be changing a light bulb, but I will admit that draining the pool just for some maintenance is fairly wasteful.
5. What happens to the wood shavings from the hole he drills? Just fall in the water?

By: Crotch Niblet

Crotch Niblet — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:17:49 +0000

Um, how about using a cordless drill?

By: WonderingIfStupid

WonderingIfStupid — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 15:42:37 +0000

PLUS…the drill is CLEARLY running to the bar or whatever it is, so its perfectly plausible that the area he is working on could be shut off and still have the drill work

By: WonderingIfStupid

WonderingIfStupid — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:22:44 +0000

If you think the guy is so stupid…tell me how else you would recommend working on the ceiling above a pool!! Drain 50,000 gallons of water just to change a lightbulb???!?!?!!

By: Max

Max — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:58:40 +0000

Perhaps the name should be grounding fail. Title Fail.

By: choo choo

choo choo — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:15:27 +0000

comment fail

By: do i type my name here?

do i type my name here? — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 20:02:57 +0000

he’s gonna get fried because he’s not grounded

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:25:40 +0000

if the pool drain is grounded even if the drill hits the water the current would go to the ground through the shortest path which even if the the ladder is between the drain and the drill would be through the cross support of the ladder which is below the guys feet so no zappy but still stupid

By: what

what — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:42:52 +0000

oh wait, the guy’s barefoot! i fail!

By: what

what — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:42:30 +0000

rubber soled shoes, the guys a genius!

By: someone

someone — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:46:11 +0000

mendy, you serious? he is obviously wet to his waist.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 21:08:31 +0000

Okay, how is the breaker off if he’s using the drill while it’s plugged in?

By: Mendy

Mendy — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 23:06:08 +0000

how did he get up and stay dry?

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:17:34 +0000

Sab, in Britain it’s called earthing so think before you type ye? If the breakers on the drill won’t work and the cord in the water shouldn’t matter if its in good condition, but looking at the picture I couldn’t say that was a good possibility

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 18 May 2008 05:15:03 +0000

just being technical, it looks like he looped the wire on one of the rungs, so if it drops it won’t hit the water.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 16 May 2008 20:24:09 +0000

Fellas…if the breaker is off, how is the drill on?

By: sab

sab — Wed, 14 May 2008 06:02:23 +0000

wow, some of you guys are retarded. first off its called grounding not earthing, second of all even if the breaker is off he is still going to get electrocuted if his power cord or drill touches the water, it’s pretty basic really. don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure that out, just need a functional brain.