Inspection Detail

Inspection: 313018319 - Elm Farms Incorporated

Inspection Information - Office: Fairview Heights Area Office

Investigation Summary

At approximately 9:00 p.m. on March 3, 2011, Employees #1 and #2 were driving a tractor that was hauling a manure wagon to a field. They were local high school students, working as part-time laborers on a family farm in Okawville, IL. The weather was clear, with no rain. Maximum wind speed that day was 6 mph. The employees were driving east on a field drive behind the main farm facilities. They had seen a raccoon run into a 30-foot-long irrigation pipe that was lying in the field and not in use. They stopped the tractor and were attempting to remove the raccoon by raising the pipe. It was dark, and the employees either had not seen or had forgotten about an overhead power line energized at 7,200 volts. The pipe came into contact with the line, and the two workers were electrocuted. Both were pronounced dead at a local hospital. The two were not at the time of the accident performing work related to the job to which they had been assigned that day.

Keywords: OVERHEAD POWER LINE, ELECTRICAL, AGRICULTURE, ELECTROCUTED, IRRIGATION PIPE, E AG