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Parent Category: Incident Alert Archives

Category: Electrical Accidents

Published: 03 September 2010

Electrical Accidents #3

This page was last updated on  05/06/2010

 

UPDATE, Directors charged in workplace tragedy; Accident left summer student a triple amputee

Moira Welsh, STAFF REPORTER

The Ministry of Labour has charged three directors of Great Lakes Power and the corporation's former chief executive officer after a workplace accident left summer student Lewis Wheelan a triple amputee. The directors, who also serve as executive vice-presidents with Great Lakes' parent company, the multi-billion dollar Brascan Corp., were charged late Tuesday under Section 32 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, a regulation that holds corporate leaders responsible for employee safety. In the past 11 years the ministry has laid 121 Section 32 charges against directors - but the majority are not against directors of major corporations. The charges come in the wake of a federal justice committee hearing that examined whether Canada's Criminal Code should be changed to allow for charges against leaders of companies that neglect worker safety. The committee is expected to file a report after several weeks of submissions. Also facing charges for a slew of provincial safety infractions are the contractor who hired Lewis, a crewman, a Great Lakes Power supervisor and the Great Lakes corporation. Under the act, convictions for individuals can lead to a $25,000 fine or one year in jail, or both. A corporation can be fined up to $500,000 if found guilty. "It's pretty good to hear," said Lewis, from his Toronto apartment yesterday, "It's not going to give me my legs and arm back though, is it?" One year ago today - on the second day of his summer job - Lewis was picking up brush for a Sault Ste. Marie tree-cutting contractor hired by Great Lakes Power when a tree crashed through a hydro line, jolting him with 7,200 volts of electricity. The electricity burned so deeply that Lewis lost his right arm, right shoulder and both his legs. In March, The Star documented the series of safety infractions that led to Lewis' accident and the struggle that he has since faced. The ministry had to take legal action before the one-year statute of limitations on charges expired today, the anniversary of Lewis' accident. It laid 26 charges this week, most of which are against the Neatsite Vegetation contractor, Mike Piccolo, the Great Lakes supervisor, Steve McClinchey and a crewman at the scene, Brian Campbell. All of the men live in Sault Ste. Marie. Great Lakes' three directors, Harry Goldgut, Edward Kress and Richard Legault, received one charge each under Section 32 of the safety act, which sets out governance rules for directors. Great Lakes' former CEO, Mike McEwen, who resigned in late March, also received one charge under the same section. Goldgut said yesterday that he can't talk about the case because of the charges, but said their thoughts are with Lewis. "We feel terrible about the accident and the injuries that Lewis has sustained," Goldgut said, "He is a very courageous young man. " Colin Clark, who replaced Mike McEwen as chief executive officer and president of Great Lakes Power, said the company will "review the charges and respond at the appropriate time." "Great Lakes Power takes safety very seriously and we're continuously striving to achieve nothing less than the perfect safety performance," Clark said. Bruce Arnott, the Ministry of Labour counsel, said that Section 32 of the safety act holds directors accountable. "It is generally there to ensure that those with over-all authority of the corporation do everything within their power to ensure that the subordinates in the corporation are making sure that safety policies are produced and implemented," Arnott said. The issue of corporate responsibility is gaining prominence in the business world, says Purdy Crawford, a noted businessman and lawyer who is an expert on the issues of corporate governance. "The fact that the directors are being prosecuted is relevant," Crawford said. "The directors don't run the safety program; that's impossible. They supervise and monitor the managers of the company. And it's their responsibility to do that job well and exercise due diligence in doing it," said Crawford, chair of the committee that recently recommended key changes to Ontario's securities laws. The case will be heard in Sault Ste. Marie's Ontario Court of Justice, beginning July 12.

 

UPDATE, Worker dies after electrocution horror

A CONSTRUCTION company admitted breaching health and safety rules after a father-of-two from Liverpool was electrocuted while laying cables. Labourer Stephen Curran, 32, from Aintree, died after he was hit by 6,350 volts when the lighting tower he was moving accidentally touched an overhead power cable. Mr Curran was working on a road in Wiltshire in December, 2000 when the accident happened. He had been re-laying a road after fibre-optic telecommunications cables had been put down in a trench. North Wiltshire Magistrates' Court heard that Mr Curran, sub-contracted by North Midland Construction plc, died at the scene. Prosecutor Frederick Tucker told the court there had been a "substantial" breach of health and safety rules. He said the company had failed to undertake a proper risk assessment of the site at Grittenham, Wiltshire. Mr Tucker said the company had not seen the hazard of the overhead cables and there was inadequate safety training and supervision. "There was a substantial failure in that there was no indication at all that there was even cables present," he said. Mr Tucker said the results of that failure were "catas trophic." The company admitted two charges of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and also the 1994 Construction, Design and Management Regulations. The case was committed to Swindon Crown Court by magistrates after they decided their powers to fine the company up to #20,000 for health and safety breaches were not enough. There is no limit to the amount of the fine the Crown Court can set.

 

Dump truck snaps power line on IH-35

By CAROL COUGHLIN - Staff Reporter

A dump truck working on a construction project on IH-35 just north of San Marcos snapped a power line Thursday around noon, dropping a live wire across the interstate and cutting off power to the entire town of Martindale. According to John Williams with the Lower Colorado River Authority's corporate communications, the gravel truck was dumping a load of material at a construction project on the interstate north of San Marcos when it came in contact with an LCRA 69-kilovolt power line and knocked it down. "The line hit the truck and blew out its tires," Williams said. "Then the line came down over IH-35, where traffic was already slowed by construction in some lanes. A TxDOT (Texas Department of Transportation) worker picked up the line and moved it off the road because cars were driving over it." The downed wire was still "hot," and the TxDOT worker was lucky not to be injured by moving the wire, he said. The driver of the truck did not sustain any injuries either, and there were no reports of any injuries or any vehicular accidents as a result of the downed wire. But the mishap left the live wire lying across both the east and west access roads, between Uhland Road and the Blanco River on the east access road, and near Butler Manufacturing on the west access road, according to Jana Green, secretary with the San Marcos Fire Department. Two of the fire department's units stood by until the wire was de-energized on both sides. "LCRA personnel arrived and took the proper precautions to move the line from the access road," Williams said. "The downed line did cause some brief outages in the area until power could be routed around the area. The line is to be repaired this weekend, when the LCRA can do the work with the least amount of traffic disruption." The downed line cut power to the entire town of Martindale from 12:02 to 12:48 p.m., for a total of 46 minutes, he said.

 

Nissan Construction Worker Injured

A construction worker at the Nissan plant in Decherd was seriously injured recently. A construction worker at the Nissan plant in Decherd was seriously injured last week. According to Decherd Fire Chief Harold Perry, William Spicer, an employee of Midstate Electric of Jackson, Tennessee was injured when he attempted to remove a fuse from a breaker box with a screwdriver. As Spicer attempted to remove the fuse, the box exploded in his face. "He needed to remove one of the fuses that operates one of the big machines in the plant," Perry explained. "So he was up a lift trying to remove the fuse when the accident happened." The lift he was working in kept him from being thrown in the floor. According to the Fire Chief, Spicer remained awake while members of the Decherd Fire Department, along with rescue workers tried to get him down from the lift, but he apparently lost consciousness as paramedics from Rural Metro Ambulance transported him to Southern Tennessee Medical Center. Perry noted that the construction worker received third degree burns on his face and both arms. "His skin was just black on his arms, face and hands," Perry explained. Spicer was stabilized at the hospital and then flown by helicopter to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, where he was admitted to the burn unit.

 

Electrocution investigated; Lineman dies after accident at Rudolph site

By KAREN MADDEN, Tribune Staff Writer

RUDOLPH - A 26-year-old Tomah man died Wednesday afternoon from injuries he received in an electrical accident. At 1:52 p.m., the Wood County Sheriff's Department received a call of a possible electrocution at County Trunk O and Oak Road in the town of Rudolph. When emergency workers arrived at the scene, the man had been lowered to the ground and cardiopulmonary resuscitation started, Wood County Sheriff Kurt Heuer said. Higgins Ambulance, the Rudolph Fire Department and First Responders, and the Sheriff's Department and its Rescue Squad responded to the scene. The man, whose name is being withheld pending notification of his family, was flown by the Spirit of Marshfield helicopter to St. Joseph's Hospital, Marsh-field, where he was pronounced dead, Heuer said. The man was working as a lineman for the Electrical Power Division of Hooper Corp., a Madison-based construction corporation, which was subcontracting electrical work for Alliant Energy Corp., Madison. Details of the accident remained sketchy Wednesday afternoon, said Jerry Dicklig, Hooper Corp.'s Electrical Power Division vice president. "At this time, I do know it was an accident," he said, noting Hooper Corp. had people investigating at the job site Wednesday afternoon. The firm will cooperate with local officials, he said. Janice Mathis, of Alliant Energy, said Hooper Corp. is doing work along Alliant Energy's distribution lines. "We always encourage our contractors, and the general public as well, to adhere to safety standards and be extra careful while working around electricity," Mathis said. "That's our company's commitment." You can reach reporter Karen Madden at 422-6729 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Pompano man electrocuted while picking mangoes in back yard

sun-sentinel.com

POMPANO BEACH - A 55-year-old resident was was electrocuted while picking mangoes in his yard, deputies said Wednesday. Eduardo Sandoval died at 7:51 p.m. Tuesday after being shocked in the back yard of his 248 NE 40th Court home, Broward Sheriff's Office spokesman Jim Leljedal said. Deputies and paramedics were called to the home after a fall injury was called in to 9-1-1. Arriving officers and rescue workers found Sandoval unconscious at the bottom of an aluminum ladder. Leljedal said Sandoval apparently fell off the ladder when he touched a 7,000 volt powerline with a metal pole used to clean swimming pools. The pole was being used to knock mangoes from the tree to the ground. Sandoval was rushed to North Broward Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

 

 

Officials: Electrocution likely killed mine worker

A miner who died at a Washington County mine Saturday likely was electrocuted, the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday. George Shirley, 46, of Somerset Township , died after apparently coming into contact with an electric cable that touched a mine car at Mine 84, said Kevin Stricklin, spokesman for the MSHA office in New Stanton. Shirley managed to stop the car, and a co-worker saw him fall after walking around to the front of the vehicle inside the CONSOL Energy mine. Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco has yet to rule on the cause of death. Stricklin said MSHA was awaiting tests on the mine car cable and a ruling from Warco before issuing a final report on Shirley's death.

 

Greenskeeper dies after electric shock in pond

By Scott Parrott, DAILY Staff Writer
A greenskeeper died Tuesday afternoon after being shocked during an underwater fountain installation at Decatur Country Club, police said. Ronald George Walters, 32, was helping two coworkers install the fountain in one of the golf course ponds. An improperly connected electrical cord caused a circuit to short inside the fountain's pump, police said. Walters swam to the pump to investigate. The electricity shocked Walters, and he submerged, police said. Walters' co-workers searched the water for him, ultimately finding him and carrying him out. An ambulance took Walters to Decatur General Hospital , where doctors pronounced him dead at 4:20 p.m. , police said. It was not immediately known whether Walters died from electrocution or drowning. An electrician inspected the golf course's electrical connections Tuesday afternoon, as requested by investigators. The electrician found an unsecured line connection to the pump, police said. Walters worked at the golf course for 2½ years, club President Thomas Whitman said. Investigators ruled his death accidental.

 

Blast Injures Two Workers at Irvine Rubber Plant

Times Headlines, By DAVID HALDANE, TIMES STAFF WRITER

Two maintenance workers were injured, one critically, when an electrical panel exploded Monday at an Irvine processing plant, authorities said. The men, both 43, were changing a circuit breaker in the main electrical room at Valley Processing, a rubber-processing plant in the 17000 block of Eastman Avenue, when the explosion occurred about 8 p.m. "Something fell, causing a short arc," said Capt. Stephen Miller, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority. That caused the explosion, he said. The burned workers were taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange. One was reported in critical condition with second- and third-degree burns over 30% of his body, Miller said. The other was in moderate condition with burns on 20% of his body. The names of the two men were not immediately released.

 

HOME SAFETY, Man electrocuted at Meridian home

By Marianne Todd, Special to The Clarion-Ledger

MERIDIAN — Residents in a north Meridian neighborhood are devastated by the Saturday accidental electrocution of Anthony Bartlett, 37. Bartlett, of 3416 50th St., died shortly before noon while trying to lower a television cable into a daughter's bedroom, said Clayton Cobler, Lauderdale County deputy coroner. "It was just a freak accident," Cobler said. "The air compressing unit outside had a short in it, and when it kicked on it shot 240 amps of electricity through the air ducts. He just happened to be laying over one of them at the time." Cobler said Bartlett's wife, Kristy, had been waiting for her husband to feed her the cable wire when she heard a strange noise. "She went up to see what was going on and when she put her hand on him she got shocked," he said. "It more or less pushed her away from him. She went and got a neighbor who turned off the breakers and called 911." Neighbor Sharon White said she arrived home to find emergency vehicles lining 50th Street. "About a dozen neighbors who were home when it happened were trying to comfort his wife, and the people who could not get to Kristy were comforting each other, even those neighbors who seldom spoke. There were people who really didn't know each other, acquaintances, who were holding each other. We're all so deeply saddened." Cobler said Bartlett was the father of two young daughters and a nurse at East Mississippi State Hospital. White said people who didn't know Bartlett personally knew him for his ready smile and wave. "Everyone who knew him knew he would have done anything for anybody," White said. "You always saw Anthony outside, working on his lawn and playing with his daughters. Every time I saw him, he waved. Both Anthony and his wife are the kind of people you wish for as neighbors. To say he'll be missed is a terrible understatement."

