Inspection Detail

Inspection: 302392014 - Mississippi Power Company

Inspection Information - Office: Jackson Area Office

Investigation Summary

Two power line workers were assigned to troubleshoot a power outage reported by a customer. The employees could not locate the problem in the customer's area. One of the employees (Employee #1) started tracing the overhead power line back to the substation, while his coworker stayed in the neighborhood. Employee #1 discovered that a tree had fallen across the power line, causing the power outage. The overhead line conductor had broken, and the cutout switch had opened. Employee #1 notified his coworker of the problem. While he was waiting for his coworker to show up, Employee #1 started to pull the overhead line conductor free of the tree. As he was moving the conductor, it shifted position on the pole enough to bring it into contact with the energized jumper for the cutout switch. The coworker found Employee #1 about 5 to 10 minutes after their last radio transmission. Employee #1 was lying on the ground with the conductor in both hands and his cloths on fire. (He was wearing a Nomex shirt and blue jeans.) He had been electrocuted.

Keywords: ELEC PROTECT EQUIP, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, PROTECTIVE GROUNDING, ELECTRICAL, POWER LINE WORKER, ELECTROCUTED, LOCKOUT, E PTD, ELEC UTILITY WORK