Text For Citation: 01 Item/Group: 001 Hazard:

29 CFR 1926.20(b)(2): The employer did not initiate and maintain a safety program which provided for frequent and regular inspections of job sites, materials, and equipment to be made by a competent person (a competent person is defined as one who is capable of identifying existing and predictable hazards in the surroundings or working conditions which are unsanitary, hazardous, or dangerous to employees, and who has authorization to take prompt corrective measures to eliminate them): (a) ADF Cable Construction, Sand Hill Road and Forest Avenue, Hershey, Pennsylvania - The employer did not have a competent person on the job site in that nobody inspected the job site, identified predictable electrical hazards, and took immediate actions to correct the hazards. As a result, employees used a powered capstan winch and a powered reeler to wind up and remove whole a conductive aerial fiber optic telecommunication cable, which had a length (over 4,500 feet long) capable of contacting exposed energized overhead electrical conductors, comprising a 69kV system running above the fiber optic cable, exposing employees to the hazard of contact with electrical current, as occurred on or about December 11, 2020, when the fiber optic cable came out of a supporting loop, flipped up, and contacted the energized primary. The metallic foil wrapping inside the fiber optic cable carried the electrical current to the reeler truck, where the electrical current returned to ground, including through an employee, not wearing electrically rated personal protective equipment, standing on the ground operating the reeler. Abatement certification and documentation is required within 10 days after abatement date. The certification shall include a statement that abatement is complete, the date and method of abatement, and state that employees and their representatives were informed of this abatement. Abatement documentation shall include documents demonstrating that abatement is complete, such as evidence of the purchase or repair of equipment, photographic or video evidence of abatement, or other written records.