Inspection Detail

Inspection: 123293599 - Thiro Usa

Inspection Information - Office: Bridgeport Area Office

Investigation Summary

A three-person power line crew, consisting of a lead power line worker, a journeyman power line worker, and an apprentice, was installing three arresters on a utility pole. The apprentice was laying out the arresters, and the journeyman was laying out material. The lead power line worker laid out the ground wire and then got into the bucket of an aerial lift and started bringing the ground wire up the pole. After passing the ground wire over the neutral on the pole, he went to raise the bucket to where the arresters were to be installed. The controls for the bucket were behind the employee, and he had to reach back for them. When he raised the bucket, he contacted a 13.8-kilovolt overhead power line with his right shoulder and received an electric shock. The employee, who was wearing only knit gloves at the time and not rubber insulating gloves, was holding the ground wire. The two other employees heard an electric arc and looked up to see the injured employee slumped over the side of the bucket. The journeyman used the controls at the base of the aerial lift truck to lower the bucket while the apprentice summoned emergency medical services. These two employees removed their injured coworker from the bucket and carried him to the side of the road. Emergency medical services arrived in minutes. The injured worker was hospitalized with severe burns to his left index finger and the back of his right shoulder. Doctors amputated the lower part of his left hand. The employer had a written safety program, documented safety rules, including the use of rubber insulating gloves, training records involving the injured employee, and past disciplinary action. The employer also did spot safety inspections of the work crews. On the morning of the accident, the employer had issued a violation to the crew for not wearing rubber insulating gloves Job briefings were conducted daily, and both uninjured employees on the site were trained in first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation. The employees were also wearing "nonflammable" clothing supplied by the union. (The employer was a contractor working for an electric utility. The SIC code of the employer was apparently incorrect on the original form.)

Keywords: BURN, ELEC PROTECT EQUIP, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, ELECTRICAL, POWER LINE WORKER, E PTD, ELEC UTILITY WORK, ELECTRIC SHOCK, AERIAL LIFT