Electrical Accidents page 7

Electrical Accidents #7

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

College student electrocuted while painting 
The Associated Press 7/16/03 2:35 PM
ONEIDA TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — A 21-year-old Michigan State University student has died after he hit his ladder against a primary power line while he was painting a house in Eaton County. Brad Hilberg of Alpena was electrocuted Tuesday when he tried to remove the aluminum ladder from against the house and lower it. The ladder was 25 feet in the air when it struck the 4,800-volt power line about 10:50 a.m., the Eaton County Sheriff’s Department told the Lansing State Journal for a Wednesday story. Hilberg was taken to St. Lawrence Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Hilberg, who worked for College Works Painting, was painting the home with another student. His co-worker, who witnessed the incident, was not injured, police said. Thomas Hilberg, Brad’s father, said his son painted houses to earn extra money to attend Michigan State, where he was a junior majoring in civil engineering. Brad Hilberg played hockey, football and baseball in high school, and was a big fan of the band Phish, jazz and easy listening usic, Thomas Hilberg said.

Area man electrocuted in accident
By Tribune Staff
A longtime area businessman died Saturday while trying to repair a pivot irrigation system. Dale G. Freund, 55, of Fremont was pronounced dead at Fremont Area Medical Center. The death was an apparent accidental electrocution, said Dodge County Attorney Paul Vaughan. Freund was on the irrigation system tower working on a control when his son, Travis, saw a bright flash, Vaughan said. A passerby stopped to help. Freund was transported to FAMC by the North Bend rescue squad, Vaughan said. The Dodge County Sheriff’s Department received the report at 6:30 p.m. and arrived after Freud had been taken to the hospital. Freund was the owner of Mid-Continent Irrigation Co. in Fremont. He was called to repair a center pivot system in North Bend, approximately one-fourth mile north of County Road R. Freund purchased Mid-Continent Irrigation in 1986, which is a Valley irrigation sales and service company. Prior to that, he had worked for Valmont then for Hammond & Stephens Co. Freund was a 1966 graduate of Fremont High School. The funeral was at 10:30 a.m. today at First Lutheran Church in Fremont.

Man burned as drill hits power vault
By STAFF WRITER
ALAMEDA — A subcontractor who accidentally drilled into a power vault at Alameda Point sustained critical third-degree burns Tuesday morning, Alameda officials said. The Stockton man was airlifted to Eden Valley Medical Center in Castro Valley and later transferred to the burn unit at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he remained in critical condition Tuesday night, city officials said. “Apparently the burns are really, really bad,” said Deputy Fire Chief Steve Jones. The 28-year-old man, whose name wasn’t released, was severely burned on both hands, on at least one side of his body, and on one foot. Witnesses started CPR, and an emergency helicopter arrived within five minutes of the accident, Jones said. Charles Sanford, owner of Charles B. Sanford Construction, said his employee accidentally drilled into a 12-kilovolt primary distribution circuit serving the area. He was trenching to install telephone equipment, city officials said. The worker started work with Charles B. Sanford Construction in Winton on Monday, Sanford said. Sanford said he is a friend of his sons. “I believe that unfortunately it was an accident,” said Sanford. “He was operating a drill, which doesn’t require much safety training.” Sanford said the area had been checked by two groups who tested for, but did not locate, the circuit. Matt McCabe, a spokesman for Alameda Power & Telecom, which operates and maintains the electrical system that was drilled into, said the incident occurred 11:30 a.m. on West Ranger Avenue. The distribution circuit was installed initially by the U.S. Navy to serve portions of the former Alameda Naval Air Station. Sanford Construction is a subcontractor to Mobile Modular. The company is retained to install temporary facilities to house a Head Start project being run by the Alameda Point Collaborative. The incident resulted in an electrical outage to approximately 300 customers. Alameda Power & Telecom crews restored power within an hour.

 

Welder electrocuted at Gainesville construction site 
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A welder was apparently electrocuted while working on a metal balcony at a construction site, authorities said. Javier Gonzales, 37, of Norcross, Ga., died in Sunday’s accident, said Sgt. Keith Faulk, an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesman. Workers told authorities that Gonzales, an employee of Allen Steel Products of Arlington, Tenn., was installing a metal subfloor on a balcony using an 8,000 watt welding machine. A co-worker said he left Gonzales to retrieve some material and returned to find him unconscious and not breathing. Workers performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation until emergency medical workers arrived. Although detectives are awaiting the results of an autopsy, authorities believe he was electrocuted by the welding machine, Faulk said. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating, Faulk said. Associated Press

Fire breaks out at energy plant 
Council Bluffs firefighters were called to an electrical fire at Mid American Energy’s Council Bluffs Energy Center late Sunday morning. Fire Inspector Bob Caughey of the Council Bluffs Fire Marshal’s Office said the fire occurred in some breaker panels in the plant around 10:20 a.m. “We’re still looking at how it got started,” Caughey said. “It’s under investigation at this time.” Nine units responded to the scene. The fire was quickly contained but three crews remained on the scene until 1 p.m. to secure the area and begin the investigation process. No injuries were reported in the fire. Caughey also said power was rediverted so that no outages would occur. The cause of the fire and extent of the damage is still under investigation by the Fire Marshal’s Office, the city electrical inspector and Mid American Energy officials. 

Three UI workers injured in Sikorsky transformer mishap 
By SARAH W. WALKER and LUTHER TURMELLE , Special to The Press 07/12/2003 
STRATFORD — An early morning explosion at Sikorsky Aircraft Friday left one United Illuminated Co. worker in critical condition and two others hospitalized, and sent investigators scurrying to discover what caused the accident. UI spokesman Kevin Moore said the three utility workers sustained serious injuries when a lightning arrestor on a transformer caused a flash arc to strike the workers. The incident occurred at about 8:45 a.m. as the workers were assessing tasks that were supposed to be done on the transformer this weekend, he said. A lightning arrestor is a piece of equipment that channels electrical surges into the ground to prevent other equipment, such transformers, from being damaged. The incident occurred in an enclosed, caged-in area at the rear of Sikorsky’s main parking lot on River Road, Moore said. “They were up there checking some transformers (when the incident occurred),” said Stratford Police Capt. Harvey Maxwell. Moore did not comment on the specific nature of the workers’ injuries, but said “we hope for a speedy recovery.” The three workers identities were not released Friday, though Moore said their families had been contacted regarding the incident. One was listed in critical condition and the other two were listed in fair condition at Bridgeport Hospital’s Burn Unit, Moore said. “They are experienced UI employees who have each been with us a minimum of 20 years,” Moore said, adding that the three are part of the Power Delivery Underground Group. Moore said Sikorsky Aircraft, UI, and the Bridgeport office of Occupational Safety & Health Administration are cooperating to thoroughly investigate what happened so that it does not occur again. Sikorsky Aircraft spokeswoman Sheena Steiner said the explosion did not interrupt any electric flow to the plant or stop work there. Maxwell said his department had limited involvement in the explosion situation and subsequent investigation because it’s a “standard industrial accident.” Moore said it was “more than 10 or 15 years ago that something of this magnitude happened.” “The workers safety is our number one priority,” Moore said, “It’s very important for us to find out what happened.” A review of OSHA data on the company on the federal agency’s Internet site found the last time UI was cited for a violation by the agency was in July 1991 and involved problems with accident prevention signs. The violation initially carried a fine of $1,875, but the agency and UI officials reached an informal agreement later that month in which the company agreed to pay $1,200. According to OSHA records, the last time the agency investigated an accident at the company occurred in August 1983. That was one of six accident investigations that OSHA conducted at UI between January 1978 and August 1983. 

UPDATE Second ESB worker dies after accident 
July 11, 2003 
The ESB has said the death of a second staff member following the accident at Tarbert Power Station in Co Kerry last week has come as a devastating blow for staff and the company. Michael Healy, 49, from Tieraclea, Tarbert, died yesterday evening at Cork University Hospital, where he was being treated for burn injuries. A married man with four sons, he was an electrical instrumentation supervisor at the power station. The chairman of the ESB, Mr Tadhg O’Donoghue, and the Chief Executive, Padraig MacManus, expressed their profound sympathy to Mr Healy’s family and friends. 