 

HOME SAFETY, Man working on pipe shocked

05/03/2002, Don Day, Idaho's NewsChannel 7 KTVB.COM

A 34-year-old man suffered a severe electric shock in the southeast Boise area. Just after 7:30pm Friday, the man was working in his yard at the 100 block of East Boise Avenue. He pulled a water pipe from an irrigation ditch, hitting the power lines above. The electrical current entered through his hand, and exited through his foot. Kevin Walgamot was listed in serious condition at Saint Alphonsus Medical Center late Friday. Thirteen-hundred homes lost power in connection with the accident for a half hour. Idaho Power is investigating the incident.

 

ELECTRICAL NEARMISS!!! Roof worker's life saved by the rain

May 2, 2002 22:53, By James Mortlock
DOCTORS believe the rain probably saved a roofing contractor's life after the cherry picker he was using went too close to overhead power cables, sending thousands of volts of electricity into his face. They think his wet clothes, hair and face allowed the shock to pass over him instead of straight through his body – a course, they said, would have almost certainly electrocuted him. The roofer, who was working at a factory in Elmswell when the incident happened yesterday lunchtime, is thought to have escaped with relatively minor injuries despite falling or dropping 20 feet to the ground after the initial shock. Dr Andy Mason, of the Suffolk Accident Rescue Service, said the 27-year-old had been "extremely fortunate" to survive. The man was using a hydraulic cherry picker at packaging and distribution specialists Forcemicro Ltd when the cage platform got dangerously close to the cable. "He received an arced shock – the high voltage current actually jumped across the gap between the cable and his face, burning his face. He then either fell or jumped down from the cage," said Dr Mason. "Not only could the shock have been fatal, but the jump or fall could also have had tragic consequences. He has had a very close shave both in terms of surviving the electric shock and quite a steep fall or jump." Dr Mason added the shower of rain at the time of the incident could have been crucial in the roofer's survival. "I think it was a good thing. His damp clothing, hair and face would have caused the current to travel over the surface of his body rather than through it," he explained. "If it had gone through his body, causing deep internal burns, it would have been a very grave situation indeed." Dr Mason said although the man was airlifted to hospital by the East Anglian Air Ambulance, his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening. He suffered superficial burns to his face and was due to undergo x-rays at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds to ensure he had no broken bones from the 20ft drop. Assistant Divisional Officer Barry Cole, who was called to the scene of the incident, said the area was cordoned off to protect other people on the site until 24Seven engineers arrived to isolate the supply. He warned people using any kind of equipment to steer clear of overhead cables and added "We have one very lucky young man who escaped serious injury. But people operating tools like this, or even ladders, should keep clear of overhead power cables. People need to take great care." A spokesman for the Health and Safety Executive said an investigation would be carried out into the incident. Engineers from 24Seven were trying last night to repair the damage to the overhead lines, which were brought down during the incident. More than 1,000 homes were left without electricity for an hour following the incident and a handful were still waiting to be reconnected last night.

 

UPDATE, Two Utility Workers Hurt In Underground Explosion & Fire

Two employees of San Antonio's electric utility were hospitalized with burns after an underground explosion and fire, city officials said. Bob McCullough, a spokesman for City Public Service, said the men were working on a circuit breaker under the corner of Commerce and St. Mary streets in downtown San Antonio when a short circuit caused the explosion and subsequent fire occurred about 2:10 p.m. yesterday. The workers had burns on the face, neck and upper chest, and were taken by helicopter to Brooke Army Medical Center, said San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Tommy Thompson. Their identities were not released. Several loud explosions were heard, and smoke shot up to 40 feet into the air, he said. Power was shut off in an eight-block area for about 90 minutes. Thompson said a third CPS worker and a passer-by were treated for smoke inhalation after pulling the two injured men out of the manhole.

 

A national agency investigates the death of a Montezuma man who died working on the new federal courthouse in Albany.

BRANNON STEWART AND KEITH SALIBA, STAFF WRITERS

ALBANY - OSHA investigators are looking into the electrocution of a Montezuma man who had been working at the new federal courthouse less than a month. Donnie Griffin Jr., 21, an employee of Allgood Electric, died Friday while replacing a fluorescent light fixture on the ceiling in a security room, said Aubrey Clark, a project manager with Allgood. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sent a compliance officer to Albany, which is standard procedure any time a worker is injured or killed on the job, said Lorette Post, a spokesman for the agency. "We're doing what we do, which is to investigate," Post said. "That's all we know right now." Griffin was working on a punch list, a list of last-minute items that must be done before a project is complete, Clark said. Griffin apparently fell off a ladder, but Clark wasn't sure whether Griffin was electrocuted by something he fell into or something he grabbed on the way down. "With the investigation still pending, any attempt to explain what happened is purely conjecture," Clark said. "It's very sad," he said, "especially considering his age." Clark said this type of accident is rare. Three Allgood employees, including Griffin, were working Friday night. Griffin began working for the company a month ago as an apprentice, said Ronnie Griffin, the man's uncle. "He was a good young kid," Ronnie Griffin said. "He farmed with his father until he got that job." Griffin's family farms cotton in Montezuma, in southern Macon County. "He was just like other 21-year-olds," Ronnie Griffin said. "And he loved the outdoors." Donnie Griffin will be buried at 2 p.m. today at Cedar Valley Baptist Church in Montezuma.

 

4 Injured In Downtown Manhole Explosions

Four people were were injured Monday afternoon following a series of explosions and fire in a manhole in the downtown area, officials said. Two City Pubic Service employees were airlifted to Brooke Army Medical Center in undetermined condition, although one victim was moving and was talking to Emergency Medical Service technicians, authorities said. One victim was transported to Christus Santa Rosa Hospital and one victim was taken to Metropolitan Hospital.

CPS officials said the two CPS employees were working on some underground electrical equipment similar to a circuit breaker in a manhole cover at St. Mary's Street and Market Street at 2 p.m. when the explosions occured. At one point, KSAT 12 News videotape showed thick, black smoke billowing out of the manhole. The explosions forced a one-block area to be evacuated and a 10-block area was without electricity, including the Bexar County Courthouse. Guests at the Homewood Suites Hotel were evacuated. Non-essential employees at the International Affairs building and the Aztec Theatre workers were asked to leave. Traffic was halted in downtown San Antonio. KSAT 12 News @ 5 & 6

 

Electrical short causes television tower to catch fire

BY KERRY DRENNAN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

The folks at KCBD-TV, Channel 11, are used to reporting the news, not being the subject of it. But when the top portion of a newly erected, 830-foot digital tower caught fire Sunday evening, rival journalists flocked to the scene right along with the fire department. Four trucks and several police units responded once the call came in at 6:27 p.m. Firefighters could do little but monitor the scene because the fire was so high up. "We're not going to risk anybody going up there," said fire Lt. Buddy Davis. "There's no loss of life or hazard. Every body's been evacuated out of the building. We're going to wait and see what happens." District Chief James Kirkland said the building would remain empty until he felt sure there was no danger of the top of the spire, which began to lean slightly, would break off and fall on the building. "Our predicament is we don't know what it's going to do," he said. "I really don't think it's going to fall, but it's hard to tell how that heat has affected the metal." By about 8 p.m., the fire had died. The last fire truck left just after 8:30 p.m., and the Channel 11 staff was allowed to return to work. According to a written statement from Bill deTour nillon, KCBD-TV general manager, an electrical short sparked a fire in the antenna at about 780 feet. The station switched to a stand-by antenna with slightly reduced coverage to outlying areas, but there should be no interruption in programming for most viewers, according to the statement. Crews began repair work on the tower Sunday night. Damages are estimated at between $500,000 to $1 million. The new digital antenna had been operating at full power since Wednesday. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 766-8707

 

Worker electrocuted at conference center

FLORHAM PARK - A maintenance worker at the Dolce Hamilton Park conference center was accidentally electrocuted to death while working at the Park Avenue hotel, police Lt. John Forlenza said Tuesday, April 23.Haany Eshan, 29, of New Brunswick, suffered the fatal electric shock while making repairs to an air conditioning unit on the fourth floor just before noon Wednesday, April 17, according to the lieutenant, who said Eshan was pronounced dead at the scene. A hotel employee said there were no previous fatal accidents at the hotel. She said Eshan, who had no children and was not married, lived with a cousin in New Brunswick.

 

PERSONAL SAFETY, Static Electricity Causes Fire in Tucson

Static electricity catches a man on fire at a gas pump. It happened when he was pumping gas at a Tucson station. And a surveillance camera caught in all on tape. A man in a red SUV starts the pump and goes back to his car. When he returns to the pump the gas fumes ignite all around him. Incredibly he suffered only first degree burns on his hand and a small second degree burn on his shoulder. It's a danger many people haven't thought of when pumping gas. But jumping in and out of your car, or using a cell phone, can spark danger at the gas pump. Firefighters say the man bouncing in and out of his car caused static electricity, igniting the blaze. It's happened three times in two months in Tucson, and twice in Albuquerque. Luckily so far, no reports here in Phoenix. "I must pump three times a day and i swear i never see that thing," Michelle Cordova says about signs warnings of additional dangers like dialing up your cell phone when pumping. Most gas stations have them. Nick Pastore says it really boils down to common sense. "There are very few people in this world that are that important that you can't put the cell down to put gas in your car." To be absolutely safe, try holding onto a portion of your car when pumping, like the gas flip. It should ground you and prevent static electricity.

 

Firm fined over burned worker

An electrical firm has been fined #150,000 at Coventry Crown Court after a worker was badly burned. Southern Electric was fined #150,000 yesterday for two breaches of the Electricity at Work Regulations. The company was also ordered to pay #6,928 costs and #250 compensation to the injured worker, Sean Kilburn. The offences happened on Christmas Eve, 2000, at Marconi's New Horizon Park, in Cromwell Street, Foleshill, Coventry where Southern Electric was doing electrical work. Mr Kilburn was employed by a sub-contractor working for Southern Electric on the site. Ian Bridge, prosecuing for the Health and Safety Executive, told the court the company had been moving 415 volt cables to a new switchboard. He said the company had planned to cut off the electricity to the components where Mr Kilburn was working but one was still live. When he lost his balance and fell against a mesh screen, electricity arced through the air for five seconds and inflicted burns on his hand, leg and wrist. He said: Mr Kilburn has scarring and still needs skin grafts to his leg. He added that the company has a good safety record and immediately after the accident took measures to make sure it couldn't happen again. The court heard the damage to the company's reputation could cost between #10million and #20million in lost contracts. Recorder Shaun Smith said: Shareholders are going to be hit in the pocket by this.

 

Hotel maintenance worker electrocuted

By Darran A. Simon, Daily Record

FLORHAM PARK — A 29-year-old hotel maintenance worker was electrocuted at work Wednesday morning as he was installing a new room air conditioner, police said. The man, a North Brunswick resident, was employed as a maintenance worker by Dolce Hamilton Park, which operates a hotel-conference center at 175 Park Ave. Borough police and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said the man was electrocuted at around 11:15 a.m. as he did wiring in preparation for installing an air conditioner in a fourth-floor hotel guest room. Police did not release the name of the victim Wednesday because they had not yet notified the next of kin, Florham Park Police Lt. John Forlenza said. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, Forlenza said. Lt. Stephen Foley, a spokesman for the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, said the electrocution appeared to be a work-related accidental death. The victim, who was alone in the room, was discovered by another maintenance worker within minutes of the electrocution, Forlenza said. The prestigious 219-room Dolce Hamilton Park has been in the borough for 13 years. Odette Fodor-Gernaert, director of corporate public relations for Dolce International, declined to comment on the incident Wednesday pending a full investigation. Fodor-Gernaert said company officials had not received the official report of the cause of death.

Wire electrocutes worker

2002-04-16
WARR ACRES -- A workman died of electrocution early Monday when soft ground and a wind gust caused the ladder he was holding to shift and hit a nearby high voltage wire. Bobby Shoopman, 42, was pronounced dead at Integris Baptist Medical Center when efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, said Warr Acres Police Major Pete Markstone. Markstone said the accident occurred about 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Victory Christian Center complex at 4300 N MacArthur. Shoopman was a member of a work crew from Amprop Roof Repair that was preparing to repair the roof of a youth ministry building at the church. Amprop's owner Rick Davis said workers were putting up a ladder to climb onto the roof when the accident occurred. Shoopman had worked for the roofing company for only 10 days, Davis said.

