Inspection Detail

Inspection: 315784660 - Northern States Power Co Dba Xcel Energy

Inspection Information - Office: Minnesota Department Of Labor And Industry

Investigation Summary

At approximately 12:30 p.m. on August 10, 2011, Employee #1 was working for an electrical utility at a power generation facility. Employee #1 and his coworker had just been dropped off by their supervisor and had returned to a work area following lunch. They were attempting to remove large logs and debris that were clogging the grates of the generation facility. The logs and debris were in water that came from the Minnesota River. The coworker was operating a backhoe that could reach out 20 feet (6.1 meters) beyond the edge of a 40 foot-long (12.2 meters) stoplog concrete platform structure to retrieve large logs and debris that were clogging the grates. Prior to lunch, there was no need for anyone to go out onto the platform and push debris toward the backhoe. After lunch, though, Employee #1 walked out onto the platform to push debris toward the backhoe with a garden rake. The coworker stated that the first time he saw Employee #1 out on the platform, Employee #1 did not have a harness on or a life jacket. The coworker then told Employee #1 to get his life jacket and harness on. The coworker stated that he saw Employee #1 come back and put his harness and his life jacket on. The coworker continued to pick logs out of the water, rotate the backhoe away from the water, and drop the log debris. As he turned back toward the water to get another log, he did not see Employee #1 on the platform. At that point, the coworker recognized that Employee #1 had fallen from the platform into the water. He called the supervisor to call for emergency medical services. Employee #1's body was retrieved from the river the following day.

Keywords: ELECTRICAL, PPE, LOG, WORK RULES, CLOGGED, E PTD, RIVER, ELEC UTILITY WORK, FALL PROTECTION, WATER