An investigation into whether a Honolulu man was electrocuted Wednesday night when he stood on an iron electrical access panel next to a Kapi'olani Boulevard sidewalk has found that insulation over live wiring in the access panel was faulty.

City spokesman Bill Brennan said an inspection of the access box found "there was an insulated connection where parts of the insulation appear to have been worn down." He added that the "insulated electrical wires in that box feed electricity to streetlights in the area."

The city stressed that the investigation into how Michael Perron Jr. died is still ongoing, and said it is still unclear whether the victim was electrocuted. The Department of the Medical Examiner has deferred issuing a cause of death for Perron pending more study.

Meanwhile, Brennan said yesterday the city is inspecting other electrical access boxes on or near sidewalks. He said 40 access boxes and 45 lampposts near where the incident happened have been inspected, and no other problems of worn insulation found.

"We are continuing our inspections of boxes in the area," Brennan said.

He did not say how many boxes will be inspected. And officials did not have information on how old the wiring is in the box in question.

Perron, 42, was taken in critical condition to an area hospital Wednesday night after standing on an access box at the intersection of Kapi'olani and University avenues and then leaning against or touching a streetlight. He was later pronounced dead. A witness told police the man suffered an electrical shock from the access box, which is just off the crosswalk.

Experts say that if the access box had live wiring with faulty insulation, then touching the streetlight while standing on the box would have caused electricity to course through the man's body. Brennan said he knows of no other case on O'ahu in which someone died from coming into contact with a streetlight or access box, adding, "the city will continue to investigate."

Such deaths have been seen on the Mainland, however.

And experts say such incidents appear to be happening with greater frequency, as municipalities with tightening budgets struggle to address aging infrastructure.

Tom Catanese, president and chief executive officer of Power Survey Company in New Jersey, said in surveys nationwide over the past three years his crews have found about 20,000 voltage hazards.

He said streetlights, manhole covers and electrical access boxes are the most common sources of risk, and added the best way to assess that risk is through "comprehensive repeated testing cycles of the electrical infrastructure." Some cities, including New York City, have done just that following deaths or injuries.

"We have found that, unfortunately, in many cases it takes an event like this to institute a testing program in big cities," he said yesterday.

He added when an incident occurs, it's "fairly safe to assume" the system has more problems.

The day after the Kapi'olani death, pedestrians in the area were concerned, with some asking whether other access boxes with live wires could prove dangerous.

City Councilman Duke Bainum, chairman of the Public Infrastructure Committee, said he has asked the city for information about the potential threat involved in live wiring in electrical access boxes and streetlights. He said the issue does not appear to pose a major safety concern.

"If it's something that requires wider warnings, they would have done it already," he said.

But he added he will continue to look at the issue.

Mark Voigtsberger, vice president of operations at Power Quality Testing in Everett, Wash., said in the wake of the Wednesday incident the city should be coming up with a plan to test for hazards in access boxes, streetlights — "any of their electrical infrastructure."

Voigtsberger's company tracks incidents involving electricity hazards in public areas — such as sidewalks — and said many problems go unreported because people don't get injured or because the incidents happen to dogs or other animals.

A 2006 report Power Quality Testing compiled showed there had been at least 14 documented incidents nationwide involving electrical access boxes since the 1980s. Those incidents range from electrical shock that did not result in serious injury to electrocution.