Man electrocuted at work
By Andrea Misko Beacon Journal staff writer
I called all the Krivanek’s in the Akron/Medina and Cleveland phone books, I got all answering machines and got one answer and the woman said they were family but declined comment, FYI The number at Barberton Steel is 745-6837, 240 E. Huston Street, Barberton. But I haven’t been able to get any answer. James Krivanek (who I believe is another owner, is at 440-473-2672, I haven’t reached him) Ronald C. Krivanek, co-owner of Barberton Steel & Iron, Inc., was electrocuted Friday after trying to resolve a power issue at the East Huston Street plant. Krivanek, 48, of Coachman Court in Brecksville, was pronounced dead at 11:17 p.m. in the emergency room of Barberton Citizens Hospital, according to the Summit County Medical Examiner’s office. The death was ruled accidental. There was no answer at the steel plant on Saturday. A woman at the home of James Krivanek III, Ronald’s brother, declined to comment. Barberton police Chief Mike Kallai said workers heard a loud pop and then saw Krivanek lying against the insidef the fence surrounding a power substation on the property. Krivanek was inspecting the substation after workers informed him they weren’t getting enough power, said Kallai, who was unable to provide more details. Jill Skapin, spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said it appeared a transformer might have blown. Art Graham, a dispatcher for FirstEnergy, said the company supplies about 12,500 volts of electricity to the substation at Krivanek’s company. Kallai said Saturday there wasn’t much for the police department to investigate and that he expected FirstEnergy would be assisting the company in determining what went wrong. The accident occurred around 10:40 p.m., Kallai said. In June 1989, Barberton Steel & Iron reported it was investing $600,000 to improve the company’s electrical system, increasing its manufacturing capacity by 25 percent. It also planned to spend $220,000 to modernize the system. 

News in brief from eastern Pennsylvania 
SCRANTON, Pa. (AP) — The Lackawanna County coroner ruled that the death of a worker electrocuted at a Moosic factory was accidental. William Edwards, 50, of Clarks Summit was a maintenance worker at Compression Polymers Group. Coroner Joseph Brennan said he died Wednesday evening and his body was found early Thursday. Scranton Fire Chief Thomas Davis said a co-worker found Edwards’ body in a pool of water, leaning against a large electrical box. “It appears he bumped his head and hit something live,” Davis said. Company officials declined to comment. 

Blaze breaks out at digger factory
Jul 11, 2003, 12:47:00
A paint shop at Staffordshire digger makers JCB was severely damaged today when a blaze broke out in an electrical transformer. Production at the firm’s world headquarters, in Rocester, was halted for around two-and-a-half hours after the fire broke at around 8am. All 1,500 employees were evacuated while firefighters from across the county tackled the blaze in the workshop, used to paint hydraulic rams for diggers. Up to 80 firefighters fought the blaze and took around 30 minutes to get it under control. Staff were allowed back into the plant at around 9.30am. 

UPDATE Worker electrocuted at ConAgra foods plant in Montgomery 
The Associated Press 7/10/03 12:04 PM
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — A worker was electrocuted while repairing a refrigerator in an attic crawl space of the ConAgra Foods plant in Montgomery. Police said David Safley, 42, of Montgomery was found by co-workers around 7 p.m. Wednesday. He was revived by paramedics but was pronounced dead at 7:48 p.m. at Baptist Hospital South. ConAgra spokesman Bob McKeon said details of the accident are being investigated by the company. The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration also is investigating the workplace death. Safley was working as part of a night maintenance crew when the accident occurred while he worked on a malfunctioning refrigerator. Police said the plant supervisor reported that Safley was in an attic crawl space when the accident occurred. “We are deeply saddened to lose Mr. Safley because he was a valued employee and an important member of the ConAgra Foods team,” McKeon said. The death comes slightly more than a year after Elliot Munoz, 21, a contract worker at the ConAgra plant, had his legs severed in a large meat grinder on June 23, 2002. 

UEDCL to Probe Deaths 
July 8, 2003 Kampala 
THE Uganda Electricity Distribution Company Limited (UEDCL) yesterday set up a committee to probe the circumstances under which one of its workers was electrocuted while fixing a faulty power line, reports Geoffrey Kamali. The deceased, Salim Lubega, was fixing a 33-KV high voltage line in Kajansi, on the Kampala-Entebbe highway, when current was suddenly switched on. It killed him instantly. The incident brings to two the deaths in two months. Another linesman was recently killed while fixing a faulty line near Kalerwe market in Kampala. Another man, Joseph Mbabali alias Makanika, earlier reported dead, is still admitted in the Intensive Care Unit at Rubaga Hospital while a third, whose identity is yet to be established, was discharged. The committee is headed by Robert Mubiru, the Kampala area customer relations manager and comprises other engineers, Mubiru said yesterday. Two workers, based at Najjanankumbi power station, were yesterday questioned by Police in Katwe over the incident. Lubega’s relatives picked his body from the city mortuary yesterday and took it to his home in Lyantonde, Rakai district. Mubiru said, “The committee will look at the incident and how the events occurred. We don’t even know whether power had been switched off (at the time they climbed the power poles).” “We are not working today. We are going for burial. Meanwhile, someone must explain why power was switched on when it must be off before the linesmen get to work,” said John Otto, a UEDCL worker. 

Man Electrocuted Trying to Restore Power 
July 5, 2003 
GEORGETOWN TOWNSHIP — A man is dead after a tragic accident on the 4th of July. John Clay worked in construction, his friends say he could fix or build almost anything. So seeing Clay die during a fix-it project was a complete surprise. Storms knocked out power to the area during the holiday, so 58-year-old Clay and his friend, Roger Lucas, had a plan to re-trip the circuit breaker. They used a Hi-lo to work on the breaker box, 30 feet in the air. Clay used a metal rod to knock it into place, the shock shot him all the way to the ground. “He touched the wood and the breaker at the same time,” said friend Billy Schneider. “The wood acted as a conductor and it grounded him as he was electrocuted.” Schneider attempted CPR, but it was no use. Clay was later pronounced dead on scene by paramedics. Friends say Clay had confidence to do anything. He figured they could fix the problem beforde the power company. “John had displayed to everyone who had known him that he was basically capable of almost anything,” said Schneider. Clay was from Switzerland. He had a reunion planned with his family whom he had not seen in decades. They were notified of the news on the fourth.

 

Man dies in hydro wire accident east of city
By BRIAN KELLY, The Sault Star Monday, July 07, 2003 – 09:00 
Local News – A Midland, Ont., man is dead after making contact with a live hydro wire early Saturday afternoon near Bruce Mines. John Franklin Stephens, 29, was a member of a K-Line Contracting crew doing planned maintenance work on Cloudslee Road in Plummer Township northeast of the community. The road is about two kilometres from Highway 17. Stephens was working on an overhead distribution line from an elevated bucket when the accident occurred shortly after noon Saturday. “At that particular time they were in the process of reactivating a line and something went wrong,” said Sgt. John Lewis of the East Algoma detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police. Fellow workers applied first aid to Stephens. He was transported to Thessalon Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:24 p.m. No foul play is suspected. A Ministry of Labour investigation continued on Sunday. The Stouffville, Ont.-based contracting company had been subcontracted by Great Lakes Power to work on its overhead distribution lines. “We’ve been striving for a perfect safety record so we’re very upset about this event,” said Kim Osmars, vice-president and general manager of GLP’s transmission and distribution division, on Sunday. “We’re working with the appropriate authorities to review the accident and the causes leading up to the accident.” Osmars, declining to identify the victim or the contracting company, described the firm GLP hired as “excellent” and having a “good reputation” in the industry. “They’ve been working with us for awhile,” he said. While the accident continues to be investigated, Osmars also declined to say how long company employees had been working in the area or how many GLP customers in Bruce Mines were without power until about 11:30 p.m. Power was off for almost 12 hours while the OPP and Ministry of Labour investigated the accident scene. In 2001, in Sault Ste. Marie, Lewis Wheelan sustained major high-voltage electrical burns to 55-to 60 -per-cent of his body when a tree crashed into a power line and injured him. The Sir Jmes Dunn collegiate graduate was a summer worker with Neat Site Vegetation. The company was under contract to GLP to cut trees and clear brush near a hydro distribution line. Wheelan lost his right arm, both legs and the middle finger on his left hand. In March, Neat Site Vegetation owner Michael Piccolo pleaded guilty to two charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. He was fined $15,000. That same month Wheelan accepted a $500,000 lump sum payment from GLP.

 

Electricity worker dies in Down accident 
09/07/2003 – 2:14:49 pm 
Northern Ireland Electricity has launched an investigation into the death of a contract worker in Co Down today. The man died while working on power lines in the Mill Road area of Annalong. The North’s electricity company said it had launched an internal inquiry into the death and vowed to work with police and health and safety officials to determine the details of the incident. 