Man electrocuted on Webster rooftop

By Alan Morrell, Democrat and Chronicle

( April 17, 2002 ) — A Rochester man was electrocuted Tuesday when he touched a live wire while working atop an ice cream stand in Webster. Jorge Ramirez, 51, whose last known address was on Rossmore Street , was taken to Rochester General Hospital , where he died, said Webster Police Sgt. Steve Small. Ramirez, who worked for Micca Electric in Webster, was working on a fluorescent light fixture on top of Abbott's Frozen Custard, 2195 Empire Blvd., when the accident happened about 3:50 p.m. Customers at Abbott's administered CPR until members of the West Webster Fire Department arrived. Their personnel continued CPR. Monroe Ambulance transported Ramirez to the hospital. Crews from Rochester Gas and Electric Corp.'s Risk Management Assessment Team were on scene along with the Webster fire marshal, who was expected to contact the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Small said there appeared to be no foul play. "Everything appears to indicate that this was a tragic accident," he said. Ramirez's body was taken to the Monroe County Medical Examiner's office for an autopsy. John Micca of Webster, the electric company owner, said Ramirez worked for him on and off for about six years. "He was working for himself, but he got sick and tired of his business so he came back to work for me," Micca said. "He didn't like handling the (bookkeeping) and all that." Micca said he knew few details about what had happened. "I sent him on a job like I normally do," he said. "I know he was all done, but he went back to check on two fluorescent bulbs to see why they didn't work. Then, this happened." The Abbott's stand closed for a few hours while emergency workers investigated but reopened later Tuesday night. A manager there said she did not want to comment further.

 

Tree trimmer electrocuted in Sarasota

News-Journal wire services

SARASOTA -- A tree trimmer died Monday when he pulled a palm frond into a power line, electrocuting him. His father was supervising the work crew. Ora Radcliff, 40, of Bradenton climbed the tree when a co-worker refused to cut the frond after feeling a slight shock when he touched it, authorities said. When Radcliff grabbed the frond, the branch touched the 7,620-volt line, energizing the tree and killing him, authorities told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Radcliff worked for Freddie Lawn & Tree Service, which is owned by his father, Freddie Radcliff. Ora Radcliff's body remained tied to the tree, his arms blackened, until Florida Power & Light workers could cut the electricity and it could be removed.

 

UPDATE, INQUIRY INTO PYLON DEATH COMPLETE

Bainton: The Health and Safety Executive has completed its inquiry into the death of a worker electrocuted as he repaired an 11,000-volt power line. The HSE launched a major investigation after Yorkshire Electricity linesman Philip Hartley, 50, from Driffield, was killed as he worked on an overhead power line near Bainton Burrows Farm, Bainton, near Driffield, last October. Officers refused to rule out human error as a cause, following claims the power supply was switched back on while Mr Hartley - who had been with the company for 20 years - was still working. He was standing on a cherry picker - a crane with a platform surrounded by safety barriers used to lift workers repairing lines - when he suffered the massive electric shock. Colleagues working alongside him battled in vain to save him as they waited for paramedics. Electricity workers spoken to by the Mail claimed at the time that Mr Hartley's death had damaged trust between linesmen and the engineers responsible for switching off supplies to power lines. The Mail understands an inquest into his death, with a jury sitting, should now take place later this year.

 

Man who saved co-worker learned value of CPR training

BY MARK ANDERSEN / Lincoln Journal Star

Kelly Higgins was just starting his shift operating one of eight printing presses at the Quebecor plant in Lincoln when a co-worker from a nearby press came running. A man working on some lighting above an idle press had cut two wires of a 480-volt, three-phase connection, sending a serious electrical shock through his body. It was 7:26 p.m. on April 30, 2001, and Higgins, 43, was about to have the second real-life test of his cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills. His actions in the next minutes could mean life or death, recovery or brain damage for the stranger now lying on the uppermost catwalk of a printing press. Higgins is one of about 15 people among the more than 600 Lincoln Quebecor employees listed as first responders. His co-workers know they should seek him out in an emergency. Higgins had always wanted to learn CPR -- cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Then his company offered training for free. Higgins is also committee chairman for his son's Boy Scout troop. He was among those who were requiring the boys to know CPR. It had seemed hypocritical, he said, to expect his son to learn it if he didn't know how himself. Gov. Mike Johanns recently honored Higgins and others like him as lifesavers. Before being called upon to use his skills last year, Higgins had received three or four hours of CPRtraining. Now, he had only moments to put his knowledge into action. Climbing the 25 feet to where the man lay unconscious, Higgins found co-worker Robert Phillips already giving the victim mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. The victim appeared to have no pulse, and Higgins estimated he had been down about two minutes. He knew brain damage would begin in a few more minutes, and death would follow. Since his initial training, Higgins had become somewhat skeptical of CPR. His first test of CPR skills had come in February 1999, when a longtime co-worker suffered a heart attack. "He didn't make it," Higgins said. His trainer had warned students not to expect miracles, but the failure hurt. Later, Higgins had arrived at his friend's funeral after the casket had been closed. The last image of his longtime friend was of a man lying dead on the shop floor. For this new trial, Higgins concentrated on giving chest compressions, and also on directing Phillips when to give breaths. To himself he wondered if he was correctly recalling the ratio of breaths to heartbeats. He later learned he was giving the correct ratio for a single person performing CPR. The ratio is different when two people give it. "It shows that even if you can't remember, you can still do some good," he said. It seemed like forever before help arrived, Higgins said, but it was only minutes. He and other press workers carried the man down to the second catwalk, where they were met by emergency medical technicians. Monitors showed the man's heart was in ventricular fibrillation, an ineffective fluttering that quickly leads to death. "His heart monitor looked like the stock market report," Higgins said. Two electrical shocks restored the victim's normal heart rhythms. The man later recovered to go home to Pennsylvania and Higgins never saw him again. But on the night of his save, Higgins changed his mind about CPR. He also called his wife. "Well, I'm one and one," he said. "In baseball that's 500." He also remembers the look of pride in his son's eyes. Reach Mark Andersen at 473-7238 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

Firefighter gets jolt during fire

By Patrick Flanigan, Democrat and Chronicle

(April 12, 2002) - A Rochester firefighter was jolted by an electrical shock while battling a fire Friday morning. Jerry Randise was treated at Rochester General Hospital and released. The fire at 264-266 Weyl Street was reported at 2:03 a.m. and under control at 2:33 a.m., said Capt. Dan McBride. The fire destroyed a downstairs kitchen, spread to the adjacent apartment and to the second floor, McBride said. All occupants escaped safely. The American Red Cross of Rochester offered housing for one adult and three children, McBride said.

 

AEP worker electrocuted

By TIM LOGAN, Tribune Staff Writer

ELKHART -- A worker for American Electric Power Co. died Thursday when he accidentally touched a power line carrying 12,000 volts. Jeff Dittmar, 27, of Elkhart, was killed immediately, said AEP spokesman Tom Kratt. Dittmar was in a bucket truck about 17 feet off the ground installing a third power line between two poles, Kratt said. Somehow, Dittmar touched one of the two live lines and was electrocuted. The accident occurred about 8:45 a.m. in the 23300 block of County Road 6 northeast of Elkhart. It caused an electrical substation to shut down and cut power to nearly 1,000 homes and businesses in the area for about an hour. Dittmar grew up in northern Michigan but had worked at the utility in Elkhart for seven years, Kratt said. He was an experienced line mechanic. "This is unbelievably tragic," Kratt said. "It's going to hit our guys pretty hard." Both AEP and the Elkhart County Sheriff's Department will conduct investigations, but it appears to have been an accident. Elkhart County Coroner Dr. Jeff Landrum said he would likely conduct an autopsy today. "Death was certainly by electrocution, and it was accidental," Landrum said. "But we'll be doing an autopsy to get it on the record, especially since it was an industrial accident."

It was AEP's first fatality in the area since 1985, when a worker was killed in South Bend, Kratt said.

 

Outage leaves more than 100 without power

Staff report

DAYTONA BEACH -- The raised bed of a dump truck snagged some power lines Tuesday on Keech Street , leaving more than 100 customers temporarily without electricity, police said. Freddie Watson, 48, of Daytona Beach , a driver for Halifax Paving, had just dumped the 10-wheeler's load and was northbound on Keech Street at noon when the raised bed caught the wires at Loomis Avenue . "I was going on a lunch break. I changed gears and then I heard the whining. I looked back and it was up," Watson said. "I raised it by mistake." The bed snapped the top of a utility pole near Campbell Middle School , snapping power lines that carried electricity to 101 customers, said Vickie Henson, spokeswoman for Florida Power & Light Co. Electricity was restored at 2:41 p.m. after an FPL crew replaced the pole and wires, Henson said. Police said no one was injured in the accident, but estimated it caused $4,000 in damages to the power equipment. Charges are pending further investigation, police said.

 

Electrical incident delays hospital opening
The new Bishop Auckland Hospital 's outpatient department may not meet its planned opening date of this Monday following an electrical incident that involved two workmen sustaining serious shocks from the permanent installation last month. Both men were able to leave Middlesborough General Hospital following treatment on the same day. It is reported that the outcome of an HSE investigation into the incident will have a bearing on the timing of the opening of the privately-financed hospital to the public. Brian James, Director of Planning and Operations for the Trust said: "Obviously until we get the HSE report we are not in a position to fully understand the nature of what caused the incident. Until we have established that, we would clearly be unhappy without further reassurance about the safety of the hospital's electrical distribution system. "We are working with our partners to try to understand exactly what happened in the incident and to make sure the electricity supply system is safe and robust for the future."

 

Officials Investigate Electrocution Of Worker

Officials are still trying to determine how a 33-year veteran of First Energy Corp. was electrocuted Thursday. NewsChannel5 reported that Lee Woody, 54, was working on underground power lines at Superior and Euclid avenues when he came into contact with 4,000 volts of electricity. Officials said that a colleague on the ground level discovered him unconscious. Woody died at Huron Hospital .

UPDATE, Nuclear Report Blames Electrician
Sun Apr 7, 12:27 AM ET

ATHENS, Ala. - An electrician's mistake caused an accident at the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant last month that seriously burned four workers, a Tennessee Valley Authority report said. The TVA's serious accident investigation team found that the electrician brought a safety-grounding cable too close to an energized portion of a 4,160-volt circuit breaker. An electrical arc jumped between the cable and the energized portion of the breaker, burning the four men, Browns Ferry spokesman Craig Beasley said Friday. The TVA and state emergency management officials said there was no danger of a release of radioactivity from the north Alabama plant. The accident occurred on March 26 in the Unit 3 reactor turbine building of the TVA-run plant. The reactor had been shut earlier in the day for refueling. The men remain at home recovering from their injuries.

 

Worker burned by jolt at Kodak

Democrat and Chronicle

( April 6, 2002 ) — An contract worker was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital on Friday after he cut into an electrical line at Eastman Kokak's Hawkeye plant on St. Paul Street . Darrell Grigg, spokesman for Rural/Metro Medical Services, said the worker sustained third- degree burns on his hands after he cut into a 227-volt power line about 1:45 p.m. He was unresponsive at first but became responsive en route to the hospital, Grigg said. He was in serious but stable condition, Grigg said. His name was not available.

UPDATE, Family Of Electrocution Victim Sues FPL

The family of a man who was electrocuted at a Riviera Beach marina in September 2001 filed a lawsuit, alleging that Florida Power and Light was negligent. Stephen Dolch (pictured, right), 34, was operating a boatlift at the marina when the lift came in contact with a live power line. The contact sent thousands of volts of electricity into Dolch's body, killing him almost instantly. "The tires on the lift were actually melted," Dolch's mother, Trina, said. "I just can't imagine what my son's body looked like. We did see Stephen. His face was saved, but they covered his body. I could still smell the smoke on him." After talking with marina workers, Dolch's parents said they discovered that the wire that electrocuted their son was not providing electricity to any customers and had never been de-energized, despite requests from the marina. "I just went bananas," Dolch's father, Wil, said. "It's just something words cannot describe. We had found out they'd been notified about this problem and the marina had asked to have it removed several times prior to this happening." The lawsuit came just weeks after two incidents in which FPL incurred criticism for its response to emergency calls. Three weeks ago, tree-trimmer Pedro Grave suffered for more than 40 minutes after he came into contact with a live wire. FPL administrators made a formal apology because of the slow response time. This week, rescue crews in Saint Lucie County blasted FPL because they were put on hold by dispatchers as they tried to save a couple trapped in a car surrounded by downed power lines. The Dolches' attorney, David French, said the other two cases will not necessarily be a part of his case. However, he said they show a pattern of the company not living up to its responsibility to keep the community safe. FPL representatives did not return phone calls from Eyewitness News 25 regarding the Dolch case.

