Abstract: Employee #1 had been hired in 1995 as a seasonal worker and subsequently as a fulltime employee for approximately 4 years. His main duties included general farm labor, pruning, tractor work, and walnut harvesting. One day, Employee #1, who was bilingual, and a coworker (the employer's only other employee) were pruning trees in a walnut grove. The job began at approximately 6:00 a.m. The employees were working from pruning towers. Employee #1 was using a Weldcraft pruning tower (Model No. 25DLGD, Serial No. 09325189DLGD) with a maximum platform height of 7.6 meters. The employer arrived at the site at approximately 7:00 a.m. The employer wanted the trees cut shorter than the employees had been cutting them. Employee #1 was pruning the very last tree of the row, next to a private dirt road. He was in the tower platform, apparently driving the tower backwards. A 12-kilovolt (phase-to-phase) overhead power line ran near the tree, 8.2 meters above the ground. The employee grabbed a power line conductor and was electrocuted. (A pruned branch was directly under the power line.) The tower platform came down with the employee still holding to the power line conductor. His coworker ran to a nearby house for help. When he returned he saw the dead employee drop from the conductor. The employee had not been trained in the hazards of working near overhead power lines.