Inspection Detail

Inspection: 1511027.015 - Alliant Energy

Inspection Information - Office: Appleton Area Office

Investigation Summary

At 11:00 a.m. on January 21, 2021, Employees #1 and #2 and two coworkers, employed by an energy supply company, were responding to a call from a contractor who was excavating a 200-foot water line addition to a meat market, a multiemployer construction project. The contractor had struck an underground power line between transformer 1 and transformer 2 while excavating. The power line break caused power to be lost at the meat market and a neighboring facility. The four energy supply company employees were working to repair the broken underground power lines. Employee #2 shut the power off at the pole and placed grounding straps on the secondary compartment of transformer 1. Employee #2 joined Employee #1 on the west side of the excavation while their coworkers worked elsewhere. When the power was interrupted, a generator in the facility next door started automatically and began providing power to the facility's office. Approximately 30 minutes later, an employee from the neighboring facility threw a manual switch connected to a generator to supply electricity to the facility's warehouse. The electricity back-fed through the ungrounded transformer 2 to where Employees #1 and Employee #2 were working. Both employees received an electric shock from the backfeed. Employee #1 was killed by electrocution. Employee #2 sustained severe burns to the hands. Employee #2 was transported by emergency services to the hospital, where he was admitted for treatment of the electrical burns.

Keywords: Burn, Construction, Electric Shock, Electrocuted, Equipment Grounding, Excavation, Lockout/Tagout, Multiemployer, Repair, Transformer, Undrgrd Power Line, Voltage Backfeed