 

TVA investigates electrical ’flash’

By Dennis Sherer, Staff Writer, March 28, 2002

Tennessee Valley Authority investigators are trying to determine what caused a 4,160-volt arc of electricity to erupt from a circuit breaker at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant on Tuesday, burning four men. The injured electrical workers - Fred Pendergrass, David Letson and Dan Young of the Shoals and Ed Minyard of Athens - were listed in satisfactory condition at UAB Hospital in Birmingham . TVA spokesman Terry Johnson said a team of human resources workers and managers was dispatched to the hospital Wednesday morning to offer assistance to the injured men and their families. "We want to make sure the immediate needs of the employees are being met," he said. Pendergrass, Letson and Minyard are TVA employees. Young works for Stone and Webster, an engineering firm that contracts with the federal agency. The men were burned by intense heat from the high-energy electrical arc that spewed from the circuit breaker around 6 p.m. Tuesday. Johnson said the arc lasted only an instant. "It was not so much an electrical fire as it was a flash," he said. "It was kind of like the spark you get at home if you unplug the vacuum cleaner while it is still running. But instead of 110 volts, this was 4,000 volts." The circuit breaker is part of a power-supply system at the nuclear plant near Athens . Johnson said the accident occurred in the building where turbines for the electrical power generators are housed. The building is separate from the plant's nuclear reactors. "This was simply an industrial accident. It was not nuclear-related," he said. "The health and well-being of the public was not threatened." A team of TVA investigators began assembling at the nuclear plant Tuesday night to search for what caused the circuit breaker to malfunction. "We are conducting a broad-based investigation," Browns Ferry spokesman Craig Beasley said. "Our investigation team includes safety experts, electrical experts and nuclear experts from across the TVA system. They are going to be gathering facts, conducting interviews and looking into what happened so we can make sure this kind of accident does not happen again." An Occupational Safety and Health Administration investigator is expected to visit the plant, possibly later this week. Beasley said the investigation will last as long as needed to find the cause of the accident. Tuesday's accident was the first causing serious injuries to maintenance workers at the plant since July 1989, Johnson said. The men injured Tuesday were part of a team working on the Unit 3 reactor, which was shut down as scheduled earlier in the day for refueling and maintenance, Johnson said. Work continued Wednesday. Beasley said while the workers were focused on doing jobs safely Wednesday, they were thinking about the injured men. "A lot of folks knew these men. They are good men."

 

UPDATE, Worker Deaths Bring Florida Company more than $50,000 in OSHA Fines

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. -- A Florida company's failure to protect workers from electrocution hazards contributed to two fatalities and may cost the company $50,250 in proposed penalties, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has announced. On Sept. 19, 2001, two employees of South Florida Yachts, Inc. were electrocuted when a 35-foot high traveling hoist they were using to remove a boat from a storage area came in contact with a 30- foot high, 7,500 volt overhead powerline. Following an inspection of the accident, OSHA cited South Florida Yachts for one willful violation of safety standards and proposed a penalty totaling $49,000 for failing to alert workers to potential hazards and instruct them about protective measures needed to perform their jobs safely. "This employer knew power lines were obstructing the storage area; was aware of the height of the traveling hoist, and was familiar with labeling on the equipment warning against getting close to electrical hazards," said Luis Santiago, OSHA's Ft. Lauderdale area director. "Yet, company officials took no action to remove the powerlines or to alert workers to the hazard."  In 1999, in response to the high rate of construction accidents in Florida, OSHA launched the CARE (Construction Accident Reduction Emphasis) program and established special local emphasis programs -- falls and electrical -- to address the high accident rate attributable to these two hazards. In fiscal year 2000, there were 37 electrical accidents in the southeast of which 20, or 54 percent, involved overhead powerlines. In 2001, the number of shocks or electrocutions had dropped to 30 but powerline-related accidents remained at 20, or 67 percent of the total. So far this fiscal year, seven of the 13 electrical accidents, a total of 54 percent, resulted from contact with powerlines. "Far too many Florida workers are electrocuted on the job," said Santiago. "In this case, although company officials knew the powerlines were a potential threat, they took no remedial action." One serious citation in connection with the inspection drew a fine of $1,250 for absence of a deflecting device or bumper on the traveling hoist to prevent a crushing accident. South Florida Yachts employs 28 workers in boat sales, service and storage. The company has 15 working days to contest OSHA's citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. Inspection of the fatal accident was conducted by OSHA's area office at Jacaranda Executive Court, 8040 Peters Rd., Building H-100, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33324-4029; telephone: (954) 424-0242.

 

Contractor rescued from roof; Man may have grabbed live wire after he was startled by birds

By JOHN BUGBEE, Dispatch/Sunday News

In the few seconds it took him to retrieve a tape measure from their truck, Warren Mattox realized his boss was in trouble on the garage roof they were getting ready to repair this morning in York City. "He was standing there holding his hand and fell back on the roof," Mattox said. Frank Jarbeck Jr., 32, had touched a live wire at 8:07 a.m.; a jolt of electricity burned his hand and knocked him unconscious on the roof at 317 Smyser St. And what sounded to Mattox like a backfire from a truck was actually the sound of Jarbeck being hit by the electricity. Working as a roofer, Mattox said he's seen workers "zapped" by electrical wires. "That's when I put two and two together," he said. Mattox, 23, said he rushed up the ladder to help Jarbeck on top of the two-story cinder-block building in the back yard of a home. A fellow worker called 911 on a cell phone. In the meantime, Jarbeck slipped in and out of consciousness, Mattox said. "He said, "What happened?'" Mattox said. Then Jarbeck said something about pigeons. Pigeons in the eaves of the building had bolted from their nesting area, startling Jarbeck. "'I was ducking from them,'" Mattox said Jarbeck told him before he lost consciousness. In ducking he may have lost his balance and inadvertently grabbed at the wire strung along the roof edge, Mattox said. Using ropes, firefighters guided a litter containing the unconscious Jarbeck down the side rails of the ladder. Once he was on the ground. he was placed in a waiting stretcher. Jarbeck was taken to the York Hospital emergency room where he was being evaluated late this morning, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Downtown electrical-vault fire empties hotel, shuts down power

Friday, March 29, 2002, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF

A fire and two explosions in an electrical vault sent smoke billowing into the air above a downtown Seattle block yesterday, forcing the shutoff of electricity to several downtown businesses for more than three hours. The fire in an electrical vault behind the Hotel Monaco, 1101 Fourth Ave., filled the alley between Seneca and Spring streets and the hotel with smoke, forcing the evacuation of the hotel. It took firefighters close to 40 minutes to put out the blaze. "A lot of smoke went into the basement area" of the hotel, Seattle Fire Department spokeswoman Sue Stangl said. "Bystanders said they saw flames." An estimate of the damage had not been made last night. The cause is under investigation, though initial suspicions pointed to what Seattle City Light spokesman Larry Vogel described as "cooking oil" found in the vault after the fire was out. There were no serious injuries. A 27-year-old hotel worker complained of muffled hearing as a result of the noise from the explosions. He was treated and released from Harborview Medical Center.  City Light cut power to the hotel and to four other businesses after the fire was reported. The hotel was evacuated, and fire crews used fans to blow smoke out of it. At the Immunex building, which houses laboratories and some corporate headquarters operations for the biotech company, spokeswoman Robin Shapiro said a backup generator kicked in when the power died. "There are labs in that building, which is why we've been so focused on contingency planning there," Shapiro said. "Everything worked as it should have." By rerouting power, electrical service was restored shortly after 5 p.m. to Immunex, Washington Mutual Data Center, 1001 Fourth Avenue Building and Waterfront Court No. 1.

 

Power line worker electrocuted in Seminole County

The Associated Press

GENEVA, Fla. - A utility worker was electrocuted when a truck's boom touched a power line Thursday, authorities said. Benjamin Richard Burr, 20, was standing next to the truck and apparently came in contact with the electrical current, said Steve Olson, a Seminole County Sheriff's Office spokesman. Paramedics rushed Burr to Central Florida Regional Medical Center in Sanford, where he was pronounced dead. Burr worked for Alexandria, La.-based Red Simpson Inc., a subcontractor of Florida Power and Light. He was a member of a crew laying down power poles along State Road 426 near the intersection of Seminole Woods Boulevard. A message seeking comment left at Red Simpson, Inc. was not immediately returned Thursday afternoon. Geneva is about 20 miles northeast of Orlando.

Man Electrocuted At S.R. 56
By CANDACE J. SAMOLINSKI, Published: Mar 28, 2002

WESLEY CHAPEL - A shadow was cast over the much-anticipated opening of State Road 56 when a worker was electrocuted during final preparations. The accident happened at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday when two employees of Allied Graphics in Tampa were trying to install a sign near the intersection of S.R. 56 and State Road 581. Mark Ian Seyer, 35, of 2171 Dixie Garden Loop in Holiday, had just climbed over a barbed-wire fence and was carrying a metal ladder when he was knocked to the ground by an electrical jolt, said Jon Powers, spokesman for the Pasco County Sheriff's Office. It appeared either Seyer or the ladder had come into contact with Withlacoochee Electric power pole. It wasn't clear whether it was a guide wire that touched live wires and caused the accident. A group of Tampa Electric Co. workers rushed to help Seyer, Powers said. They tried unsuccessfully to revive him while awaiting paramedics. Under a mutual-aid agreement with Hillsborough and Pasco counties, Tampa Fire Rescue responded to the 11:45 a.m. 911 call because it was closest. Seyer was pronounced dead an hour later at Tampa General Hospital, Tampa Deputy Chief Terry Jones said. ``I know they worked on him all the way to the hospital,'' he said. News of the man's death devastated Allied co-workers, who said they were struggling to deal with the accident. ``Allied is grieving at this time because we have lost a valuable employee and a friend to us all,'' company officials said in a statement. The co-worker who was helping Seyer with the sign installation wasn't injured. The cause of the accident is being investigated by officials from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Reporter Candace J. Samolinski can be reached at (813) 948-4215.

 

Son of Kansas legislator is electrocuted

Last Modified: 11:38 a.m. 3/21/2002, The Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- The son of a prominent Kansas legislator was electrocuted while doing flooring work at an underground storage warehouse in southwest Missouri. Kevin Neufeld, 37, died about 9:45 p.m. Wednesday at Dairy Concepts in Springfield, officials said. Neufeld is the son of Republican Rep. Melvin Neufeld of Ingalls, in southwest Kansas. The younger Neufeld co-owns Doores Neufeld Co., a flooring business in the Kansas City suburb of Blue Springs. His company was doing some remodeling work for Dairy Concepts, which leases a temperature-controlled warehouse at Underground Storage Inc., officials said. Neufeld apparently was electrocuted when he unplugged a 480-volt cord to a piece of equipment workers had been using from an electrical panel, Springfield police spokesman Kirk Manlove said. Workers got worried when Neufeld didn't immediately return. They found him with burns to his arms and hands, lying on the floor, next to the cord, Manlove said. There were no witnesses to the incident, Manlove said. The investigation was continuing. Occupational Safety and Health Administration officials were notified. Neufeld lived in Lee's Summit with his wife and two daughters, ages 11 and 8. The elder Neufeld is vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Last November, Kansas state Rep. Gene O'Brien, D-Parsons, suffered a broken vertebra in his back after he fell from scaffolding and landed on a concrete floor at PSI Ready Mix in Branson. He owns O'Brien Ready Mix, which has Kansas offices in Parsons, St. Paul and Oswego.

 

OSHA begins investigating deaths

Two workplace fatalities in one day unusual, according to supervisor.

By Laura Bauer Menner, News-Leader

Federal safety agents are in Springfield today investigating two unrelated fatal accidents at city workplaces in less than 16 hours. The agents from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration already have reports from Springfield Police on the two deaths - one in which a man was electrocuted and another in which a man was crushed by a metal trash container. Police had finished the investigation of the Wednesday-night electrocution at Springfield Underground when about 12 hours later officers were called to Waste Management Inc., where a worker was crushed by a one-ton Dumpster being loaded onto a trailer. It's definitely bizarre, said Police Chief Lynn Rowe of the back-to-back fatalities. Manuel Olmedo, who supervises the Western Missouri district of OSHA, said it is unusual for two incidents to happen in one city in one day. His agents will spend weeks to months investigating both and have the investigations complete within six months, including issuing citations, if they are necessary. We'll try to determine best we can what happened and how, and secondarily, if they were committed in violation of OSHA standards, Olmedo said Thursday. Workers and officials at the two locations were asking the same questions as word spread of the accidents. Authorities believe Kevin Neufeld, 36, of Lee's Summit died about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday after he was electrocuted by what authorities believe was 480 volts. He was working on a flooring restoration project at DairiConcepts, which leases space at 1904 N. LeCompte Road from Springfield Underground. Lawrence Booker, 50, of Lebanon died Thursday afternoon while loading the Dumpster onto a trailer at Waste Management in the 2100 block of West Bennett Street. Along with the police investigation and the one under way by OSHA, officials at both locations of the accidents will conduct their own probe. We're still gathering facts, said Tom Langston, vice president of real estate for Springfield Underground, which leases space out to businesses such as DairiConcepts. Neufeld, who worked for Doores and Neufeld Flooring of Blue Springs, was subcontractor on a remodeling project for a company hired by DairiConcepts. The whole thing, it's sad, just sad, Langston said. You certainly don't like to have these things happen. About 9:45 p.m. Wednesday, Neufeld was working with members of his crew. When he hadn't come back to the group, co-workers went looking for him, authorities said. His co-workers went and found him with no pulse, not breathing and with the (electrical) cord laying beside him, said Officer Kirk Manlove, Springfield police spokesman. There were burns on Neufeld's arm. Investigators believe Neufeld was unplugging a power cord from a power panel when he was electrocuted. Langston said authorities have ruled out that the accident was caused by electrical problems or problems with the power panel. He was rushed to Cox Medical Center South, where he soon died. We express our sorrow, said John Weidner, president of DairiConcepts, a company that processes dairy ingredients. His family is in our thoughts and prayers. The second fatal accident happened Thursday afternoon when Booker was outside his truck working to load the metal container onto a trailer. The empty container had been placed onto the trailer but authorities believe the rails of each were not aligned. That's when the container started to fall toward Booker. One witness saw the box as it was toppling over onto him and saw him trying to run away, but it was too late, Manlove said. The container is 22 feet long, 8 feet wide and 8 feet deep. Officials with Waste Management said they wouldn't comment until the investigation is complete. Authorities said heavy winds also may have contributed to Booker's death. The investigation by OSHA agents will look at workplace conditions and actions by the workers. We mainly try to find out what happened, so it doesn't happen again, Olmedo said Thursday.

