Fatality Narrative: Laborer Electrocuted When Jackhammer Strikes Underground Power Line – Slideshow

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Washington (State). Department of Labor and Industries
• Description:
  On August 20, 2014, a 38-year-old laborer was electrocuted when the jackhammer he was using struck an underground power line. The incident happened at a hospital parking lot where his employer was a subcontractor hired to install a storm water drainage system. His employer was a site preparation contractor. The victim was an experienced laborer and a member of the Laborers' International Union of North America. His job duties for this project included digging trenches and laying and connecting storm drain pipe. On the day of the incident, the victim and two other employees were digging trenches and installing storm drains. At the location they were working there was a buried duct bank which was in the way and conflicted with the plans for installing the storm drain. This duct bank contained three lines of PVC electrical conduit piping encased in concrete. Each line of conduit piping contained four power line cables carrying 7,200 volts each. In order to install the storm drain pipes to the necessary grade, the employees were using an excavator, breaker bar, and a rivet-buster-type jackhammer to chip away at the duct bank concrete. The victim was in the trench chipping the duct bank's concrete when his rivet buster punctured the conduit and contacted the power line cable. He was electrocuted and died at the scene. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accidents, Occupational Construction Industry Electric Injuries Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident Analysis Accidents Construction Workers Electrical Hazards Electrocutions Equipment Operators Fatalities Jack Hammers Power Lines Trenches
• Series:
  Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Reports (FACE)
• Publisher:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Cooperative Agreement
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 10 ; Washington
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20061025
• Citation:
  Olympia, WA: Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, 71-136-2015s, 2015 Mar; :1-7
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• Performing Organization:
  Washington State Department of Labor and Industries
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Fatality narrative: laborer electrocuted when jackhammer strikes underground power line - slideshow
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:5699f612c6d15bd29c3e8a2cf1f0f28010b2f51e2b1142dcc018fe9836853a635eed5e698df54bef1c0f597b3d796c9453cce57297c8fd90c2cbeb0f9433d898
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/229047/cdc_229047_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.19 MB ]