Inspection Detail

Inspection: 311824098 - Daughtry Tree Service, Llc

Inspection Information - Office: Jacksonville Area Office

Investigation Summary

On October 6, 2009, Employees #1 and #2 were employed by a tree service as "groundsmen." They were working on the ground underneath a coworker, who was elevated in a bucket truck trimming a limb from a tree in the pasture of a residential home. The truck was an Altec Model Number AA600 bucket truck, built on a Ford F-700 chassis. The worker in the bucket truck had tied a rope to a limb in a "butt catch" method, so that the two men on the ground could lower the limb to the ground once it had been cut. The rope went from its connecting points on the limb and was wound around the hitch of the F-700 truck, with the hitch acting as a braking mechanism for the rope. Finally, the lower end of the rope was held by the two groundsmen. The limb extended above a 14,400-volt overhead power line, and when the limb was cut, it fell onto the line. The rope held by the two groundsmen became energized, and Employee #1 was electrocuted. Employee #2 received a shock, but he was not hospitalized.

Keywords: E GI III, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, ELECTRICAL, TREE LIMB, ELECTROCUTED, E PTD, TREE, ELECTRIC SHOCK, TREE TRIMMING, AERIAL LIFT