 

UPDATE, Electrocuted man's boss let insurance policy lapse

State unsure if family eligible for benefits, 03/23/02, Terry Witt

A Crystal River company was not carrying workers' compensation insurance at the time an employee was electrocuted at a job site Feb. 21, according to the Florida Department of Labor. Spokeswoman Bethany Kemp said Nature Coast Electric was insured until Nov. 9, 2001, when Preferred Insurance in Palm Beach cancelled the policy for non-payment. James Gorman IV died at a job site in Ozello when he touched the metal frame of a mobile home that was electrified. Gorman, the sole breadwinner in the house, left behind his widow, Cheryl, and two children at home, Samuel 11, and Melissa, 9. Kemp said she doubted that Preferred Insurance would be held liable in the death because the policy had been cancelled several months earlier. Citrus County License Inspector Kimberly Corbin said Nature Coast Electric was granted an exemption from workers' compensation insurance because it claimed to have no employees. We wouldn't have had a red flag, she said. We knew he had a license but didn't know he had employees until now. Beth and Jerry Yant, owners of Nature Coast Electric, have until Monday to produce their employee records and dates of insurance coverage dating back three years. Department of Labor spokesman Phillip Cox said Jerry Yant told an investigator that all his employees quit after finding out he had no workers' compensation coverage. Cox said the lack of employees was the only reason the investigator didn't shut down the business this week. Kemp was not certain whether James Gorman's family would be entitled to any workers' compensation benefits. Pat Johnson, bureau chief for the employee assistance department in the Department of Labor, said if the company had no workers' compensation insurance, the family could ask the agency for assistance. She said the probable scenario is that the case would go before a workers' compensation judge, who would determine if the family is entitled to benefits. Jeff Thomson, an investigator for the Department of Labor who works for the compliance section, also confirmed that Nature Coast Electric had no workers' compensation at the time of the death. However, he said the investigation is active and he could not release details. Beth Yant had no comment on whether she and her husband were carrying workers' compensation coverage at the time of James Gorman's death. I'm not commenting on that, she said, referring a reporter to attorney Jim Neal. Neal did not return phone calls Thursday and Friday.

 

Two Injured in Flash Fire at Auto Parts Plant

Sanford, NC, United States, 3/19/2002- 9:30 AM

An electrical contractor working at a GKN Automotive Inc. plant received second- and third-degree burns over about 40 percent of his body, and a second electrician received minor injuries following a flash fire at the plant Tuesday (3/19/2002). The fire occurred about 9:30 a.m., but burned itself out before fire fighters arrived. The company manufactures constant velocity joints used in front-wheel-drive vehicles.

 

Air hose suspected in near electrocution

A semi-conductive rubber air hose may be to blame for an accident that left an electrical contractor severely burned Monday afternoon. Jim Cornelius, 48, was doing power-pole maintenance work from the bucket of a crane truck when he somehow made contact with a 14,400-volt line. He suffered severe burns on his face and his right hand and arm, but was able to communicate and walked to the gurney when the ambulance arrived, according the emergency response officials. Cornelius was transferred Monday evening to a burn center at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley , Colo. The nurse supervisor at the burn center said Cornelius was on a ventilator and in the intensive care unit, but was improving. he said he was scheduled to have the dead skin removed from the burned areas and that "he had quite a bit of rehabilitation to do." Mike Blenkush, the vice president of corporate communications for Powder River Energy Corp., the transmission company who subcontracted the injured worker, said their safety analyst was still working on investigating the accident. No final cause of the accident has been determined, he said. Cornelius was a subcontractor who has worked for Sturgis, S.D.-based Live Line Maintenance for about five or six years, according to Live Line's owner Howard Baldwin. Baldwin said that from what he had heard Cornelius' condition "wasn't near as bad" as it could have been. "I had a lot of confidence in him," Baldwin said. Near the electric lines, Baldwin said they never use electric tools, only air-powered ones. Air pressure operates the tools and is supplied through non-conducting nylon air tubes. When the tube Cornelius was using broke, he apparently bought a regular rubber hose, which has carbon in it, to replace it, Baldwin said. "I think he just bought a regular air line, thinking it was rubber, but that stuff has carbon in it, like it has in tires and I am virtually certain that's what got him in trouble." The carbon in the rubber makes the rubber semi-conductive, Baldwin said. Baldwin said he did not know about the rubber hose until after the accident happened, or he would have made Cornelius exchange it for a nylon hose. When doing line maintenance, Baldwin said special protective gloves are worn that insulate the wearer from the transmission lines. He said even if the wearer touched a line with the gloves on, nothing would happen. By Adam Rankin News-Record Writer

Electrical worker critically injured

March 12, 2002

An electrical contractor was critically hurt Monday afternoon when he touched a high-voltage transmission line while doing maintenance work from a crane's bucket. The accident occurred about 40 miles south of Gillette near the intersection of Keeline and Hilight Roads, according to Lt. Rod Warne of the Campbell County Sheriff's Office. The 48-year-old man, who wasn't identified, was just finishing the replacement of power pole insulators when his bucket reportedly swung toward the 14,400-kilovolt line as he was descending, according to Jeff Rech, the southern coordinator for the Campbell County Fire Department. The worker reportedly touched the line with his right hand and suffered severe burns on his right hand, face and right arm, he said. "It's hard to say what kind of internal injuries he's got with that kind of voltage going through him," Rech said. An unidentified co-worker lowered the injured worker to the ground in the crane's bucket and called for emergency response, Rech said. The Wright Fire Department responded shortly after 1 p.m., he said. The man was taken to Campbell County Memorial Hospital and later transferred to a burn center in Greeley, Colo. The two workers were the only workers at the site. Mike Blenkush, the vice president for corporate communications for Powder River Energy Corp., said the contractors were doing general maintenance work on the transmission company's lines. Blenkush said the contractors worked for Sturgis, S.D.-based Live Line Maintenance. A safety inspector for PreCorp investigated the scene of the accident Monday evening, he said. But until the employee can be interviewed and the accident is fully investigated, Blenkush said he couldn't speculate on the cause of the accident.

 

British soldier electrocuted in German rail accident

A British soldier has been electrocuted after climbing on to a tank on a freight train. The 24-year-old Scots Dragoons Guardsman came into contact with overhead wires carrying 15,000 volts. He hasn't yet been named. He was en-route with his regiment to a new base in Germany when the accident happened. An ambulance service spokesman said the soldier died instantly. The accident happened at the Linden train station in Hanover. It closed the line between Hanover and Haste for several hours. Army spokesman Robert Fishwick said: "We can't give a lot of details out because at the moment the family of the young man have not been informed. We will release details only when the military and civilian authorities have finished their investigation." Hans Juergen Frohns from the German railway authority, the DBB, said: "As far as we are concerned the overhead lines complied with all the regulations and were not too low. This man simply climbed too high with tragic consequences." The train loaded with Challenger tanks stopped on its way to Falling-Bostel, 30 minutes south of Hamburg. Mr Fishwick added: "It is normal that when there is a stop, they take the opportunity to check the fastenings keeping the tank securely on the freight car. "But he must have climbed too high and was electrocuted by the overhead power line. The emergency services were on the scene really quickly, but with that amount of power going through your body there was no chance. "No other soldier was injured. The dead man's body is still in Germany and will be released when the inquiry is finished."

 

Two men burned at work site for Phillies stadium

Two workmen at the Phillies stadium construction site on Pattison Avenue were burned when electrical equipment malfunctioned yesterday morning. Dave Dannon, 27, and Joseph Tookes, 25, both employees of Precision Electric Co., of Philadelphia, were taken to St. Agnes Hospital Burn Center where they are reported in stable condition, police said. Dannon suffered second-degree flash burns to his face and Tookes suffered third-degree flash burns to his face and hands, police said. The men were working at the site's "electrical shanty" - a small wooden structure where the power controls are housed. Phillies spokeswoman Sharon Swanson said all the power lines that lie under the construction site end at the shanty. The power was shut off, but work digging the stadium foundation, now 23 feet deep and 25 percent complete, continued yesterday. * Rose DeWolf

 

Verizon worker electrocuted

From staff reports

VIENNA - Despite a desperate attempt by a co-worker to save him, a Verizon employee was electrocuted while repairing a downed line Monday, Oneida County sheriff's deputies said. Jarrod Lyon, 28, of Howard Avenue, Dolgeville was working on Herder Road in the western Oneida County town of Vienna at about 1:30 p.m. when the accident happened, deputies said. High winds downed several power and phone lines through the region Sunday. Deputies said this is what happened: Lyon was in a bucket truck about 15 to 20 feet high, while his partner Joseph Aiello was on the ground. They were handling an unshielded support cable attached to several poles. Lyon held a loose end under his arm, using a device providing tension with one hand while shaking the cable through the supports on the poles with the other hand. As the cable moved, it came in contact with the 12,500-volt primary line above. The power followed the cable 1,000 feet to Lyon, passed through him and then to the ground. Aiello, no age or address available, lowered Lyon to the ground and started CPR. McConnellsville firefighters responded and assisted with CPR as Lyons was taken to Rome Memorial Hospital where he died of the injuries, deputies said. Aiello, though near Lyon, was unhurt. Albany-area Verizon spokesman Cliff Lee did not discuss or other specifics Monday. Verizon officials will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the accident, he said. This is obviously a very tragic event, Lee said. Roberts-Buck Funeral Home of Dolgeville was handling Lyon's arrangements, which were incomplete as of Monday night. Contributing: Kelly Hassett, Tim Blydenburgh

 

HOME SAFETY, Haven Officer Electrocuted by Wiring

Monday, March 11, 2002, By JOHN CHAMBLISS, The Ledger

INVERNESS -- A Winter Haven police officer was electrocuted Saturday afternoon while hanging a ceiling fan at the home of his girlfriend's parents in Inverness, the Winter Haven Police Department reported. Corey Jon Bacon, 26, who has been with the department for four years, was in the attic hammering a bracket to hold a fan when he was electrocuted about 1 p.m., said Winter Haven police Sgt. Joey Yeako. "The voltage line was hidden by insulation and the nail went through the line," Yeako said. Yeako speculated that Bacon hammered into a 220-volt line. Bacon was taken by ambulance to Citrus Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead about 2 p.m., a nursing supervisor said. Bacon moved from Maryland to Winter Haven in 1998, police said. "He was a good guy, an aggressive officer," Yeako said. After completing his basic training at South Florida Community College, he joined the Winter Haven Police Department and served as an officer and field training officer, police reported. In 2001, Bacon received the DEUCE award from MADD for his aggressive enforcement of drunk driving laws. Police Major Mary Mariani said Bacon was an intelligent officer who had a chance to move up the ranks at the department. "He went out and did his job well," Mariani said Sunday. "But he still had a kind side and always thought of others." "He was helping others when he died," Mariani said. "He will be missed." John Chambliss can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 863-802-7539.

 

UPDATE, Ship worker's death was by electrocution, kin say

By MATTHEW DOLAN, The Virginian-Pilot, March 6, 2002

NORFOLK -- A 59-year-old civilian worker who died Monday aboard a Navy supply ship may have been the victim of electrocution, according to his family members. Wayne Cherry had been working aboard the Supply, a fast combat support ship visiting Norfolk during a routine port visit at Norfolk Naval Station. Navy officials declined to release details about the fatal accident that occurred about 3 p.m. Monday. But Cherry's brother in Michigan said that family members were told that electrocution was the likely cause. Cherry, a electronics technician living in Norfolk, was working on the ship's lighting at the time, said William L. Cook, a spokesman for Military Sealift Command at the naval station. Cherry's brother said Wayne Cherry was married. Other details about his background were not immediately available Tuesday. Although officials with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service responded to the accident scene, Navy officials said they were waiting until the autopsy to decide whether more investigation is needed. Foul play, they said, was not a factor in Cherry's death. The Supply, commissioned in 1994, has a crew of 120 civilians and 25 military personnel. The 730-foot ship was moved from active Navy service to the Military Sealift Command on July 1, 2001. The command, with a crew comprised largely of civilians, overseas noncombatant ships that supply and resupply Navy ships. With 21 years in civilian service, Cherry spent the last 12 years working for the sealift command, Cook said. Reach Matthew Dolan at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 446-2322.