Montgomery Plant Worker Electrocuted
Reported by Keysha Perry
A man is dead after being electrocuted at the ConAgra Foods Plant in Montgomery. The accident happened just a few minutes after 7:00 Tuesday night. Police investigators say 42 year old David Safley was working at the plant when an industrial accident caused his death. Co-workers noticed something went wrong and called police. Medics tried to revive Safley on the scene but he later died at Baptist Hospital South. OSHA is now investigating to find more answers in the accident. 

Worker injured in ESB accident dies in hospital 
online.ie 04 Jul 2003 
A 38-year-old ESB worker has died in hospital from injuries received in an explosion at a power plant in Co Kerry yesterday afternoon. Three workers were injured in the blast in a switch-gear room at Tarbert generating station. Two of them were taken to the burns unit in Cork University Hospital, where one of them, Pat McCroghan, died this morning. The second man remains in a critical condition, while the third casualty is in a stable condition in Tralee General Hospital. The ESB is investigating the cause of the accident and has promised to co-operate fully with the Health and Safety Authority. The company has also expressed its sympathy to Mr McCroghan’s family. 

House-painter electrocuted in Topsham 
Michael Reagan Times Record 07/02/2003 
TOPSHAM – A 20-year-old Topsham man died Tuesday after the aluminum ladder he and a co-worker were carrying touched a power line next to an Elm Street residence. Andrew McMillan was declared dead Tuesday afternoon at Parkview Adventist Medical Center in Brunswick, said Lt. Chris Lewis of the Topsham Police Department. McMillan was working as a painter with two other employees of College Pro Painters at a home at 16 Elm St. at the time of the accident, which was reported at 2:55 p.m. The other co-worker who was carrying the ladder, Brett Dumont, was taken by ambulance to Maine Medical Center in Portland. Lewis said Dumont was in stable condition. According to Lewis, Dumont and McMillan were moving a 40-foot ladder when it appeared they lost their balance and the ladder came into contact with power lines that run parallel to the side of the residence, Lewis said. The third worker was not injured. Central Maine Power Co. officials said the power line had about 7,200 volts running through it, Lewis said. A team from the Occupational Safety & Health Administration in Portland responded to the accident, said Bill Freeman, area director. Investigations can take one to two weeks. Representatives of Central Maine Power Co. were also called to the scene. 

UPDATE Lineman from Connecticut dies in Massachusetts accident
(Rehoboth, Mass.-AP, July 2, 2003 2:40 PM) _ Officials in Massachusetts say an electrical lineman from Connecticut has died from a power line accident. Forty-four-year-old Walter Shaw had been as injured after his crew’s equipment contacted live power lines in Rehoboth, Massachusetts on Monday. He died yesterday. A co-worker of Shaw’s from Maine died on Monday. The men were part of a crew doing maintenance work on high-tension lines when a crossbeam they were attempting to install accidentally contacted a 115-thousand volt line. 

25,000 VOLTS HIT DAD-TO-BE Jul 2 2003; Engineer fights for life after rail horror
Paula Murray
A RAIL engineer was fighting for his life yesterday after suffering a massive electric shock from a power line. Scot Richard McBride, whose wife is expecting their first child, was working near Birmingham when the 25,000-volt blast hit him. The 28-year-old, originally from Drongan in Ayrshire, was working on new overhead lines at Marston Green Railway Station when the accident happened at around 1.30am. He suffered severe burns after electricity arced from one of the existing power lines and hit him. He was rushed to the Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham before being taken to the special burns unit at Selly Oak Hospital. Last night, doctors there described his condition as “critical but stable”. Richard and his wife Nicola Anne, 29, whom he married in Prestwick three years ago, had just moved into a new home in Rugby, Warwickshire. Last night, she said: “Richard is still critical but stable. He’s OK. I’ve been by his side since the accident happened. “I am expecting our first child and I was up all night. I’m really tired.” Richard was contracted to Kent-based Elec-Track Installations Ltd. A spokesman for the firm said: “We have an excellent safety record and all staff are given training. “Our thoughts are with the employee concerned and his family.” One ETI worker, who declined to be named, said: “It is terrible. I’ve heard he suffered up to 45 per cent burns.” The Health and Safety Executive and Network Rail immediately launched investigations. A Network Rail spokeswoman said: “Electricity can arc and it looks like this might have happened. “There will be a full investigation.” 

Power company worker survives 220,000-volt shock 
02.07.2003 By JO-MARIE BROWN 
A Transpower contractor is in hospital with serious burns after 220,000 volts from the national grid shot through his body. The 34-year-old Taupo man, employed by Electrix, was working inside the Wairakei substation when the accident occurred around 11am yesterday. He was knocked unconscious when power surged through one of his hands and out the other, leaving him with a hole in one palm and serious burns. “He was working on a high voltage transmission area where the line meets some other equipment,” Transpower spokesman Wayne Eagleson said. Mr Eagleson said such accidents rarely occurred. He would not comment on whether the man was lucky to be alive after being struck by 220,000 volts, but pointed out that most power lines in residential areas carried only 11,000 volts. The Tranz Rail rescue helicopter flew the man to Rotorua Hospital. He was said to be recovering well last night. Transpower and Occupational Safety and Health are investigating. 

1 Worker Killed, 4 Hurt By High-Voltage Power Line; Truck Touches 115,000-Volt Line
June 30, 2003
REHOBOTH, Mass. — One worker was killed and four others were seriously injured Monday when they were shocked by high-power electrical lines in Rehoboth, News Channel 10 reported. The workers were attending to power lines on Baker Road when the accident happened about 3:30 p.m. News Channel 10’s Mario Hilario reported that the workers were employed by a contractor for National Grid, the parent company of Massachusetts Electric. An official said a boom on one of the workers’ trucks came in contact with the 115,000-volt line. Two of the workers were sent to Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River, two more went to Morton Hospital in Taunton and the fifth went to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence. Two were in critical condition and two were in stable condition Monday night. They were being treated for burns, Hilario reported. The state police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were called in to investigate. Hilario reported that the accident had no impact on power to homes or businesses.

Substation blast cuts off power to 6,411
By MOLLY MOORHEAD, Times Staff Writer St. Petersburg Times June 30, 2003
WESLEY CHAPEL – A small explosion at an electrical substation Sunday morning injured one worker and interrupted power to about 6,400 customers. Progress Energy Florida employees were installing new equipment at the substation 2 miles west of Interstate 75 on State Road 54 at 10:30 a.m. when a “very small, contained explosion” occurred, spokesman Aaron Perlut said. Perlut did not release the name of the employee, but said his injuries were not life threatening. Pasco County Fire Rescue officials said the man was taken to a hospital in a helicopter. Ernie Holzhauer – spokesman for Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, which owns the substation – said 6,411 customers in the Wesley Chapel area experienced an outage. Power was restored in seven minutes, he said. The explosion did not interrupt power to any Progress Energy customers or damage the substation. Progress Energy was investigating the cause of the explosion. “We take any kind of accident very seriously,” Perlut said. 

Man Dies After Being Electrocuted
Altoona — A Johnstown man died in an unusual accident yesterday. Altoona Police say Christopher Kujanpaa was painting this house when his roller touched a high voltage line. The jolt sent him into immediate cardiac arrest. Two women, who were swimming in their pool, saw what happened and rushed over to help. He died at the Altoona Hospital.

