Abstract: A FARM WORKER WAS WORKING FROM AN AERIAL LIFT (A SELF-PROPELLED PRUNING TOWER) PRUNING WALNUT TREES. HE WAS WORKING ACROSS THE ENDS OF THREE ROWS OF TREES THAT RAN EAST AND WEST. A 30-FOOT, 0.5-INCH-HIGH, 12-KILOVOLT OVERHEAD POWER LINE WAS LOCATED PARALLEL TO AN ADJACENT CANAL, WHICH WAS AT AN OBLIQUE ANGLE TO THE ROWS OF TREES. THE TRAINED AND EXPERIENCED FARM WORKER HAD BEEN INSTRUCTED TO BYPASS TREES NEXT TO THE OVERHEAD LINE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE EMPLOYEE BEGAN TO TRIM A TREE THAT WAS CLOSE TO THE OVERHEAD LINE. (PERHAPS BECAUSE THE LINE DID NOT ACTUALLY RUN PARALLEL TO THE TREES, THE EMPLOYEE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THE OVERHEAD LINE.) HE HAD MOVED THE AERIAL LIFT WITHIN 10 FEET OF THE POWER LINE, AT A HEIGHT OF 20 TO 22 FEET. HE WAS PRUNING THE TREE WITH A 5-FOOT-LONG PRUNING SHEAR. AS HE WAS PRUNING BRANCHES ABOVE HIS HEAD, THE PRUNER CONTACTED THE OVERHEAD LINE, AND THE FARM WORKER WAS ELECTROCUTED. THE EMPLOYEE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE THE POWER LINE BECAUSE THE SUN WAS IN HIS EYES AT THE TIME OF THE ACCIDENT.