Abstract: Two bricklayers were building a block wall. One of the employees (employee #1) had been working with the company for about 1 month; the other employee had been working with the company for only 3 days. They were working from a Morgan tower scaffold about 5.5 meters above the ground. The base of the scaffold was about 1.2 meters horizontally from a 7200-volt overhead power line. As the wall was built, the scaffold was raised until the work platform was in line with the power line. In spite of this, neither the general contractor nor the masonry contractor (the employees' employer) contacted the electric utility owning the line about removing or controlling the hazard. One of the employees (employee #1) handed the other a piece of reinforcing wire (called ladder wire due to its shape), and the second employee laid the wire along the length of the wall. The first employee raised the outside edge of the reinforcing wire to allow the second employee to cut it to length with a pair of bolt cutters. As the second employee cut the wire, it flipped into the overhead power line, which was only about 1.2 meters from where the two employees were standing. The first employee was electrocuted. The second employee sustained an electric shock and was hospitalized for his injury.