 

4,000 homes without power after explosion; Residents likely to stay in dark until this morning; Six homes evacuated but residents later allowed back
STEVE KRAVITZ AND CYNTHIA LEE STAFF REPORTERS
An explosion and fire at a hydro distribution substation left 4,000 households in a large swath of west-end Toronto without power last night. The fire broke out around 7 p.m. in a Toronto Hydro transformer in the Dupont St. and Ossington Ave. substation and soon spread to another part of the station, blanketing the area with thick clouds of black smoke. One hundred firefighters and 25 trucks responded to the four-alarm blaze. Toronto Fire Platoon Chief Larry Fry said the main concern was that the intense heat would ignite more fires nearby. Six houses and a nearby factory were subsequently evacuated. Residents, however, later returned to their homes, which were undamaged. Though firefighters had the blaze under control by 9:45 p.m., residents living in the area bounded by Bloor St. and St. Clair Ave. and from Dufferin St. east to Spadina Ave. were left in darkness by the loss of the substation. Last night, a Toronto Hydro spokesperson said the power would probably be out until this morning. Spokesperson Laurie McFadden said two transformers were damaged and a crew was trying to operate the local distribution grid with the remaining two transformers. “Our goal is to get power back as quickly as possible,” she said. McFadden said hydro officials still did not yet know the cause of the fire, but Fry speculated it may have been a malfunction in the transformer. Emergency crews at the scene expressed concerns about possible PCBs at the site. But hydro officials said the company no longer uses the toxic material in its transformers. Still, hazardous materials crews were called in to monitor and try to disperse the thick smoke. “It wasn’t your ordinary wood smell,” said local resident Helen Brown, who lives a block from the substation. “The smoke was black and went straight up to the west,” she said. Brown said she was glad the power outage did not happen during last week’s heat wave and that her only concern now was that the food in her fridge not spoil. Student Roddy Gangoo said he “was kind of ticked off” because he couldn’t even finish cooking the chicken he was going to have for dinner. “There it goes, into the garbage,” he said. Residents are advised to unplug or turn off all appliances including TVs, computers and other sensitive equipment to avoid possible damage when power resumes, hydro officials said. 

Man Dies While Trimming Trees 
Jun 21, 2003
A man cutting limbs off a pine tree in South Richmond was apparently electrocuted yesterday afternoon when one of the branches hit a nearby power line. The victim, whose identity was not released, died in the tree and had to be removed by Richmond firefighters once Dominion Power workers cut the power to the lines. The death remains under investigation. Rescuers were called to the front yard at 58 Rodman Road, which is off Old Midlothian Turnpike, shortly before 4 p.m. 

UPDATE Underground Services (1983) Ltd. fined $150,000 for health and safety violation
BELLEVILLE, ON, June 19 /CNW/ – Underground Services (1983) Ltd., a Bolton, Ont. construction company, was fined $150,000 on June 17, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in the death of two workers. On October 26, 2001, workers were removing “jersey barriers” (concrete road barriers) at a highway road and bridge repair project when a cable on a crane, which was being used to lift the barriers, came in contact with a 44,000-volt overhead power line. The incident occurred as one of the workers, who had been signalling the crane operator, went to speak to a second worker. At the time, the crane was in a stopped position. While the signal worker’s back was turned, the crane started to back up and the second worker yelled for the signal worker to alert the crane operator of the nearby overhead wires. However, before the signal worker could warn the operator, the crane’s cable came in contact with the power line, which was located 11.58 metres (37 feet, 11 inches) above the highway, and the crane became energized. The signal worker was electrocuted while trying to get between the crane and centre median to warn the operator. The operator was electrocuted while trying to leave the crane’s cab, possibly after seeing the signal worker fall. Both workers died as a result of their injuries. The incident occurred on Highway 401 near Highway 62 in Belleville. Underground Services (1983) Ltd. had been contracted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to conduct the highway repairs on Highway 401 between overpasses on Highways 37 and 62. Underground Services had, in turn, contracted some of the work to a crane company, which employed the two deceased workers. As constructor, Underground Services had overall responsibility for the safety of all employers and workers on the project. Underground Services (1983) Ltd. pleaded guilty, as the constructor, to failing to ensure warning signs were posted in prominent locations where there was a potential hazard from energized overhead power lines, as required by Section 44 of the Regulations for Construction Projects. This was contrary to Section 23(1)(a) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice of the Peace Sheila Matchett of the Ontario Court of Justice in Belleville. In addition, the court imposed a 25- per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. 

Electric Power Line Shocks Worker
Tuesday, June 17 6:00pm By Norm Jones
An electric power line shocked a man Tuesday while he worked in Lycoming County. The shock so severe, it seriously burned him. It all happened while he watched over a prison inmate. The work going on was part of the Lycoming County’s Jail Work Release Program. Now investigators want to know why the men were so close to the lines. The man injured is a construction foreman. He was working with a prisoner in Montgomery when the motorized life they were in got dangerously close to the line. It was an accident that some say, didn’t have to happen. But when it did, Montgomery resident and Emergency Medical Technician Danielle Bryson happened to be nearby, and looking in that direction. She explained she saw the lift touch the power lines, saw sparks fly, and yelled for the men to get away from the machine The foreman, Michael Niedermyer of Williamsport, bumped into the wire, sending an electric current through his body. Danielle Bryson said she asked other men to keep checking on his pulse and breathing while she went to get help. When crews arrived, they immediately attended to Niedermyer and the inmate, while prison officials investigated. Warden David Desmond told us that all of the prison’s work crew foremen are experienced in various trades and construction. The County had rented the lift from a local company. A spokesman there told us most of the inmate workers and foremen at this particular site did pass a safety certification test to operate the lift. Warden David Desmond said that included Niedermyer. Officials told Newswatch 16 the inmate was not injured and as of 6:00 Tuesday evening. Niedermyer was still receiving treatment at a hospital.

UPDATE Companies plead guilty to safety breaches
June 18 2003 By Selma Milovanovic
Two companies yesterday pleaded guilty to safety breaches over the death of an electrical worker and serious injuries to another who performed hazardous tasks while unsupervised. John Murphy died while replacing a power pole four years ago, the Melbourne Magistrates Court heard. Mr Murphy was a leading hand of a Skilled Engineering crew employed by United Energy to replace a power pole in Oakleigh on January 27, 1999. Mr Murphy was standing in a cherry-picker and working with 240-volt power lines when a colleague, Daryl Webster, who was delegated the job of safety observer, told Mr Murphy he was going to the crane truck to get tools, just before Mr Murphy suffered an electric shock. United Energy and Skilled Engineering pleaded guilty to failing to ensure a safety observer was present and performed their duty, and failing to ensure protective matting was used. United Energy also pleaded guilty to failing to provide a safety observer in the case of a worker who suffered burns to 50 per cent of his body after suffering an electric shock. On July 16, 1997, Jamie Moore was subcontracted by United Energy to do maintenance work on an electrical substation in Dandenong. The court heard that at the time of the accident there was no supervisor present. Prosecutor Paul Holdenson, QC, said an industry code of practice provided that where it was considered a person or equipment might contact live apparatus, a safety observer needed to be present. Ross Ray, QC, for United Energy, said that since the accident, the entire industry had enforced the issue of safety observers far more rigorously. Magistrate Jelena Popovic adjourned her decision to June 25. 

UPDATE Louisiana company cited for safety violations in Mississippi
The U.S. Department of Labor fined a Louisiana-based company $46,800 for safety violations at a job site in Gulfport where a worker was injured by an electric shock. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Marlin Contracting Co., Inc. for a Jan. 2 accident. Marlin Contracting, a utility contractor in Harvey, La., had eight employees working on a power line when one member of the crew, who had been on the job for two days, received a shock and severe burns. The worker remains partially paralyzed from his injuries. OSHA issued 12 citations for violations of safety standards. The company is charged with: -Failing to provide safety training for employees working with high-voltage electrical lines and operating aerial lift equipment -Failing to maintain the required distance between workers, equipment and energized power lines. -Not providing tools certified for use on power lines. -Not inspecting and discarding damaged tools or insulating equipment. -Failing to provide adequate traffic barriers and high visibility clothing for ground employees working near traffic areas. “This accident could have been prevented if the company had taken precautions required by OSHA regulations and industry practice,” said Clyde Payne, OHSA’s Jackson area director. Marlin Contracting has 15 working days to contest the OSHA citation and proposed penalties. 

UTILITY WORKER KILLED AS HE RESTORED STORM OUTAGE 
A Nashville Electric Service lineman has been electrocuted as crews worked to restore power outages caused by storms. A utility spokeswoman says Curtis Peterson Junior had climbed a power pole in the Joelton area on Nashville’s northwest edge and touched a live line. Teresa Corlew says another lineman working with Peterson called 9-1-1, did a pole top rescue, then performed C-P-R on the victim until an ambulance arrived. The incident occurred shortly after eleven p-m Central time yesterday. Peterson was pronounced dead at Skyline Medical Center. 

Electrocution confirmed in area worker’s death
NEW LONDON — A 30-year-old Hortonville man who died Thursday while working on a highway crew was electrocuted, Outagamie County Coroner Ruth Wulgaert said Friday. An autopsy conducted by a forensic pathologist of the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the cause of death for Kevin Johnson, she said. Staff Sgt. Bob Bekx, of the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department, said police investigators were unable to determine the source of the fatal shock, but concluded the death was not suspicious. Johnson was setting off explosives using an electronic detonator when the mishap occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on County D, about three miles south of New London. 

