Delivery Truck Driver Electrocuted After Truck-Mounted Boom Contacts 40,000-Volt Overhead Power Line

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Minnesota Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (MN FACE) ; Minnesota. Department of Health
• Description:
  A 23-year-old male part-time delivery truck driver (victim) was electrocuted when he stepped from the cab of a flatbed truck after its partially extended loading boom contacted a 40,000-volt overhead power line. The incident occurred while the victim and a coworker were picking up excess building materials from two locations on a construction site. While the victim drove the truck between locations, the loading boom was not fully lowered and secured. The two section boom was in a partially extended, inverted-V position with the loading fork resting on the building materials on the truck flatbed. Its elbow or hinge point was approximately 30 feet above ground while the truck was being moved between locations. As the victim drove the truck to the second location, the extended boom contacted the overhead power line. Hearing a loud bang, he stopped the truck and exited the cab to determine what had happened. He was electrocuted when he touched the ground while also contacting the metal frame of a cab-mounted ladder used to climb to the boom operating platform. MN FACE investigators concluded that, in order to reduce the likelihood of similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed: 1. employers should ensure that booms are fully lowered and secured before boomed vehicles are moved
  
  2. employers should ensure that adequate clearance between loading booms and overhead power lines is maintained
  
  3. employers should ensure that boomed vehicle drivers/operators are trained in their safe operation
  
  and 4. boomed vehicle manufacturers should design interlock systems that prevent vehicles from being moved unless the boom is fully lowered and secured.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Automobiles Construction Industry Electric Injuries Electricity Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Safety Management Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Construction-workers Drivers Electric-properties Electrical-conductivity Electrical-hazards Electrical-safety Electrocutions Equipment-design Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention OSHA Region 5 Personal-protection Protective-measures Safety-education Safety-equipment Safety-measures Safety-monitoring Traumatic-injuries Truck-drivers Work-analysis Work-areas Work-operations Work-performance 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/NIOSHSFACE94MN012
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Minnesota ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20027406
• 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 94MN012, 1994 Apr ; :1-3
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1994
• Performing Organization:
  Minnesota Department of Health
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  48-49 - Transportation and Warehousing - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1991/09/30
• End Date:
  2006/08/31
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:30f915ed8c66521ffd24c1f80d02a9152cd3a3f8d1112e41efc6989c4dfd2abea9815ae6109a422a0e36f03e8d794824a6734129cb7b2b451b144bebef91faaa
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/167204/cdc_167204_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 103.40 KB ]