Lineman Electrocuted When He Contacted 7,200-volt Power Line

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Michigan Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (Project) (MIFACE) ; Michigan State University. Department of Medicine. Occupational and Environmental Medicine
• Description:
  On June 2, 2008, a 47-year-old male journeyman lineman/foreman was electrocuted during the installation of a new 15 KV switch for a single phase, 7,200-volt overhead power line suspended from a wood pole. The decedent was working from an insulated aerial bucket. He had not de-energized the can arrestor fastened to the side of the transformer. He had removed his lineman's gloves prior to removing the first lower bolt of the arrestor. His coworkers believe the can arrestor tipped and the decedent attempted to catch it with his right hand. The current passed through his right hand, across his chest and exited his left hand, which was in contact with a second energized conductor. The decedent yelled to his ground man to lower the bucket. When the bucket was lowered, the decedent was still breathing, but unconscious. The ground man yelled to a two-person journeyman line crew working approximately 200 yards away to come over to help lift the decedent from the bucket. After taking the decedent out of the bucket, the crew began CPR while the ground man called his supervisor for assistance. The supervisor called for emergency response. Arriving six minutes later, the emergency response personnel took over medical care, and then transported him to a local hospital where he was declared dead. Recommendations: 1.) Employers should ensure that linemen follow established safe work procedures to de-energize, ground, and verify the work area is de-energized through testing prior to beginning maintenance and repair operations on power lines. 2.) Employers should ensure that linemen use all appropriate protective equipment, including insulated tools, before attempting any work on power lines with energized circuits. 3.) Employers should conduct both scheduled and unscheduled jobsite safety inspections on a regular basis. 4.) Employers should develop checklists of proper safety procedures and equipment for each job, which could be used to reinforce safe work practices. 5.) Employers should ensure communication devices are operational in all work locations or have alternate methods of communication developed.
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Electric Injuries Electricity Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Occupational Injuries Safety Safety Management Staff Development

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Author Keywords: Electrocution Electrical-conductivity Electrical-hazards Electrical-industry Electrical-safety Electrical-workers Electrocutions Injuries Injury-prevention Lineman Occupational-accidents Occupational-hazards Occupational-safety-programs OSHA Region 5 Overhead Power Line Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Safety-practices Safety-programs Training Traumatic-injuries Work-operations Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Electrocution
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE08MI037
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037046
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-113172
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 08MI037, 2009 Jul ; :1-9
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2009
• Performing Organization:
  Michigan State University
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/07/01
• End Date:
  2026/06/30
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:154a76b27bfc78ca206b977d63ad34223ad657a361c4e9d7e1e342ddfa50b21decb12048be227b29ebc6ccc4d8776e54f0e7d6ce385f8509aee451f72ac1c40f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/165284/cdc_165284_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 244.65 KB ]