Abstract: An electrician and his apprentice were replacing 277-volt conductors supplying an overhead light for a building. (The wiring had been damaged during construction.) The apprentice was in an aerial lift. The electrician had climbed out of the aerial lift and was lying on his back atop an overhead unpainted vent that was about 4.9 meters (16 feet) above the floor. He was going to cut and cap one of the conductors, which remained energized. The apprentice saw the conductor in the jaws of the side-cutting pliers the electrician was holding. When the pliers cut into the conductor, the electrician was electrocuted.