Abstract: A construction firm was building a new underground water line. The company had excavated a 460-millimeter-wide trench to a depth of approximately 1.2 meters. A National Crane hydraulic truck crane (Model No. 455, Serial No. 20636) mounted on a flatbed truck was positioned parallel to the trench to lay the 203-millimeter-diameter pipe. The crane operator was operating the boom from the side of the truck crane closest to the trench (the driver's side). Two employees were in the trench, one at each end of the pipe, as the crane positioned the pipe. The crane operator laid two pieces of pipe in the trench. He used the crane to lift a third pipe from the bed of the truck crane. He lifted the pipe up and over the stakes on the bed of the truck and swung it over to the trench. He raised and lowered the boom and winch several times, as he was positioning the pipe. According to the crane operator, the boom was approximately 0.6 meters away from a 7200-volt (phase-to-ground) overhead power line. One of the employees in the trench was soaping the pipe with a paintbrush in his right hand and the pipe in his left hand. The employee on the other end of the pipe was holding it by its plastic covering. The crane's load line contacted the power line, electrocuting the employee soaping the pipe.