Meet Brandon

I’m Brandon Schroeder, a safety speaker from Marion, IA. I’ve also been an electrician for over 20 years. On August 24, 2011, I survived an arc flash explosion that without a doubt should have killed me.

It was late in the day, and we were off work in a half-hour. The general contractor asked me to relocate a temporary power feed running all of the electricity to the construction site. The task was simple: disconnect the cord, pull the cord though a doorway, and hook it back up.

But there were two problems. First, there was no main breaker on the panel, so the only way to shut off the power was to call the utility company. Second, about a week earlier, I let a co-worker borrow my arc flash suit. Early in my career, no one wore arc flash suits, and until about five years before the accident, I had never seen one. But I had done way more dangerous tasks than this countless times – why couldn’t I do this?

I had a decision to make, and I made the wrong one.

Contact me today with questions or if you’d like me to speak about my experience at your next safety event, please fill out the schedule form and include your event details.