Fremont worker injured at substation
By Fremont Tribune Staff
A Fremont utility worker was injured in a Tuesday afternoon accident and is being treated at an Omaha hospital. Derril Marshall, general manager of the Fremont Department of Utilities, said the man was doing general maintenance at the substation at Somers Avenue and County Road T when the accident occurred. The man was working near high voltage lines on a metal structure at that station when it’s believed one of his tools came in contact with the line, Marshall said. He was then transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The incident occurred around 1-1:30 p.m. Due to privacy laws, the name of the individual could not be released. 

Worker Shocked 40 Feet Above Ground
FULLERTON — A serious shock – 40 feet above the ground – sends a local utility worker to the hospital. The Southern California Edison employee suffered the electric shock while working on a 12,000-volt power line on the 4200 block of West Hill Ave. in Fullerton. The accident happened in the early morning hours, according to an Orange County Fire Authority spokesperson. Jon Perez was working on a “cross arm” on the pole when he was injured, said SCE’s Paul Klein. Perez was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange, where he was still being treated some nine hours later, Klein said. His condition was not immediately known. The circumstances of the accident were under investigation. 

Southwest worker dies in mishap
By JAMIE PAGE 06/ 3 2003
The May 4 tornadoes took 11 lives. Nearly a month later, the maintenance work in the storm’s aftermath has taken another. Danny Ray Butler, an employee for Southwest Tennessee Electric Membership Corp., died Sunday night at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital after a broken utility pole fell on him. Butler, 54, of Spring Creek, was a service truck operator and groundsman for Southwest. “He was as good as his word … if he said he was going to do something he did it,” said his wife, Sue Butler, 38. “He was as honest as the day was long, and he was a very, very good husband and father.” Starting to cry, she said, “I’ll miss him very, very much.” Butler and co-worker Jason Brown were responding to a service call Sunday evening off Ranger Road in the Beech Bluff area, where a damaged service pole had most likely been split by last month’s tornadoes. While Butler was disconnecting the lines, the pole broke and fell on top of him, said Trent Scott, marketing coordinator for Southwest. The owner of the rental property, where the service pole only affected that particular property’s electricity, said he had not been to the scene since the storm and assumed the damage was caused by the tornadoes, Scott said. Butler was conscious at the scene, but was pronounced dead at 9:30 p.m. Sunday at Jackson General, Scott said. “There is no better human being in this world than him,” said Jimmie Burchett, a close family friend. “He would do anything he could to help anybody. He was a very good man, a good father, he loved his work, a great person all around.” Butler, who was born and raised in Madison County, had worked for Southwest since September 1995. He leaves behind his wife of 14 years, daughter Jauvada Arnold, two stepdaughters, Mandy Pickard of Pinson and Crystal Hill of Spring Creek, two grandchildren, Josh Grant and McKenzie Pickard, and a brother Billy Butler of Chatsworth, Ga. “We are extending our sympathies to his family,” Scott said. 

UPDATE Lawrenceburg City Employee’s Electrocution Investigated 
Reported by: 9News Web produced by: Liz Foreman
Tuesday, inspectors will be back on the scene where a Lawrenceburg city worker was electrocuted. John Davis, 59, was electrocuted Monday afternoon while working on an underground transformer box by the river levy at the end of Walnut Street. Investigators are trying to figure out why he was working on the transformer alone. Davis had only two years left until retirement. He left behind his wife, two children and several grandchildren. Mayor Tremain has closed down the city for the rest of the week except for all emergency personnel.

 

UPDATE NESTLE AND MONOTRONIC FINED £245,000 FOLLOWING ELECTROCUTION
One of the country’s largest food and drink manufacturers, Nestlé UK Ltd, was on Friday 30 May fined £220,000 following a fatal accident in 1999 when a contractor’s employee was electrocuted undertaking work at Nestlé’s factory in Nestles Avenue, Hayes, Middlesex. The man’s employer, Monotronic Ltd, was fined £25,000. Isleworth Crown Court ordered Nestlé to pay £30,000 in costs. The Health and Safety Executive prosecuted both companies after the accident on 25 November 1999. Anthony Allen, an electrician for Monotronic Ltd, Lind Road, Sutton, Surrey, was electrocuted while pulling out redundant cables from trunking in the coffee plant in the factory. Monotronic Ltd was charged with breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act 1974, for failing to ensure the safety of its employee. Nestlé UK Ltd was charged with breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc., Act 1974, for failing to ensure the safety of people not employed by them but affected by its work. HSE Principal Inspector Samantha Peace said after the verdict: “Some 18 workers were killed by contact with electricity in 1999 – one of them was Anthony Allen. His death could have been avoided if Nestlé had ensured its contractors either followed or had in place a safe system of work, similar to the system Nestlé managed for its own employees. “Every company, however large or small, must ensure that contractors have safe systems of work and follow them. This is particularly important for electrical work.” 

Tri-State Worker Killed On Job Site; Few Details Available About Man’s Electrocution
Police are investigating an incident in which a man was electrocuted at a job site Monday afternoon. Few details are available, but WLWT Eyewitness News 5 confirmed that a worker died on the job site shortly before 5 p.m. in Lawrenceburg, Ind. The victim’s name has not been released. Please follow WLWT Eyewitness News 5 and ChannelCincinnati.com for updates to this story as they become available. 

UPDATE Lac Des Iles Mines Limited fined $50,000 for health and safety violations
THUNDER BAY, ON, May 30 /CNW/ – Lac Des Iles Mines Limited, a Toronto-based mining corporation which operates Lac Des Iles Mine about 102 kilometres (63 miles) north of Thunder Bay, was fined $50,000 on May 28, 2003 for three violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in hand burns to an electrical worker. On August 7, 2001, an electrician was doing electrical work at a new electrical substation at Lac Des Iles Mine near Highway 527 when the worker’s right hand came in contact with a live electrical component on a 4,160-volt control panel. The worker received second-degree burns. Prior to doing the electrical work, steps had been taken to de-energize the circuit and breaker control, but the system had not yet been tested to ensure it was fully de-energized. Unknown to the electrician, there was a back feed of electricity running from an old electrical substation. A Ministry of Labour investigation found there was no current, permanent, single-line electrical drawing posted in a conspicuous location at the substation that would have shown the electrical back feed. There was also no notice warning that either side of a disconnecting device could be energized. Both were requirements of the Ontario Electrical Code. The electrician had also not been informed of proper high- voltage procedures for working with energized equipment. The worker was employed by a Thunder Bay electric company, which had been contracted to do electrical work at the electrical substation at Lac Des Iles Mine, which produces a mineral called palladium. Lac Des Iles Mines Limited pleaded guilty, as an employer, to 1. Failing to post a current, permanent, legible, single-line electrical drawing in a conspicuous location at the electrical substation, as required by Section 155(1) of the Regulation for Mines and Mining Plants. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(c) of the act; 2. Failing to post on an emergency tiebreaker electrical panel a notice warning that electrical contacts on either side of the disconneting device could be energized, as required by Section 155(1) of the Regulation for Mines and Mining Plants. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(c) of the act; and 3. Failing to inform, instruct and supervise workers on proper high-voltage procedures. This was contrary to Section 25(2)(a) of the act. Justice of the Peace Tom Logan, of the Ontario Court of Justice in Thunder Bay, fined the company $20,000 on the first count, $20,000 on the second count and $10,000 on the third count. A supervisor pleaded guilty to failing to post a current, permanent, legible, single-line electrical drawing in a conspicuous location at the electrical substation. This was contrary to Section 27(2)(c) of the act. Justice of the Peace Logan fined the supervisor $5,000. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge on the fines against the company and supervisor, as required by the Provincial Offences Act.

