Accident Report Detail
Accident Summary Nr: 200880631 - Phone Line Repairer Is Electrocuted by Power Line
| Inspection Nr | Date Opened | SIC | NAICS | Establishment Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 304589880 | 03/11/2002 | 4813 | 0 | Verizon |
Abstract: On March 11, 2002, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were assigned to replace burned out telephone wire and pedestals caused when a storm knocked a tree down onto overhead electric power lines. The employees were restringing approximately 1200 ft of 50-pair cable along with a messenger wire. To accomplish the restringing, Employee #2 drove the bucket truck down the road while Employee #1 stood in the bucket and, at each pole, he would place the messenger wire in the mounting brackets on the poles. They started at pole 215 (NIMO number). Employee #1 used existing mounting brackets except for one needed to be installed on a new pole #216 (NIMO number). When he had restrung messenger wire ending at pole #218 (NIMO number), he began to tension the uninsulated messenger wire using a manually operated chain hoist. Employee #2 was beginning to work on the pedestal mounted at the base of the same pole, directly underneath Employee #1, and heard a noise (groan), looked up, and saw Employee #1 being fatally electrocuted. Burn marks on the messenger wire and the center overhead phase wire were observed and photographed between poles #215 and #216. Each phase wire carried approximately 6900 volts.
| Employee # | Inspection Nr | Age | Sex | Degree of Injury | Nature of Injury | Occupation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 304589880 | Fatality | Electric Shock | Occupation not reported |
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