 

Golden Gate man electrocuted at Bonita construction site

Saturday, March 9, 2002, By MARY KELLI BRIDGES

A 35-year-old Golden Gate man was killed Friday morning when he was electrocuted while working on a house under construction in Bonita Springs. Larry "Neal" Jones, 3173 S.W. 53rd Ave., was working for Premier Electric of North Naples on a junction box on the side of a house at the corner of Tarpon Street and Bayview Drive when he touched a live wire, said his boss Robert Forbis, owner of the company. The accident happened at about 10:45 a.m. Jones was taken to NCH North Collier hospital, where he was pronounced dead soon after, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. "This guy was really a hard-working guy, just really motivated," Forbis said. Forbis said Jones' supervisor was on his way to the other side of the house to turn off the main breaker for the electricity so Jones could work on the junction box when it happened. Forbis said Jones started working before the energy to the house was cut off. The Sheriff's Office Major Crimes Unit was called to the scene to investigate Friday morning. The results of that investigation weren't complete later in the day. Forbis said he doesn't think houses still under construction should have electricity already hooked up. He said it's a rule that should be changed to the way it was done in the past, when electricians used temporary power poles in front of the homes to plug in cords. "It was just a matter of time before someone got killed," Forbis said. "This law needs to be changed today before someone gets hurt Monday." Forbis said Jones had worked for his company for 1= years. Forbis said this is the first time in the history of his company, which started in 1988, that someone was killed or seriously injured.

 

Electric worker killed
By DARLA McFARLAND, The Examiner

An out-of-town electrical crew worker, repairing damage from the recent ice storm, was electrocuted Thursday afternoon. The victim was Chad Miller, 27, of Winterset, Iowa. Miller had "accidental contact" with a primary power line while moving a transformer from a damaged pole to a new one, said Independence Power and Light director George Morrow. The primary line carries about 13,800 volts of electricity. Another worker was able to cut the power and retrieve Miller from where he dangled 30 feet up the pole. The accident occurred about 2:50 p.m. in the 5000 block of Marion Street. Miller was taken by ambulance to Independence Regional Health Center. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. The victim was an employee of Tiede's Line Construction, Inc., a private electrical line contractor hired by IPL to assist with the storm clean up. An employee at Tiede's main office in Hayes, Kan., said this morning that the company had no comment on the accident. The employee confirmed that Miller worked for Tiede's and said his family has been notified. IPL, along with Tiede's, will investigate the accident. Available information indicated that there was no equipment failure or outside factor involved in the wire contact, Morrow said. All contractors working for IPL are required to carry their own liability and workers' compensation insurance. Tiede's has been working on the clean-up effort since right after the storm and has done other work for IPL in the past, Morrow said. To reach Darla McFarland e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call her at 350-6321.

 

UNAUTHORIZED Work causes electrical near miss

On October 3, 2001, at the Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), a worker used a high-voltage hotstick to open three fused cutouts in a 2,300-volt Westinghouse switchgear cabinet without authorization to do so, without checking for voltage, and without wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).  Workers were preparing to replace an induction regulator located in Building 901 (Cyclotron).  The line side of the fused cutouts was energized, but there was no load on the circuit.  There were no injuries.  However, because of the potential for serious personnel injury, the facility manager reported this occurrence as a near miss.  A final report was filed on January 29, 2002, which provides additional information and insight into the incident.  (ORPS Report CH-BH-BNL-BNL-2001-0026). In preparation for the induction regulator replacement, towerline workers were sent to inspect the Westinghouse switchgear cabinet (Figure 1).  During this inspection a Chemistry Department worker, who was not part of the inspection team, opened the fused cutouts on his own initiative to facilitate the inspection.  This individual followed verbal procedures he had been given earlier by a now-retired cyclotron operator, who had informed him that opening contacts in the power circuit de-energized the fuses.  Believing the circuit was de-energized, the worker did not check for voltage and was not wearing appropriate PPE. The towerline workers and the BNL supervisor who were in an adjacent room and who witnessed only the opening of the third fused cutout explained the seriousness of the work activity and the need to use proper PPE to the BNL worker and to his supervisor.  The towerline workers notified their supervisor and the Plant Engineering Environmental Safety and Health Coordinator. In the course of the inspection, the towerline workers addressed additional equipment issues related to the transformer room.  These issues involved a missing view port in a switchgear cabinet, out-of-date labels, and inadequate space for the switchgear cabinets.  As a result of this inspection, the Laboratory Electrical Safety Officer locked out the 2,300-volt Westinghouse switchgear cabinet equipment.  The direct cause of the incident was that the worker performed hazardous work without adequate work planning and control.  The worker failed to recognize that the activity required a pre-job hazard review and formal authorization, and opened the fused cutouts on his own initiative.

The worker's supervisor failed to ensure that the worker had been properly trained in this activity, and that any verbal instructions needed to be reviewed and proceduralized. The following are some corrective actions that have been implemented as a result of this event.

•          Facility management reviewed this incident with personnel in the departments and groups involved with cyclotron operations to emphasize the necessity of proceduralized work planning before carrying out any verbal procedures, as well as the need to review procedures associated with legacy facilities.

•          Chemistry Department personnel received a memo emphasizing the necessity of reviewing work practices associated with legacy equipment to ensure worker safety, and that work cannot be carried out without proper work planning.

•          Maintenance personnel replaced the glass that was missing from the view port on the rectifier cabinet before the circuit was re-energized.

This occurrence illustrates the inadequacy of verbal procedures, particularly those involving infrequently used equipment.  Procedures need to be formally documented to ensure that work can be performed safely. Management needs to emphasize to workers that work cannot be carried out without formal authorization, appropriate procedures, and task-specific controls in place.  In addition, management needs to ensure that legacy equipment is inspected before it is used, and, wherever appropriate, brought up to current codes. See Photos at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oeaf/

 

Electrician Shocked after REPAIRING WELDING RECEPTACLE

On December 10, 2001, in Building 98 at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, a journeyman electrician received an electrical shock while connecting the ground lead from a welding machine to a worktable.  He had twice repaired a receptacle that supplied electricity for welding and he was testing a welding machine after the second repair.  Immediately after the shock, the electrician was examined at the laboratory’s clinic and later by an outside physician.  He was given a prescription pain reliever.  He suffered no permanent physiological injury; however, because of his injury, he was placed on medical work restriction for 19 days.  (ORPS Report ORO--SURA-TJNAF-2001-0005, Final Report 2/6/02). During the morning of December 10, 2001, a loud bang was heard from a 480-volt disconnect box in Building 98 (see Figure 1).  At the same time, a feeder panel breaker tripped, causing a loss of electrical power.  A journeyman electrician locked out the box and checked the circuit.  He found that a wire in the welding receptacle attached to the disconnect box had chafed and shorted out.  The electrician replaced this single wire, along with a fuse in the disconnect box.  A laboratory electrical coordinator reset the feeder panel supplying power to the building, and two other electricians checked the building’s 480-volt circuit.  They found no problems. When the welding activity resumed an hour and a half later, the disconnect box produced another loud bang, and power was lost.  The electrician again locked out and checked the box and welding receptacle.  This time, he found that the ground wire in the receptacle had melted and damaged another wire it touched.  He replaced the two wires (see Figure 2).  When his supervisor questioned him about his first repair, the electrician stated that he may have overlooked other wires in the receptacle that may also have been chafed.  Suspecting that the first welding machine might be faulty, the supervisor replaced it with a second machine of different manufacture, which seemed to operate correctly. In the afternoon, after the first welding machine was checked for obvious problems such as burnt wires and circuit boards, the electrician plugged it back into the welding receptacle with its power switch turned off.  As he was connecting its spring-loaded ground lead to a worktable, the electrician received a shock.  His coworkers took him for medical attention. The electrician’s supervisor instructed other employees to lock out and check the disconnect box and welding receptacle.  They found no problems, and so the supervisor again suspected that the first welding machine was faulty.  He had the second welding machine reconnected and tested, and again it appeared to work properly.  However, as a welder was moving the second machine at the end of his shift, he noticed an electrical arc between the foot pedal’s metal housing and a metal table leg as he pulled the machine’s cable across the floor.  The supervisor and facility manager believed that the 480-volt distribution system might have become damaged, and ordered that all welding receptacles be tagged out. The next day, the plant engineering staff and electricians checked the 480-volt distribution system for grounding and other problems, but could not immediately find any.  Finally, the plant engineering staff found that the welding receptacle’s green ground wire was not in the green-ringed ground pin as would be appropriate (see Figure 2 for correct wiring configuration).  The staff concluded that the electrician must have switched the ground wire with a hot phase wire during his second repair of the receptacle.  Although he made some voltage verification checks, he obviously failed to make all the required checks. The Laboratory Director ordered a laboratory-wide stand-down of all welding activities on December 14, 2001, in response to this occurrence and other recent events involving improper bonding and grounding of welding machines.  Corrective actions included:

·         performing testing and certification of all welding receptacles

·         conducting briefings for welders and electrical safety personnel

·         performing annual inspections of welding machines

·         adopting new procedure requirements for grounding in welding areas

·         partnering the journeyman electrician with senior electricians while performing electrical activities

A search of the ORPS database found two other recent discoveries of incorrectly wired electrical receptacles.  On January 27, 2002, computer workers found a 208-volt receptacle incorrectly wired in Building 201 of Argonne National Laboratory – East.  (ORPS Report CH-AA-ANLE-ANLEPFS-2002-0001)  On December 13, 2000, electricians found that a 120-volt outlet on a rental manlift was incorrectly wired at Hanford’s Waste Receiving and Processing Facility.  (ORPS Report RL--PHMC-WRAP-2000-0005)  No one was shocked in these occurrences, but the contractors felt they were a near miss or potential concern. The causal analysis for the occurrence at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility cited the electrician’s lack of electrical safety awareness and inattention to detail as the root causes.  Had the electrician adequately verified his work, he would have found the receptacle’s incorrect wiring.  This occurrence also illustrates that troubleshooting electrical circuit problems can be complex and difficult.  Unsolved troubleshooting and false conclusions can lead to injury. See photos at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/oeaf/

Details

Parent Category: Incident Alert Archives

Category: Electrical Accidents

Published: 03 September 2010

Electrical Accidents #2

This page was last updated on 05/06/2010

 

Backhoe Severs buried Electrical Power CABLE

On February 12, 2002, at the construction site for the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a backhoe operator struck and severed a buried 240-volt temporary power cable with his backhoe bucket. This tripped a circuit breaker and the operator was not injured.  The contractor reported this as a near miss.  (ORPS Report ORO--ORNL-X10SNS-2002-0001) The buried cable supplied electrical power for the construction of the SNS Front End Building, and was included in surveys for buried electrical lines.  This temporary power line was noted in the original excavation permit, and was marked at the construction site for information.  However, since the cable lay outside the area being excavated, no particular care was taken to preserve its markings, and the markings were substantially obliterated during the excavation.  As the excavation progressed, the height of the earthen mound forming around the excavation became a safety concern, and the excavation crew decided to slope the wall.  This sloping activity entailed digging beyond the area originally planned, and into the location where the temporary power line was buried. The investigation of this occurrence is still ongoing, and there are no formal causal analyses or lessons learned at this time.  However, it appears clear at this point that the excavation permit should have been amended to address the new area being dug.  If done correctly, the amendment process would have identified the buried electrical line from the previous surveys. On January 30, 2002, a similar event involving a backhoe severing a 480-volt buried line occurred near Buildings 52 and 58 at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility.  The site utility drawing incorrectly indicated that there were no electrical lines in the vicinity.  (ORPS Report ORO--SURA-TJNAF-2002-0001)  On February 18, 2002, a contractor cut through a 110-volt conduit with his concrete-cutting saw while installing a shower drain line at the Argonne National Laboratory.  As-built drawings were inaccurate, and there had been no instrument surveys for embedded conduits.  (ORPS Report CH-AA-ANLE-ANLEPES-2002-0002)  There were no injuries in either occurrence. The Office of Performance Assessment and Analysis has issued a lessons learned on Electrical Intrusion Events through the Society for Effective Lessons Learned Sharing (SELLS).  This document (Identifier:  HQ-EH-2002-01) can be accessed from the SELLS database at http://tis.eh.doe.gov/ll/listdb.html. The Office of Performance Assessment and Analysis is also requesting information from DOE and subcontractor offices on good practices in excavation and electrical penetration safety.  The scope of electrical intrusion events includes accidental contact or penetration of underground utilities and embedded or hidden utilities within structures (i.e., walls, floors, and ceilings).  These good practices should come from facility programs that have been successful in preventing penetration-type incidents.  We intend to compile this information and share it throughout the DOE complex. Individuals or organizations wishing to respond to this request may contact Jim Snell, (301) 903-4094 or at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

