Inspection Detail

Inspection: 306839101 - Sumter Utilities

Inspection Information - Office: Sc Department Of Labor, Licensing, And Regulation

Investigation Summary

At approximately 11:30 a.m. on January 31, 2004, Employee #1, a lineman, was part of a four-man crew repairing power lines that had been damaged by an ice storm. The crew began work on a pole next to a private drive off a main road. Employee #1 went up in an aerial bucket to replace a missing crossarm on the de-energized pole. He and a coworker then drove to another pole, where they met the other two crew members. Employee #1 was elevated in the bucket to attach a come-along to a downed, de-energized overhead power line, which he was then going to splice and connect to the other part of the line that had fallen to the ground. After connecting the come-along, he began to reposition the bucket to disconnect a stinger line above one of the cut-out switches on the "take off" pole. As Employee #1 moved higher, his right shoulder contacted the stinger line and his left upper arm, creating a path to ground for 7,200 volts. Employee #1 was electrocuted. He was wearing his hard hat but the remainder of his personal protective equipment was on the floor of the bucket. Employee #1 thought the power lines below the cut-out switches were de-energized because the switches were in the OPEN position.

Keywords: ELEC PROTECT EQUIP, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, POWER LINE WORKER, WORK RULES, ELECTROCUTED, STRUCK AGAINST, CONSTRUCTION, ELEC CIRC PART--MISC, ELEC UTILITY WORK