UNITED STATES
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Inspection Detail

Inspection: 304589880 - Verizon

Inspection Information - Office: Syracuse

Investigation Summary

On March 11, 2002, Employee #1 and Employee #2 were assigned to replace burned out telephone wire and pedestals caused when a storm knocked a tree down onto overhead electric power lines. The employees were restringing approximately 1200 ft of 50-pair cable along with a messenger wire. To accomplish the restringing, Employee #2 drove the bucket truck down the road while Employee #1 stood in the bucket and, at each pole, he would place the messenger wire in the mounting brackets on the poles. They started at pole 215 (NIMO number). Employee #1 used existing mounting brackets except for one needed to be installed on a new pole #216 (NIMO number). When he had restrung messenger wire ending at pole #218 (NIMO number), he began to tension the uninsulated messenger wire using a manually operated chain hoist. Employee #2 was beginning to work on the pedestal mounted at the base of the same pole, directly underneath Employee #1, and heard a noise (groan), looked up, and saw Employee #1 being fatally electrocuted. Burn marks on the messenger wire and the center overhead phase wire were observed and photographed between poles #215 and #216. Each phase wire carried approximately 6900 volts.

Keywords:telecom work, electrocuted, electronic work, electric conductor, electric shock