 

UPDATE Hydro One Network Services Inc. fined $100,000 for health and safety violation
TORONTO, May 29 /CNW/ – Hydro One Network Services Inc., a Toronto-based company which provides maintenance, repair and operational services to Hydro One Networks Inc., an electricity transmission and distribution subsidiary of Hydro One Inc., was fined $100,000 on May 27, 2003 for a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act that resulted in serious burns to two employees. On October 11, 2001, two construction workers were taking measurements and verifying positions of parts they were making at a Toronto transformer substation when a metal measuring tape being used by one of the workers came in contact with energized equipment. The worker suffered burns to the right bicep area, the arms, hands, face and neck. The second worker suffered flash burns to the eyes and a temporary loss of vision. At the time of the incident, the first worker was on a scaffold platform and the second worker was on a ladder leading up to the scaffold platform. One end of the scaffold was located 1.5 metres (five feet) away from the energized equipment. The workers had been fabricating a framework for a wall that was to be used to extend the walls between transformer bays at the transformer substation, which was owned by Hydro One Networks Inc. at 83 Charles Street in Toronto. Hydro One Network Services Inc. pleaded guilty to failing, as an employer, to ensure that tools, ladders, scaffolding and other equipment and materials capable of conducting electricity were not stored or used so close to an energized electrical installation, equipment or conductor that they could make electrical contact with an energized conductor, as required by Section 194 of the Regulations for Construction Projects. This was contrary to Section 25(1)(c) of the act. The fine was imposed by Justice Robert Bigelow of the Ontario Court of Justice at Old City Hall in Toronto. In addition, the court imposed a 25-per-cent victim fine surcharge, as required by the Provincial Offences Act. 

Utilities worker shocked east of Grand Island
By Gretchen Fowler Publication Date: 05/29/03
A Grand Island Utilities Department worker was shocked shortly after 11 a.m. today when he apparently grabbed a wire he shouldn’t have. Bob Smith of the Utilities Department said crews were working at a home on Hermitage Place, just west of the Hall/Merrick county line, when the accident occurred. He said city employee Pat Bittner grabbed an energized wire he thought had no power to it. Smith said it appears that the charge went in Bittner’s arm and out through his knee. He said Bittner, who was taken to St. Francis Medical Center, was up and walking around after the accident happened but had blistering burns on his arm. “We’re extremely grateful, I think, that nothing worse happened. This crew is always very safe, and we take all the precautions we can,” Smith said. “I don’t know why that wire was energized.” Donald Kohtz of the Grand Island Rural Fire Department lives about five blocks from where the accident happened. He said he was cleaning his pool when he heard what sounded like a shotgun. Shortly after, he said, his pager went off. Kohtz said there was no explosion, but added, “The arch of the short circuit will make it sound like an explosion.” Neighbors as far away as Bismark Street said they lost power when the accident occurred. The Hall County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the incident. 

Regina man electrocuted
The Leader-Post Thursday, May 22, 2003
A 29-year-old Regina man was killed Wednesday after being electrocuted while attempting to clear a power line that struck a cultivator attachment in the Grand Coulee area. RCMP say a power pole in a field was struck and knocked over while the man was cultivating in a field, north of the Trans-Canada Highway about five kilometres west of Regina. The power line came into contact with the cultivator. Police say the man, whose name has not been released, died while attempting to free the power line. The accident occurred shortly before 1:30 p.m.

 

Gulf Power lineman electrocuted in Panhandle
A Gulf Power Co. lineman was electrocuted when he came into contact with a live wire, the Pensacola-based utility’s first fatality in 21 years. Joseph D. “J.D.” Webb died Tuesday, the same day emergency personnel in a neighboring Florida Panhandle county were honored for saving the life of another Gulf Power employee shocked two weeks earlier. Webb, 31, died at West Florida Hospital in nearby Pensacola after he was shocked while working in a bucket truck in this Santa Rosa County community, Gulf Power spokeswoman Lynn Erickson said. Webb, who was single, had worked for Gulf Power for eight years. Okaloosa County Commissioners, also Tuesday, honored emergency workers who helped save Gulf Power employee Timmy Oakes, who was shocked May 2 while working on an electrical box behind a new building supply store in Destin. “I’m thankful for life today, and I’m thankful that all of you men and women, that God had you in place,” Oakes, 29, said during the ceremony. “It makes a difference.” He was in critical condition when taken Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola but upgraded to good in just two days. Another Gulf Power employee, Alan Hall, helped pry Oakes from the electrical box. Two sheriff’s deputies administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation until Destin firefighters arrived with a defibrillator to shock him back to life. Ambulance personnel then completed the rescue. 

Downtown Memphis Power Outage
May 20, 2003
Memphis, TN – Power is restored to downtown memphis after a transformer blew leaving much of the area in the dark. Two MLGW workers were injured in the incident. The two men were working on a substation on South Third Street when the accident happened. The substation supplies power for the area between Danny Thomas and the Mississippi River bordered the north and south by Monroe and Crump. The two MLGW workers were transported to the Med in critical condition and at this hour MLGW continues their investigation as to what happened. All of this unfolded around 8:30 this morning when those two MLGW workers were doing regular maintenance on a transformer at the substation on South Third, across from the main post office when something went wrong. A transformer in the area where they were working blew, injuring them both. We are told by mehcanics who work next door to the substation that there were sparks and a small fire that was quickly put out with a fire extinguisher by MLGW employees. Right now, MLGW is not calling this an explosion, but those who were near the substation when the transformer blew, say that’s exactly what it sounded like. An eyewitness says, “I was coming right there off the bus and I heard the loud noise and I saw the smoke, for a minute, I thought something else had happened, thought maybe a bomb had gone off right here.” MLGW Spokesman Mark Heuberger says, “Our first concern right now is to take care of those employees injured and they have been transported to the hospital and now we will begin the process of restoring power and investigating what happened.” MLGW crews were still on the scene late today at the Third Street station. They are in the middle of they are calling safety audit. Power was fully restored just before ten this morning. 

Electrician burned in accident; Flash fire leads to second- and third-degree burns
By Don Fasnacht Staff writer
An electrician suffered burns over most of his body Thursday when an electrical short ignited his clothing while he was working at the Richmond Sears store. Timothy Blake, 37, Camden, Ohio, is in serious condition at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio. He was working on a circuit breaker panel that contained 440-volt service when he accidentally shorted the circuit, Battalion Chief Jerry Purcell of the Richmond Fire Department said. There was a flash fire that set his clothes on fire. “He had second-degree burns over most of his body and some third-degree burns,” Purcell said. Damages to the electrical system were estimated at a minimum of $100,000. The fire was quickly brought under control. Sears was closed for the remainder of Thursday. The accident happened minutes before noon. Sears phones were not working this morning and officials at Richmond Square Mall said Sears has no official estimate of when it will re-open. All other stores in the mall are open as usual. No stores other than Sears had to be evacuated Thursday. Blake was working for Bremmer Electric of Cincinnati. He was treated at Reid Hospital and then taken to Dayton by helicopter. 

Man electrocuted at BU
By MICHAEL REICH Press Enterprise Writer
BLOOMSBURG — A Stroudsburg man was electrocuted while working in a mechanical room at Bloomsburg University’s Kehr Union building early Wednesday afternoon. Craige Diaz, 48, was working alone, replacing a transfer switch, when he was electrocuted, according to university spokeswoman Bonnie Martin. Columbia County Deputy Coroner Diane Benner said university employees found him down and started performing CPR. Benner added that no one’s exactly sure how much time had passed between the time Diaz was fatally shocked and when he was found. She did say, though, that the last time anyone had contact with him was 45 minutes to an hour before he was pronounced dead at Bloomsburg Hospital at 2:24 p.m. Martin said Diaz didn’t work for BU. He was an employee of Emergency Systems Service Co., of Quakertown. Chief Coroner Dr. Michael Kenny said the electric current probably sent Diaz into a cardiac arrhythmia. “Electricians are always shocking themselves and unfortunately, this time it was a fatal case,” said Kenny. Kenny said it wasn’t a high voltage that killed Diaz. He explained that even a shock from a household current can be enough to send your heart into an arrhythmia.

 

Ethanol plant worker shocked, but doing OK
Associated Press
BROOKINGS, S.D. – A worker at an ethanol plant under construction in Brookings County was brought to the hospital after getting an electrical shock. Robert Rassel, 39, of Iowa, was conscious and doing OK after the accident Thursday afternoon at the Vera Sun Energy plant near Aurora. He went to the Brookings hospital as a precaution but has since been released. The sheriff said the accident happened when a back hoe unearthed a buried cable and it came in contact with chains being used to move equipment. Rassel was shocked when he touched the chains. 

Electrocuted worker falls to his death
canada.com Wednesday, May 14, 2003
VANCOUVER — A man has plunged to his death from the roof a 10-storey building in downtown Vancouver. Police say two window washers working for Allstar Holdings were flipping a piece of scaffolding cable over the side of the building when it touched a power line. The force of the electrical shock threw the man over the side of the tower, which is located at Pender and Thurlow in the city’s downtown core. The second man was injured. The coroner, the Workers Compensation Board and B.C. Hydro are all investigating the accident.

