Inspection Detail

Inspection: 308770221 - Killen Contractors, Inc

Inspection Information - Office: Jackson Area Office

Investigation Summary

On March 28, 2006, Employee #1's five-man crew was re-conductoring a three-phase tie line between two highways. The work involved changing out the existing #4/0 ACSR B-phase (three-conductor) line and replacing it with a new parallel 336 ACSR, three-phase (four-conductor) 7,200-volt AC system. The crew had taken over this job some weeks earlier from another crew under the same employer. The new distribution line had been energized on the previous day; on the day of the accident, the crew was planning to transfer the three remaining customer taps from the old feeder to the new one. Employee #1, a journeyman lineman, told the homeowner for the first tap that her power would be off, then went up in an aerial lift bucket and hung a spreader arm to the north side of the crossarm on the new pole for that tap. He left his hot stick hanging on the road phase of the old line. His intent was to first move this old conductor up to the new pole's crossarm extension, before attaching the new guy to the new pole. Then he would be ready to transfer the customer's tap from the old line to the new one. For some reason, Employee #1 lowered his bucket and had his groundman hand him the loose, unattached guy for the new 40 ft pole. Employee #1 took the bucket and guy back up and passed the guy over the new neutral and some old circuit-banded conductors. At that point, he apparently could not reach the hook-clip on the south side of the new pole, where he was to attach the new guy. So, while holding the new guy in his left hand, and needing to move his bucket closer to the new pole, he reached back with his right hand for his bucket's pistol-grip control. In so doing, he contacted the old energized road-phase conductor. Coworkers on the ground heard Employee #1 say "Oh," and brought the bucket down. They immediately began CPR and called for an ambulance. Employee #1 was transported to Claiborne County Hospital in Port Gibson, MS, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. He had been wearing leather work gloves at the time of the accident; his insulated rubber gloves, and their leather outer protectors, were in their bag, hanging inside the bucket with him.

Keywords: ELEC PROTECT EQUIP, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, CPR, POWER LINE WORKER, WORK RULES, ELECTROCUTED, STRUCK AGAINST, CONSTRUCTION, ELEC UTILITY WORK, AERIAL LIFT