Abstract: At approximately 1:45 p.m. on January 22, 1991, Employee #1, a journeyman lineman, was removing a domestic service line from a privately owned temporary service pole. He was belted to the pole, 20 ft above a wooden ladder. He had just cut the 10 ft long second conductor and had loosened the wire preform, when the line pulled free and the wooden pole broke at ground level. Employee #1 rode the pole to the ground. He landed on the pole and the ladder landed next to him. A coworker gave him first aid and called for help on his radio. Employee #1 suffered a compression injury to the first lumbar vertebra, an abrasion of the scalp, and a contusion to his right elbow. The accident was the result of failing to determine the condition of the wooden pole before beginning work.