Inspection Detail

Inspection: 126166164 - Pacific Bell

Inspection Information - Office: Long Beach District Office

Investigation Summary

A communication technician in the central office of a telecommunications company was running jumpers and connecting dial tones on the main frame in the facility. The supervisor would give job orders for connecting new lines to the technicians so that they could run the jumpers and connect the dial tones. It took two employees working as a team to run jumpers. An employee on one side would hook the jumper to the circuit and feed the jumper through a hole. The second employee, from the other side, would grab the jumper and connect it to the circuit board on that side. Each telephone line had a specific position on the frame. Employees would use a rolling ladder to reach higher positions. On the day of the accident, the communication technician was standing on a rolling ladder reaching into the frame to catch a jumper from another employee. The ladder moved, and the employee lost her balance and fell 1.2 meters to the floor. She fractured her left wrist, which struck a metal frame in her fall. She was hospitalized with a compound fracture and dislocated left wrist. The ladder had moved because of a broken locking mechanism at the top of the ladder. Rubber rings on the brake pads of that ladder and others at the site were worn out. Consequently, the brakes on those ladders would not function properly.

Keywords: FRACTURE, BRAKE, TELECOM WORK, INADEQUATE MAINT, LADDER, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, FALL, WRIST