Abstract: At 9:24 a.m. on June 23, 2002, Employee #1, a line-mechanic employed by the utility department of a municipal government that provided electricity to its city, and another line-mechanic (Employee #2) were elevated to approximately 20 feet, near a lightning arrester on the southeast side of a pole by a truck-mounted split-bucket lift. Employee #1 was replacing a lightning arrester that was on the pole. The up-graded supervisor was on the ground and Employee #2 was in the other bucket watching Employee #1 replacing the lightning arrester. All the lines on the pole were deenergizing except the very top wire (primary line) which had a voltage of 12,000. It appeared that Employee #1 was using a screwdriver to adjust a bonding wire located on the metal bracket on which the lightning arrester was attached. Employee #1 was holding a 13-inch flat-blade screwdriver in his left hand and an 8-inch-crescent metal wrench in his right arm and was applying force to the bonding wire on the pole. It seemed that his hands slipped off the part, which caused his left hand to stretch up over his head. The screwdriver he was holding touched the energized 12,000-volt overhead line, which caused the current to enter his body through the tip of the screwdriver and exit through the wrench that was being held in his right palm. He sustained an electric shock and internal and third degree burns to his left hand and wrist, which later resulted in the amputation of his little finger. Insulation blankets, insulation gloves or insulated tools were not used at the time of the incident. Telelect manufactured the truck-mounted aerial lift (Model Number T5051).