A worker had been operating an electrically-powered screw gun with pieces of plywood during a house renovation project. When his co-workers found him, he was dead from electrocution.

An investigation suggested this as the likely scenario: The ventilation holes on the screw gun were packed with drywall dust which had become wet from the worker’s perspiration in the hot, humid weather. The electricity traveled from the electrical motor inside the casing through this damp debris to the victim’s hand.

This fatality serves as a reminder, however, of the hazards of mixing moisture and electricity.