Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 200372944 - Employee electrocuted during repair of damaged power lines
Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
---|---|---|---|---|
306839101 | 02/02/2004 | 1623 | 237130 | Sumter Utilities |
Abstract: At approximately 11:30 a.m. on January 31, 2004, Employee #1, a lineman, was part of a four-man crew repairing power lines that had been damaged by an ice storm. The crew began work on a pole next to a private drive off a main road. Employee #1 went up in an aerial bucket to replace a missing crossarm on the de-energized pole. He and a coworker then drove to another pole, where they met the other two crew members. Employee #1 was elevated in the bucket to attach a come-along to a downed, de-energized overhead power line, which he was then going to splice and connect to the other part of the line that had fallen to the ground. After connecting the come-along, he began to reposition the bucket to disconnect a stinger line above one of the cut-out switches on the "take off" pole. As Employee #1 moved higher, his right shoulder contacted the stinger line and his left upper arm, creating a path to ground for 7,200 volts. Employee #1 was electrocuted. He was wearing his hard hat but the remainder of his personal protective equipment was on the floor of the bucket. Employee #1 thought the power lines below the cut-out switches were de-energized because the switches were in the OPEN position.
End Use | Project Type | Project Cost | Stories | Non-building Height | Fatality | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Powerline, transmission line | Maintenance or repair | Under $50,000 | X |
Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation | Construction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 306839101 | Fatality | Electric Shock | Electrical power installers and repairers | Distance of Fall: feet Worker Height Above Ground/Floor: feet Cause: Fatality Cause: Electrocution by touching exposed wire/source |