Construction Materials Technician Electrocuted After Contacting Power Line at Quarry

Details

• Personal Author:
  Hull-Jilly, Deborah C. ; Middaugh, John
• Corporate Authors:
  Alaska Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Project (Alaska FACE) ; Alaska. Division of Public Health. Section of Epidemiology. Occupational Injury Prevention Program
• Description:
  On August 14, 2001, an 18-year-old male construction materials technician (the victim) died after contacting an energized power line while operating an all-terrain vehicle. The victim was a quality assurance technician at a rock quarry. The quarry site was also used to process, test, and stockpile materials for the nearby road construction project. At the time of the incident, the victim was riding the all-terrain vehicle for purposes other than assigned duties. While cresting one of several piles of crushed rock, the vehicle was stopped or became stuck in the soft material. Approximately 6 feet above the victim's location was a 14,400-volt power line. The incident was not witnessed, and it was surmised from the evidence that the victim stood on the vehicle's foot pedals. The energized power line contacted his back. A co-worker discovered the victim and alerted several other workers in the area. The victim was left in place on the vehicle until he could be safely removed from the vehicle and moved away from the broken power line, which had burned in half and was lying near the location. A supervisor called 911. State troopers, electric utility personnel, and emergency medical service personnel were dispatched. The victim was declared dead at the scene. Based on the findings of the investigation, to prevent similar occurrences, employers should: 1. Ensure that storage sites for all construction materials are inspected for potential hazards under, at, and above ground levels prior to beginning processing (crushing and storage) operation
  
  2. Maintain a minimum 10-foot safety zone near all power lines
  
  3. Develop a written comprehensive safety program that includes job hazard analyses
  
  4. Ensure all workers are given initial hire safety and health orientation that encompasses their duties and general worksite safety and that they are able to recognize and avoid hazardous situations. In addition, employers should: 5. Ensure that workers are knowledgeable of proper emergency response actions when responding to a medical emergency or an injury scene near downed power lines and should never assume downed power lines and surrounding ground are de-energized.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Construction Materials Electric Injuries Electricity Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-potential Accident-prevention Construction Construction-equipment Construction-industry Construction-materials Construction-workers Electric-properties Electrical-conductivity Electrical-hazards Electrical-properties Electrical-safety Electrical-systems Electrocutions Equipment-operators Injuries Injury-prevention Occupational-health Occupational-health-programs Occupational-safety-programs OSHA Region 10 Safety-education Safety-measures Safety-practices Training Traumatic-injuries Work-analysis Work-environment Work-practices

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• FACE - NIOSH and State:
  FACE ; Construction ; Electrocution
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Subseries:
  State
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHSFACE01AK018
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Field Study
• Place as Subject:
  Alaska ; OSHA Region 10
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  8 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20026933
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2010-113259
• 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 01AK018, 2002 May ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2002
• Performing Organization:
  Alaska Department of Health and Social Services
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  23 - Construction - (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-512:71d79b36232cc6c04b7fd5ea94e07800d7619a500bb58e25153dfddfa45c98fcc43cb42bc6b45e79d761f386e24b74b75d44052cea0c8ac51d151222a76342a5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/169089/cdc_169089_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 32.73 KB ]