ELECTRIC REPAIR & CONSTRUCTION CO., INC.

ELECTRIC SHOCK & BURN - CONTACT WITH OVERHEAD LINE THRU BOOM

AN ELECTRICIAN AND ANOTHER CONSTRUCTION WORKER WERE INSTALLING DECORATIVE STEEL LIGHTING POLES IN A SCHOOL PARKING LOT. THE POLES WERE 30 FEET LONG. AFTER PLACI NG ONE POLE, THEY WERE MOVING THE NEXT ONE INTO POSITION. THEY HAD TO TRAVEL ABO UT 200 FEET PARALLEL TO A 115-KILOVOLT OVERHEAD POWER LINE. THEY HAD USED A NYLO N SLING TO ATTACH THE POLE TO A BOOM TRUCK HOIST, AND THE BOTTOM OF THE POLE WAS RESTING HORIZONTALLY ON A STEEL STEP AT THE REAR OF THE TRUCK. TO STEADY THE PO LE, THE ELECTRICIAN HELD ONTO THE TWO BRACKETS AT THE TOP END OF THE POLE, WHILE THE OTHER EMPLOYEE DROVE THE TRUCK. AS THEY NEARED THEIR DESTINATION, THE DRIVE R TURNED RIGHT TO POSITION THE TRUCK. MEANWHILE, THE BOOM EITHER CONTACTED OR CA ME TOO CLOSE TO THE OVERHEAD LINE. THE ELECTRICIAN RECEIVED AN ELECTRIC SHOCK, A ND HIS CLOTHES CAUGHT ON FIRE. THE OTHER EMPLOYEE WAS BURNED ON HIS HANDS AS HE TRIED TO EXTINGUISH THE FLAMES. THE ELECTRICIAN WAS TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL, WHERE HE DIED 20 DAYS LATER FROM SEPTIC COMPLICATIONS RESULTING FROM SEVERE BURNS.