Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1499635.015 - Rokstad Power Inc.

Inspection Information - Office: American Canyon District Office

Investigation Summary

At 2:00 p.m. on October 24, 2020, an employee working as a journeyman Linemen for an electric power distribution contractor was tasked with running new power cabling through underground vaults. The employer was working in an area that had been devastated by a wildfire. The employee was attempting to remove a square D&L I-3460 underground vault lid using a 12-inch screwdriver, a pair of channel locks and an 18-inch pry bar. The vault lid measured roughly 28- 7/8-inch by 24-1/2-inch. A coworker had been struggling to open the lid using the 12-inch screwdriver. Once the lid was slightly cracked open, the coworker used the 18-inch pry bar to pop the lid higher out of its frame. The coworker was struggling against the weight of the lid, which was heavier than he anticipated. The employee put his fingers between the vault lid and the frame to help pull it up further, when the lid slipped off the pry bar and landed on the employee's hand crushing his fingers between the lid and the frame. The employee amputated his index and middle fingers to the first knuckle. He was driven to the hospital by his direct supervisor, where he was treated and released for a partial amputation of two fingers.

Keywords: Amputated, Amputation, Cable, Crushed, Electrical Vault, Electrical Work, Falling Object, Finger, Hand Tool, Injury Illness Prevention Program, Installing, Instantaneous amputation, Journeyman, Knuckle, Lid, Metal Lid, Partial Amputation, Pinch Point, Pinched, Pry Bar, Telecom Work, Traumatic Amputation, Undrgrd Installation, Unsafe Position, Wrong Equipment