NEARMISS, Firefighters have close call at Delray blaze
By Nancy L. Othón, Staff Writer, Posted March 1 2002

DELRAY BEACH · Firefighters avoided electrocution and disaster Thursday morning as they extinguished a propane tank fire between two homes. Ten-foot-high flames were burning from the 120-gallon propane tank and were extinguished after about 30 minutes when two lieutenants with Delray Beach Fire Rescue's hazardous materials team walked to the tank to cap a gas leak, said Division Chief Russ Accardi. Lt. Ed Crelin and Lt. Greg Giaconne then noticed that a chain-link fence next to the tank was glowing, looked up and saw that a power line had snapped and was in contact with the fence. "It is a miracle these two guys didn't get electrocuted," Accardi said. Firefighters were called to the 2100 block of Southwest 13th Street shortly after 9 a.m. for the fire, which was called in to dispatchers as a "bucket of gas" on fire between two houses, Accardi said. When they arrived, they saw a fire impinging on the propane tank. "For us that's an urgent situation because it could explode, and it could have leveled a house," Accardi said. The situation was extremely unpredictable because the firefighters had no idea how long the fire had been burning or whether the tank was close to exploding, Accardi said. "It could take minutes or hours," he said. "It's such a dangerous situation for a firefighter to pull up on." Firefighters took cover behind a tree and immediately began to douse the flames, using a large nozzle that is placed on the ground and is unmanned. The ground monitor, connected to a hose on the fire engine, pumps out 500 gallons a minute and is used specifically for this purpose, Accardi said. The fire started when the live power lines energized the chain-link fence, which in turn ignited scraps from a neighbor's wood fence next to the propane tank, Accardi said. Rescue workers didn't know there was a live power line because no one had indicated their power was out or called Florida Power & Light Co. yet, he added. "We are very fortunate that our two guys touching the fence did not get electrocuted," Accardi said. As if the firefighters weren't busy enough, Accardi said, a resident ran to the scene of the fire from across the street and reported his house was on fire. Firefighters contained the electrical fire to a single room, Accardi said. Nancy L. Othón can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 561-243-6633.

 

UPDATE, Worker in fatal electrical accident identified
Herald staff

LYNNWOOD -- The Snohomish County Medical Examiner on Wednesday identified a boom crane operator who died last week when the crane's cable struck a power line. William Lee Dunlap, 40, of Tacoma was unloading supplies from a delivery truck at a construction site in the 14000 block of 55th Avenue W. He died of high voltage electrocution in the accident, said Leon Reichle, the Snohomish County medical examiner's chief investigator. The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the accident.

 

Two cable workers electrocuted

Wednesday February 27, 6:55 AM , By Chennaionline News Service

Dindigul, Feb 26: Two cable-laying workers were electrocuted after they came in contact with a high-tension power cable while digging a pit for laying communication cables at Malayakoundanpatti in this district today. Police said a worker was charred to death on the spot as his crowbar pierced a power cable while digging near the railway line. His colleague suffered serious injuries while trying to save him and died on way to hospital. A woman worker who tried to rescue them was also injured and has been hospitalized.

 

Tree-trimmers get the shock of their lives

By Mitch Hotts, Macomb Daily Staff Writer

A downed power line sparks Thursday morning in front of a house on Martin Road in Roseville. A tree-trimming crew working at the scene was thankful that no one was injured when the 4,800-volt power line fell. Members of a tree-trimming crew feel lucky -- even blessed -- after a live electrical line fell Thursday and touched at least two of them without causing any injuries. The incident happened about 9:45 a.m. on Martin Road near Pinehurst in Roseville as the Michigan Tree Co. prepared to cut down three trees for a homeowner. As the crew set up its crane and equipment, a Detroit Edison primary wire carrying 4,800 volts of electricity fell on a group of four workers. "I just don't understand it," company owner Mark Stroh said. "I saw the line and it was sparking; there's no doubt that it was a live wire. But none of my guys were hurt. Maybe we were just lucky today." The fallen wire caused a power outage for about 1,000 Edison customers in Roseville that lasted until about 12:30 p.m., according to a spokeswoman for the utility. It was the second time in one week that a power outage left the area along Utica Road between 12 Mile and Common without electricity. On Valentine's Day, electricity was out for about seven hours because of a similar incident, Edison reported. What caused the line to fall Thursday was not immediately clear. Detroit Edison said the damage in the Feb. 14 incident was caused by tree trimmers. They had no immediate answer for the latest downed wire, but suspect it may have something to do with the tree crews. But Stroh said his crew hadn't even started its work when the wire fell Thursday morning. "The Edison guy at the scene told me he didn't have a reason for it falling; there wasn't a splice or anything like that," Stroh said. Stroh, who's been in the tree-trimming business since 1984, said he is at a loss to explain why the wire didn't electrocute anyone. "My guys just ran when it came down. And then they went to church. We were all scared to death," he said.

 

Repairman electrocuted in Ozello

Homosassa man killed under a mobile home

02/22/02, Terry Witt

A Homosassa electrician was accidentally electrocuted on the job Thursday in Ozello, according to the Citrus County Sheriff's Office. James J. Gorman IV, 44, Campbell Street, a father of four, was killed while working under a mobile home at 14290 Sutton Court. Cpl. Derrick Bogart said Gorman's supervisor found him under the mobile home after Gorman failed to answer several calls to the company radio in his truck. He was working under the trailer and, for whatever reason, he either forgot to shut the power off or a water pipe broke while he was trying to make repairs, Bogart said. Bogart said Gorman, an employee of Suncoast Electric, was found lying in a wet area under the mobile home around 2:28 p.m. He apparently had been repairing a pump motor and was alone at the time. Bogart said Gorman had driven to the Ozello area to do several jobs, among them the pump repair. Gorman's supervisor was at the site as sheriff's investigators inspected the area where the accident occurred. He appeared to be badly shaken and would not talk about the incident. No foul play is suspected in the death, Bogart said.

 

UPDATE, Man Survives Power-Line Accident

Monday February 18 01:05 PM EST

A West Palm Beach landscaper was recovering in a local hospital after being electrocuted over the weekend. Pedro Graves was 30 feet up, trimming a tree on 28th Street, when a branch fell on a power line. Firefighters could only watch, because the entire tree was hot with electricity. Florida Power and Light has just a handful on emergency workers on call on weekends, so it took them nearly 40 minutes to get to a place where they could turn off the power. Hanging in the tree, the victim begged his co-workers to shoot him. Finally, the branch touching the live line fell, and rescue crews managed to get the man down. Graves was listed in fair condition Monday at St. Mary's Medical Center.

 

Worker pleads for death during electrical shock

By Scott McCabe, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer, Sunday, February 17, 2002

WEST PALM BEACH -- For 40 minutes Saturday, landscaper Pedro Graves hung in a tree 40 feet above the ground, screaming for mercy as electricity coursed through his body. Smoke curled from his head. Foam trickled from his mouth and ears. In Spanish, he cried for a gun, begging his co-workers to shoot him. Below, a dozen burly West Palm Beach rescue workers -- trained to throw themselves into danger -- could only watch helplessly from the back yard at 215 28th St. The entire tree was hot with electricity and Florida Light & Power was nowhere to be found, West Palm Beach Fire-Rescue spokesman Phil Kaplan said. Finally, the 2-inch thick limb touching the live line burned itself out and fell, and firefighters went to work about 12:20 p.m., using a long ladder, rope, pulleys and a makeshift harness to haul Graves to safety. An FPL worker arrived as this was happening and turned off the power. Graves was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center, where he was in fair condition Saturday night, a hospital spokesman said. "He's just plain lucky," Kaplan said. "In the grand scheme of things, this was not an easy one." Rescue workers got a call that someone was in the tree at 11:48 a.m. and arrived at 11:50, acting Battalion Chief Cletus Pirtle said. They called the power company at least twice, Kaplan said. FPL got a call at 11:59 a.m. and its worker arrived at 12:32 p.m., company spokesman Mike Schwebel said. "It seems that the regular procedures were taken and the time was reasonable," Schwebel said. "We're just relieved that he's going to be OK."As normal procedure, FPL will investigate, he said. Neighbor Anthony Harrington was renovating his home with friends at 210 29th St. when he heard Graves' screams on 28th Street. "Everybody up and down the block heard him scream," Harrington said. Graves had been trimming a tree when a 10-foot branch fell on a power line connected to the house. Electricity jumped from the branch to the tree to Graves. Graves' co-workers desperately tried to help, Harrington said. He and his friends had to stop them from raising the aluminum ladder and shocking themselves. When Graves fell limp and silent, the onlookers turned away. They thought Graves was dead. "I couldn't watch anymore," said neighbor Philip Scarborough. Within minutes, Graves came to and started screaming again. He continued this way, falling in and out of a screaming consciousness every five minutes or so, witnesses said. As the rain grew heavier, so did Graves' pain, as the water dripping down the tree became a electrical conduit, Pirtle said. Fire-rescue workers yelled at him not to give up, to think of his family. Graves replied that he wanted to die, he couldn't hang on. "It was very frustrating," Pirtle said. "There was nothing we could do." Pirtle, however, said it was hard to be critical of FPL's employee -- he was told the company had only five workers working three counties Saturday. Even with the electricity turned off, the rescue was tricky. Graves draped himself around a limb and weakly clung to branches. Smoke hung in the damp, rainy air. The ladder steps were slippery. Fire-rescue workers positioned a brown tarpaulin beneath Graves in case he fell. Two medics, Capt. Ron Lauth and Fire Medic Troy Schurter, climbed the ladder and wrapped a florescent yellow, tubular-webbing harness around him. Schurter stepped down the ladder, holding Graves to his chest. In Spanish, Graves moaned, "Water, water."

 

Tacoma worker electrocuted by power line

Saturday, February 16, 2002, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF and NEWS SERVICES

A man was electrocuted in Tacoma yesterday and another was hurt when a chimney liner they were holding touched a power line. The man who died was standing on scaffolding when the 30-foot metal liner hit the line, according to Tacoma firefighters. The other man was on the ground and was able to perform CPR on his fellow worker, who died later at a nearby hospital. The 1 p.m. incident forced Tacoma Power to cut electricity to more than 1,000 customers in the Hilltop neighborhood for about 25 minutes.

 

Worker electrocuted on farm identified

Moses Lake _ A man who was electrocuted while installing an irrigation system on a farm 71/2 miles east of here was identified Wednesday as Ismael Reynosa Garcia, 28, of Moses Lake. The Grant County Sheriff's Office said Garcia was using a boom truck to lift the last section of an irrigation circle into place about 5:20 p.m. Tuesday when the boom touched an overhead power line. Garcia fell out of his bucket and the truck caught fire as the boom continued upward and brought the irrigation pipe into contact with two more power lines. Two co-workers were in contact with the truck when it was electrified, but they were able to break free. Sheriff's officials said Leonardo Oliden Murillo, 32, of Warden, and Jose Antonio Alcala-Macial, 21, of Moses Lake suffered minor burns on their hands. The workers were employed by Center Pivot Assembling Specialist, the Sheriff's Office said. The state Department of Labor and Industries is investigating the accident.

 

Blast in Manhole Injures 8 Workers

By ELENA GAONA, TIMES STAFF WRITER

An explosion in an underground vault injured eight city workers in the Westlake area Wednesday morning. The Department of Water and Power employees, all men, were about to start working on a cable in the 200 block of North Vermont Avenue when the explosion occurred about 10:35 a.m., said Gale Harris, a DWP spokeswoman. Four workers were inside the manhole and four were on the street, Harris said. The explosion occurred when someone underground touched the cable they were about to begin working on, she said. "They were testing an underground cable line and apparently it was still energized and that caused the explosion," Harris said. Fumes also might have triggered the explosion, fire officials said. "It was determined to be a ... fire that flashes from fumes," said Jim Wells, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman. When firefighters arrived, there were no flames, but smoke was coming from the vault, he said. Five of the workers suffered minor injuries and were treated at hospitals, Harris said, but three were taken to Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks. Jeff Hanson, 37, of Santa Clarita suffered second- and third-degree burns to the side of his face and his ears and hands. He was in stable condition, said burn center spokesman Larry Weinberg. Earle Hough, 36, of Littlerock suffered minor burns to his face and hands and was in fair condition. David Ybarra, 37, of Hacienda Heights suffered smoke inhalation and burns to his face, ears and shoulder. He was in fair condition, Weinberg said. Harris said the department is still seeking to pinpoint the cause of the explosion. The blast cut electrical power to more than 1,700 residential and a dozen commercial customers, Harris said. Crews were working late Wednesday night to restore power, she said.

 

Hollywood electrical vault blast injures utility workers

LOS ANGELES (AP) - An explosion in an electrical vault beneath a Hollywood street injured several utility workers Wednesday. Four to six workers were being examined by paramedics, Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells said. One person was believed to have minor burns. The type of work being done in the vault was not immediately known. A cable spool truck and a work van were parked by the vault entrance at Vermont Avenue and Third Street.

