Abstract: An employee was climbing a practice pole at an electric utility climbing school. He was using pole climbers and a positioning strap attached a body belt. The employee was tossing a ball to another worker so that they could develop confidence on the pole. The first employee reached too low for the ball and bent his knees, which he had been warned not to do. His pole climbers cut out from the pole, and he fell about 3 meters to a thick mattress of fine wood chips provided to break the falls of trainees. This precaution did not, however, prevent the employee from being injured when he landed. He was hospitalized with a broken leg.