 

UPDATE Worker injured in drilling accident; Out of intensive care, listed in fair condition
Staff Report
A 29-year-old Caza Drilling Co. worker, seriously injured in a drilling accident south of Silt on April 30, was listed in fair condition in St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction on Monday. “He is out of intensive care, but still in the hospital,” said Caza spokesperson Harry Olds. Olds said the worker, from Rock Springs, Wyo., suffered scalp and chest injuries. Olds declined to release the worker’s name. The Denver-based Caza is a contractor for EnCana Oil and Gas, which plans to drill 250 gas wells in the Mamm Creek field this year. Chris Williams, a spokesperson for EnCana, said the accident occurred on Caza rig No. 11, at approximately 10:30 p.m. Workers were taking pipe out of the drilling rig when the accident occurred, Williams said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the accident. “We can’t say anything about it until the investigation is complete,” Williams said. The worker was airlifted to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, said EnCana spokesperson Sherry Long. “He was being trained at the time,” Long said.

Man Electrocuted Installing TV Antenna
May 12, 2003
A man was killed when he was shocked while putting up a TV antenna at a home in southern Ohio Sunday. The Vinton County Sheriff’s Office says Bruce Sims was killed when the tip of the antenna touched a power line. Sims was pronounced dead at the scene. A second person was taken to Adena Regional Medical Center in Chillicothe with burns to his hands and feet. A third person wasn’t hurt.

 

Construction worker dies when drill touches power line
A Temple Terrace man was killed when the drilling pipe he was using touched 7,200-volt electrical lines, officials said. Daniel Rivera, 43, was pronounced dead about one hour after the incident, which occurred late Thursday morning. Rivera worked for Nutting Engineers of Florida Inc., officials said. Pasco County sheriff’s spokesman Jim Campbell said the death was “avoidable,” but that investigators found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. John Pita, one of Rivera’s co-workers, said the drillers relied on drawings provided by Rimkus Consulting Group. Michael Powell, a co-consultant at Rimkus, told Campbell he had “misaligned the drawing 180 degrees,” a mistake that put the drilling too close to power lines. 

Worker Suffers from Electric Shock
May 9, 2003 — A worker suffered a serious electric shock atop a ladder today. It happened at 12th and Chew in Fern Rock at 2pm. The man was putting siding up on a house and one of the pieces of siding hit a line and the man was shocked. After being shocked the 50 year old man fell approximately 50 feet onto concrete and brought wires down with him. He was rushed to Einstein Hospital. PGW and PECO responded to the scene. The man was working on an area line which can carry anywhere from 4-13 thousand volts. A fire department battalion chief reported a strong odor of natural gas when he arrived at the scene. PGW said they are investigating the cause of the leak at this time. Power is currently out in the area.

UPDATE Pike Electric cited for Gardner Drive accident
Pike Electric may have to pay a $25,000 federal fine for a November accident on Gardner Drive in Port Charlotte. In the Nov. 19 incident, a Pike Electric employee brushed against a power line on Gardner Drive, shocking him and another worker and creating a domino effect that included another gas leak and fires that damaged Karen’s Kiddie Korrell, a daycare center, and destroyed a house. No one else was hurt. Just four days earlier, employees of Pike Electric, which subcontracts with Florida Power & Light, mistakenly cut a gas line on Gardner, forcing the neighborhood’s evacuation. Now, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration is levying a $25,000 citation penalty against the North Carolina-based electrical contracting company for the Nov. 19 accident. The company can appeal that decision in 15 days. According to the citation, OSHA found that the Pike employee handled a live wire without using appropriate rubber gloves. The Friday after the incident, Karen Spieldenner, owner of the daycare center, said she saw workers on the power poles without safety equipment. “But they did (use safety equipment) after that,” said Spieldenner, who thinks the $25,000 fine is fair. “OSHA handled it very professionally.” She also had glowing praise for FP&L, which paid for and saw that all the damage to her business was repaired within two months. “They were good to me,” Spieldenner said. The Gardner Drive incident was not the first time OSHA has fined the company for not using safety equipment. The federal agency cited Pike Electric for a similar incident in Pulaski, Ga. Other incidents proved more serious. In March 2001, OSHA cited Pike Electric for 10 serious safety violations and proposed $61,000 in penalties after a worker was electrocuted in Loganville, Ga. According to OSHA’s Web site, a Pike employee working in an elevated lineman’s bucket was electrocuted on Sept. 11, 2000, when he came in contact with a 14,400-volt power line. At the time, OSHA Atlanta acting director William Grimes stated, “Basic safety precautions — responsible training and appropriate protective equipment — could have saved this worker’s life.” Pike Electric officials could not be reached for comment Thursday. A company Internet site described Pike Electric as an electrical contracting firm with 4,400 employees, founded in 1945. Its service area includes the Southeast and areas as far north as Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. FP&L contracts Pike Electric to replace power poles and other maintenance in Southwest Florida. FP&L spokesman Bill Swank said his company will first evaluate the OSHA report before any action is taken. 

Worker Electrocuted
A day on the job turned deadly, when a man was electrocuted in Hancock County. It happened Wednesday afternoon, as an electrical crew worked at a sub-station in Washington Township. The sheriff’s department says a male electrician came in contact with a grounded line and was electrocuted. We won’t know who the victim is until authorities notify the family.

 

Lightning shakes up Austin Energy worker
5/6/2003 3:14 PM By: News 8 Austin Staff
A lightning strike shook up an Austin Energy crew member, but he was not injured. Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, Justin Fowler was part of a crew installing a new electric line near I-35 and Parmer Lane. The team began working after lightning and rain appeared to have passed. “He has no injuries except, once again, just the shock of the event. The lightning struck nearby. It did not strike him. It did not strike the bucket truck,” Ed Clark, of Austin Energy, said. As a precaution, Fowler was taken to Brackenridge Hospital for overnight observation. 

Two RG&E workers burned
Two RG&E workers were injured Wednesday morning after accidentally coming into contact with a live wire. It happened around 9:40 a.m. at an RG&E substation on Swan Street. Officials say the employees were in the process of working on power switches when a flash of electricity sparked in the process and injured them. They were taken to Strong Memorial Hospital. The extent of their injuries is unknown at this time but they were conscious on their way to the hospital. An RG&E spokesman says the employees were doing a routine job. Around 3,000 customers are without power in the downtown area. Those affected are between the Goodman Street and Scio Street area. RG&E hopes to have the power restored by this afternoon. 

Worker Burned By Electric Shock
A Breed Technologies employee working on electrical equipment suffered a 440-volt shock to his hands Monday, rescue workers said. The man, whose name was not released, suffered third-degree burns to his hands and was flown to a Tampa hospital, said Commander Jim Robson of the Lakeland Fire Department. The incident occurred about 4:10 p.m. while the man worked on electrical equipment. He was shocked, then walked into a break room where co-workers found him. The man was conscious and talked to emergency workers before he was flown out, Robson said. Peter McElroy, a spokesman for Breed, confirmed that there was an injury at the air bag and seat belt manufacturer company. He said company officials continue to investigate the injury. 

Boss to face charges over earring electrocution
An electrical company boss faces charges for failing to provide a safe environment for a young electrician electrocuted through his earring, police said Wednesday. Police have sent documents accusing the unnamed 53-year-old electrical company boss from Kawasaki of negligence resulting in death. They say he should have informed the 18-year-old electrician of the dangers involved in working with high voltage electricity, as well as prevented him from wearing the earring that ultimately cost him his life. Police said the young electrician was working in the power room of a building in Tokyo’s Shinjuku-ku on Nov. 6 when the tragedy occurred. His earring touched an electrical circuit emanating 6,600 volts of electricity, killing him instantly. Fellow employees were testing the power flow on a transformer at the time and did not tell him that the high voltage circuit would be operating while he was in the room. The boy had only recently joined the electrical company. (Mainichi Shimbun, April 17, 2002)

 

Utility Worker’s Truck Explodes As He Jumps To Safety

A close call Thursday for a utility worker in Luzerne County. He leaped to safety as his truck exploded in flames.  It happened at First and Alter Streets in Hazleton just after 2:00 Thursday afternoon.  A two-man crew from “Hinkels and McCoy” was replacing a utility pole for P.P.L. when the line started to fall.  One worker thirty feet up in the truck’s “bucket” jumped to safety just before the truck exploded.  The blast was heard blocks away and even though firefighters arrived in minutes, they had to wait while the live line was turned off to fight the flames. By then the truck was gutted. A nearby home had its windows blown out but no one was hurt.  Police, Fire and P.P.L. officials are still investigating and no names have been released after Thursday afternoon’s close call in Hazleton.

