On August 16, 2007 a "moment" of poor planning for my safety and my co-worker's safety resulted in an accident that changed my life forever.

I work as a Maintenance Electrician at a very large Hi-Tech Company's site and on that day lightning storms created a situation that lead to my entrance into a 13,800 Volt switch. The switch was assumed "dead", but was most definitely "live".

The resulting Arc Flash explosion left my left leg disfigured and took me through an odyssey of pain, hospitals, skin grafts and drug dependencies.

My name is Bill Giffen and I would like to share my experience with you via this web site, but particularly in person through a presentation I have developed.

Interview with an Arc Flash Survivor (19 minutes)

Bill Giffen was recently interviewed by Reliabilityweb.com publisher Terrence O'Hanlon. Click the arrow to play or right click here and "save as" to download the MP3 audio file (3.2 meg). You can also visit reliabilityweb.com to read the article and listen to the interview.

Warning: This site contains graphic images that may be disturbing.