Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311609069 - The Toledo Edison Company

Inspection Information - Office: Toledo Area Office

Investigation Summary

On June 1, 2009, Employee #1, who worked for an electrical service company, was involved in a training exercise. The training exercise was intended to instruct employees how to perform a self-rescue in the event of an emergency while working from heights, including while working from a bucket truck. The training involved viewing an instructional video and conducting a field exercise. The field exercise was intended to familiarize employees with using their rescue devices to lower themselves down from a bucket truck or other raised work area. In order to perform the exercise, a rescue line was connected to an auger truck. Each trainee then was required to don a fall protection harness in conjunction with affixing the rescue device (Anthron double-stop descender, Model Number DSD-25) to the front of their harness and to the rescue line. Each employee was then lifted from the ground to approximately 12 feet using the auger truck. When Employee #1 performed this exercise, the line became dislodged from the rescue device and he fell 12 feet to the ground. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died due multiple fractures.

Keywords: FRACTURE, POWER LINE WORKER, EQUIPMENT FAILURE, FALL, UTILITY POLE, AERIAL LIFT