Man dead after being electrocuted as tree tool touched power line
Thursday, May 01, 2003 – 
GLENDORA — A Pomona man was electrocuted on Thursday when an aluminum tree trimming tool he was using came into contact with a 12,000-volt power line. Esteban Cardenas, 25, was perched on a tree limb clipping branches in the back yard of a home at 2507 Country Club Drive in Glendora when his tool struck the power line, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector Ed Osorio. When Cardenas screamed out in pain, his employer, Exiquio Cazares, 32, of Riverside, tried to knock him out of the tree and suffered first- and second-degree burns to his arm, Osorio said. Firefighters arrived within minutes. It took another 20 to 25 minutes to shut off the power, Osorio said. County paramedics pronounced Cardenas dead at the scene. Cazares was taken to San Dimas Community Hospital and later released. Power was lost briefly for about 2,000 Edison customers in the area. 

Charges against parent firm dismissed in electrical deaths 
By Shamus Toomey Daily Herald Staff Writer Posted May 02, 2003 
A federal judge Thursday threw out criminal charges against the parent company of an electrical firm accused of improperly training two workers electrocuted atop high-tension wires in the suburbs. U.S. Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown dismissed the charges against MYR Group Inc. but left in place criminal charges against its subsidiary, L.E. Myers Co. of Rolling Meadows. Both were indicted Dec. 11 in the deaths of Blake Lane and Wade Cumpston. Lane, 20, was killed atop a Mount Prospect electrical tower in 1999 on just his second day on the job. Cumpston, 43, was killed in a Plainfield accident in 2000. The judge said the men did not qualify as employees of MYR Group under the law, and therefore the parent company could not be accused of failing to properly train them. “The accidental deaths of Lane and Cumpston were tragic,” Brown said. “However, a criminal charge must have a foundation in law establishing criminal responsibility.” U.S. attorney spokesman Randall Samborn said the office is reviewing the decision and will likely appeal. L.E. Myers faces fines of up to $2 million if convicted.

Electrician suffers burns in accident at refinery 
By PHIL HERMANEK Peninsula Clarion 
A Kenai man was in satisfactory condition at the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Monday where he was taken after being burned in an industrial accident Saturday. David Ramsey, a Tesoro electrician, suffered second- and third-degree burns to his right arm while doing electrical maintenance work at the company’s Nikiski refinery Saturday morning. Ramsey was performing turnaround maintenance work on electrical switch gear that had been de-energized, according to refinery manager Rodney Cason. Dust from the cleaning procedure, however, apparently flashed when it came into contact with a nearby switch that still had electricity going to it. Ramsey, who was wearing leather gloves and fire retardant clothing, suffered second-degree burns to his forearm and third-degree burns to his elbow through the protective clothing. He was given immediate first-aid care at the scene and taken by Nikiski Fire Department ambulance to Central Peninsula General Hospital. From there, he was flown to the Burn Care and Plastic Surgery Clinic of Harborview for additional care. Cason said he spoke to Ramsey Monday and the Tesoro employee “is doing really well.” “He said he wants to get back and get golfing,” Cason said. 

Cement Worker Electrocuted In Suffolk
(AP) – A construction worker was killed on the job Wednesday when a hydraulic pump struck a high-voltage power line in Suffolk. Fire department spokesman Jim Judkins identified the victim as 37-year-old Keith Withrow of Virginia Beach. He says another construction worker – 57-year-old Benjamin Porter of Virginia Beach – was injured in the accident and was taken to a local hospital. Judkins said the two men were working for a cement subcontractor and pouring a foundation for a duplex when the pump struck a 20,000-volt power line just after 5:00pm. He says a co-worker performed CPR on Withrow, but could not revive him. Dominion Virginia Power officials are investigating the accident. 

Hopkinsville Electric System lineman electrocuted 
By SCOTT BURNSIDE 
An accident at a Hopkinsville Electric System work site today resulted in the death of one lineman and sent another to Jennie Stuart Medical Center, officials said. Christian County Coroner Dorris Lamb said Joe Wayne Holland, 37, of Cox Mill Road, was killed in the incident, which occurred while he on the job at Fourth Street and Linda Court shortly before 8 a.m. Firefighter Steve Futrell, public information officer for the Hopkinsville Fire Department, one of the emergency agencies dispatched to the scene, said Holland was working on some power lines at the time of the accident. A co–worker, Devin Thomas, no age or address available, was taken to the hospital, according to HES manager Austin Carroll, but only to make sure he didn’t suffer any injuries in the accident. “Efforts were made to resuscitate him at the scene and later at the hospital,” Futrell said. Lamb said he pronounced Holland dead in the hospital’s emergency room at 8:26 a.m. The cause of death was ruled “electrocution,” according to the coroner. Carroll said Holland and Thomas were working on new utility poles on Fourth Street, which had recently been put up. Holland was the senior lineman on the two–man HES crew. The accident was a rare tragedy for HES, he noted. “There has not been a serious injury or fatality since I’ve been here in the last 17 years,” Carroll said. He added that HES last suffered a fatality on the job sometime back in the 1960s, and it also involved a lineman. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Joe’s family,” Carroll said. Carroll said both Holland and Thomas were “journeymen linemen,” which is the designation for the most experienced employees in that particular job. According to Carroll, HES is investigating the circumstances of the accident. Carroll said Holland was the only one in the HES truck bucket at the time of the accident. He declined to release additional details, pending the completion of the investigation. 

Transformer Blast Forces Partial Evacuation Of School; Cuts Power To Thousands In Hollywood
UPDATED: 12:49 p.m. PDT April 23, 2003
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — A transformer explosion cut power to nearly 17,000 utility customers in Hollywood on Wednesday, forcing partial evacuation of an elementary school. No one was injured in the blast shortly before 8:30 a.m. at a city Department of Water and Power distribution substation at Vine and Romaine streets. The cause was under investigation, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. The nearby school was partially evacuated while smoke wafted out of the substation, Wells said. Students were initially sent to the south end of the school’s campus, according to NBC4. DWP spokeswoman Darlene Battle could not estimate how long the power outage would last or how much damage was caused by the blast. The substation has a minimal staff, she said. The Vine Street Children’s Center was also evacuated. Seventy-four children — ages 3, 4 and 5 — and 10 adults were evacuated. Parents can come to Vine Elementary school to pick up students, although school is still the in session, the principal said. No one was injured, authorities said. One woman said she saw “dark, thick, black smoke … Everybody was choking.” 

Shocked, trapped 50 feet over Dover
By Michael Daigle, Daily Record
A worker for a billboard company was in critical condition on Monday after an aluminum ladder he was using apparently touched an NJ Transit power line carrying 28,000 volts, Dover police said. The accident occurred at about 11:30 a.m., Detective Steven Brennan said, when 52-year-old Herbert Tennant of Orange suffered an electric shock while working on a Viacom billboard just west of the Traveler’s Diner on Route 46. The lighted billboard is about 50 feet above the NJ Transit rails and about 15 feet from the high-tension power line. The accident shut down rail traffic for about an hour and vehicular traffic on Route 46 in both directions for about 90 minutes. Brennan said people in the area heard a pop and NJ Transit recorded a power spike at about 11:29 a.m. Police were called by a homeless man who lives under the bridge, he said. Tennant was flown by helicopter to St. Barnabas Medical Center’s burn unit in Livingston, Brennan said. Police were told that he was in critical condition. Information from the hospital was not available. Police had not been able to interview Tennant by late afternoon, Brennan said. Tennant was working alone at the time and was found on a platform attached to the billboard. Brennan said Tennant was conscious and was able to place a 45-second cell phone call to his office. Firefighters extinguished a small brush fire at the base of the pillar that supports the billboard. Brennan said it was unclear Monday how the ladder came into contact with the power line, but that the line did show a burned spot. Viacom officials told Brennan that the ladder is kept on the platform so workers do not have to raise and lower it while working on the billboard. Viacom officials were unavailable late Monday. Police and fire crews from Wharton arrived to assist Dover. Picatinny Arsenal provided a ladder truck when it was determined that Wharton’s ladder truck could not be used. Brennan said the ladder on Wharton’s truck could not be extended at an angle flat enough to allow Tennant to be carried on a stretcher from the billboard platform to the highway, about 25 feet.