Abstract: An equipment operator for an electric utility was working alone, operating a highway hydraulic-pressure digger. He was digging four holes for new utility poles for a new overhead power line. He used the digger to dig three of the holes and went to the location for the final hole. This location was directly under a 17.6-kilovolt overhead power line. The worker sat in the operator's station at the back of the truck bed operating the controls and raising the boom. The lowest overall working height of the digger was 6.6 meters, and the maximum sheave height was 9.1 meters, based on a 1-meter chassis-frame height. The overhead line was 8.2 meters above the ground. The digger was facing down an incline, and the worker's upward line of sight was obstructed by a factory-installed umbrella. As the worker raised the boom, it contacted the power line, energizing the truck. The worker got off the truck without incident, but was electrocuted when he contacted the digger's auger and fell onto an outrigger. A grass fire started near the truck after it became energized.