 

2 workmen hurt in electrical accident

UNION-TRIBUNE, February 12, 2002

Two workmen were burned when one touched a live wire on the roof of a group-housing facility in Grant Hill yesterday. The accident occurred at Bay View Transitional Housing on 26th Street, near J Street, at 2:50 p.m., San Diego police said. The men were trying to replace a blown fuse when one of the men touched a live wire with a screwdriver, police said. The resulting explosion burned one man on his hands and forearms, the other on his face. They were taken to UCSD Medical Center's burn unit.

 

Man burned, may be tied to power outage

Published February 12, 2002

NORTHWEST SIDE -- Electrical power was knocked out for about 2,500 Northwest Side customers late Monday night after a man was apparently shocked in the basement of Madonna High School. The unidentified man was listed in critical condition with third-degree burns at Illinois Masonic Medical Center, a nursing supervisor said. At around 11:15 p.m., power went out in an area from Diversey to Cornelia Avenues, between Kenneth and Central Park Avenues, said ComEd spokeswoman Meg Amato. Minutes later, Chicago police officers saw the man wandering near Belmont and Karlov Avenues, near the school. Amato said the man was likely shocked inside the school's electrical vault. The doors to the vault had been forced open, Amato said. Power was restored to approximately half the area before midnight, and crews were working to restore power to the remaining customers.

 

Electrical worker critically burned

Published February 10, 2002, Chicago Tribune

A 44-year-old electrical contractor suffered severe burns on his face, neck and chest Saturday morning after an electrical short occurred as he was installing equipment at a Northbrook business, fire officials said. Michael Ziemba, whose address was not released, was in critical condition at Loyola University Medical Center with burns over 13 percent of his body, said hospital spokeswoman Sandra Martinez. No fire resulted from the incident at General Binding Corp., 1135 Skokie Blvd., and damage was limited to the electrical room, said Northbrook Fire Department spokesman Phil Costa.

 

Live wire contained at school construction site

By BRIAN DENEAL

ELDORADO - Eldorado firefighters responded to call of an electrical fire at the new high school building at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. On arrival they found a live wire had broken from the overhead line by a construction worker who was operating a forklift used during the brickwork on the building. The forklift was extended as the worker backed up and he did not see the line before snapping it."It was arcing. It was getting with the program," Fire Chief Mike McKinnies said. Firefighters remained on the scene until an Illinois Power worker could shut off the electricity. But while power was still in the line, it was apparently a sight to behold."You could hardly look at it, it was arcing so bad," McKinnies said. The line dangled about a foot above the ground, and though the situation was a dangerous one, no one was injured. McKinnies said power was off in parts of the city from about 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. requiring some Eldorado students and pupils to eat their lunch in the dark. The power outage resulted in another call, this one at 10:23 a.m. to the 1508 5th St. residence of Charles Jacobs. McKinnies said the power outage caused Jacobs furnace to smoke. There was no damage. A third call came from Roundy's on U.S. Route 45 south of Eldorado. McKinnies said workers were checking the alarm system and had failed to notify the fire department.

 

UPDATE, Power company cited by OSHA

By C.M. Mortimer TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Tuesday, February 5, 2002

The U.S. Department of Labor has issued four citations against Allegheny Power and proposed penalizing the utility company $20,000 for its role in the accidental death of a lineman in Bell Township last summer. The department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited Greensburg-based Allegheny Power for four "serious" violations involving the Aug. 10 death of Thomas Louis Moyes, 34, of New Kensington. Allegheny Power Co. said Monday the company intends to exercise its right to contest the findings. "We're not disagreeing with the findings, just the language in the citations. The four subject areas they issued citations for were consistent with our own internal investigation of the accident," said Allen Staggers, spokesman for Allegheny Power. William J. Sterner, president of Local 102 of the Utility Workers of America, said the union wasn't satisfied with all of the conclusions reached by OSHA investigators. Let's just say there are still a lot of unanswered questions as far as we're concerned. We're still not satisfied that some of the problems they cite have been abated," Sterner

said. Chip Moyes, father of the lineman who was killed, said he was angry about the company's reaction to the death of his son and what he called a lack of compassion. He said nothing can bring back his son, and his only wish is that no other family be subjected to the same grief. "From the day my son died until now, (Allegheny Power) has done nothing. They never even came to the house or called to ask how we were doing," said the elder Moyes, 56, of New Kensington. Chip Moyes said his son left a daughter who will turn 4 years old next month. Thomas Moyes was electrocuted after coming in contact with a storm-damaged power line in Bell Township. Injured in the accident were co-workers Edward Copney, 39, of Washington Township, and David A. Berkebile, 39, of New Kensington. The three were among a five-man crew of Allegheny Power workers who went to the site of a power outage near Avonmore and the village of Salina in Bell Township, where a storm had knocked out power to about 800 customers. Moyes was the first Allegheny Power lineman killed on the job in 12 years. According to OSHA, the citations were issued because: Workers were not trained in or familiar with safety-related work practices, or safety procedures to repair a downed

conductor while working from the ground. The company did not ensure that the workers maintained a minimum approach distance while splicing a downed

conductor. Insulating sleeves were not used by workers for protection. Temporary protective grounds were not placed or arranged in such a manner as to prevent each worker from being exposed to hazardous differences in electrical potential. As a result of the fatal accident, Allegheny Power meted out suspensions without pay to three crew members for alleged safety violations. In September, Allegheny Power said an internal investigation recommended that in the future crew members conduct a "tailboard" conference before any work is done on downed power lines. The report indicated that Moyes' crew had repaired a damaged cross-timber on one pole and was attempting to take slack out of the line being replaced when an insulator on the damaged cross-timber shot into the air and caused the line to come into contact with an energized line. That sent 25,000 volts through the line on which Moyes, Copney and Berkebile were working.

 

Mine cited for faulty breaker

By: B.K. NECESSARY of the Daily Telegraph staff, January 31, 2002

GRUNDY, Va. - Immediately following last week's electrocution death of a Buchanan County coal miner, Virginia mining officials cited the mine for a faulty high voltage circuit breaker which protected the underground high voltage for the mine. The report from the Virginia Dept. of Mines, Minerals and Energy's Division of Mines said the high voltage circuit breaker for the Mackie J Mine, Inc., in Buchanan County, Va., would not trip creating "an imminent danger to the life or health of persons in the mine." On Jan. 24, Ronnie Bert Endicott, 42, of Pilgrims Knob, Va., received fatal injuries at Mackie J Coal Company, Inc., after "coming in contact with energized 12,470 VAC power," according to the VDMME's Division of Mines report. Mike Abbott, VDDME's public relations manager, said when the accident occurred, Endicott was working at a site some 2,200 feet underground where he was setting up a section power center which Abbott said was a type of electrical substation for the mine. Abbott said Endicott's death was the first coal mining fatality for 2002 in Virginia. Abbott said safety inspectors with both the state and the federal Mine, Safety and Health Administra-tion have not determined if the faulty breaker box contributed to the accident or was made faulty as a result of the accident. "A violation was written and the condition was found to exist when the investigation got underway. It is too early in the investigation to say whether or not this condition was a factor in Mr. Endicott's death," Abbott said. According to the report, "The switch gear (high voltage circuit breaker) located on the line power surface substation ... located on the surface at this mine that provides protection for the underground high voltage circuit for his mine would not trip when treated under a ground fault or over current condition ... "The relays would activate but the breaker would not trip. These conditions create an imminent danger, a violation of this act has occurred, which creates an imminent danger to the life or health of persons at the mine." A total of 40 separate state mine violations were lodged in 2001 against Mackie J Coal Company, Inc., and the mine's owner Mack Stiltner by the Virginia Dept. of Mines, Minerals and Energy's Division of Mines according to the agency's violation records. All 40 violations against Mackie J Coal Co. were corrected according to the report. Some of the violations cited in the state report included inoperative panic systems on equipment, guards or other safety devices removed from machinery, inappropriate methane testing, uncertified workers performing mine tasks, electric equipment and wiring not being properly examined, combustible materials were allowed to accumulate where they could create a fire and inoperative audible warning devices on machines, failure to comply with approved roof control plan, inappropriate ventilation, no records of calibrations on all hand held methane detectors at the mine and coal dust and other combustible materials were allowed to accumulate excessively in working areas. There were two coal mining deaths in the state last year, Abbott said. Virginia's second death occurred Monday night at Virginia Pocahontas No. 8 near Deskins in Buchanan County, according to Abbott. Fred Ramsey "Junior" Hess, 54, of Honaker, Va., was killed, Abbott said, after a recirculation pump exploded at the mine's preparation plant. - Contact B.K. Necessary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

Firefighter saved from downed power line

By John Young, The Porterville Recorder

TULARE -- Quick action by a Tulare firefighter Saturday allowed rescue of a his co-worker, who had been shocked by a 12,000 volt power line. Engineer Mark Fernandes said firefighter Luis Nevarez, 33, of Visalia, was shocked at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the scene of a downed power line in the 2000 block of Alcott Street. Fernandes was acting captain on the incident. A person in the neighborhood had been trimming a tree and a falling tree limb brought the high voltage line down, Fernandes said. He was briefing the duty chief on the incident as Nevarez, a 10-year veteran, was working around the tree, he said. "We turned around and Luis was doing something in the tree," he said. "Before we knew it, he grabbed the power line," he said. Nevarez was being shocked, lost consciousness, still holding onto the line, Fernandes said. "He was being electrocuted. He was dying," Fernandes said. He had to separate the firefighter from the line, and the only thing he had was his clipboard, he said. "I knew I had one shot, so I threw it and knocked the line out of his hand," he said. He grabbed Nevarez by his turnout coat and dragged him away from the line, he said. Nevarez regained consciousness at the scene, and was taken to Tulare District Hospital, where he was stabilized. He underwent surgery on his arm and hand and is reported in serious but stable condition at University Medical Center in Fresno, Fernandes said.

 

UPDATE, Tampa worker's death brings contractor $112,000 OHSA fine

Tuesday, January 29, 2002 The Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tennessee company should pay $112,000 in fines for a worker's electrocution because it knew or should have known its procedures violated safety rules, federal officials said Tuesday. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration accused Dillard Smith Construction Co. of Chattanooga, Tenn., of exposing linemen to electrical hazards caused by improper grounding procedures. Jeffrey Kulig, 28, of Bowling Green, died in the July 25 accident at Tampa Electric Co. He was using a lift to work on high-voltage transmission lines 200 feet in the air when he touched them, investigators said. Kulig, a trainee, was working with a lineman, changing insulators and copper ground wires atop a transmission tower when Kulig used his hand to remove one end of the grounding jumper cable prior to removing it from the 230,000-volt line, OSHA said. OSHA cited the contractor for committing the violation with intentional disregard or indifference to OSHA requirements. The agency also issued six serious citations for failing to conduct job safety briefings, not properly training workers in the use of electrical equipment, not using proper grounding procedures and equipment and not maintaining required distance between energy lines and aerial baskets. A serious violation means there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazards. The company, which employs about 750 workers, has three weeks to contest the citations and proposed penalties before a review commission. The company, reached by telephone Tuesday, had no comment.

 

OSHA Proposes $148,500 in Penalties Against Olshan Foundation Repair Co. in Houston, Texas, for Safety and Health Violations

DALLAS -- An Olshan Foundation Repair Co. employee in Houston was electrocuted during a tunnel excavation beneath a residence undergoing a foundation repair. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration cited the company with alleged safety and health violations and proposed penalties totaling $148,500. The OSHA Houston south area office conducted the investigation that began July 30, 2001, and cited Olshan with two willful, one serious and one other-than serious violation. Two willful violations were issued for failing to ensure that electrical equipment was free from hazards, such as missing ground prongs, exposed conductors and damaged insulation. The second willful violation was for failing to use proper ground fault circuit breakers or an assured equipment grounding program to automatically trip off any leakage of electrical current. A willful violation is defined as one that is committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. The serious violation was for failing to train employees in recognizing and avoiding hazardous conditions such as confined space, working in a conductive and damp location with defective electrical equipment. A serious violation is one in which there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result and the employer knew or should have known of the hazard. The other-than-serious violation was failing to document injuries and illnesses on the OSHA 200 log. The law requires employers to log in any occupational illness, injury or fatality. The company did not log in the fatality. An other-than-serious violation is a hazardous condition that would probably not result in serious harm or injury to employees. Employers and employees with questions regarding workplace safety and health standards can call the nearest OSHA office. OSHA's toll-free hotline may be used to report workplace accidents, fatalities, or situations posing imminent danger to workers. The number is 1-800-321-6742. The employer has 15 working days from receipt of the citations to either comply, request an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

 

2 hospitalized after apparent power-line shock near Lauderdale

sun-sentinel.com , Posted January 30 2002, 2:30 PM EST

A worker helping install a 720,000-volt power feeder line along Cypress Creek Road was rushed to a hospital Wednesday afternoon after suffering some sort of electric shock, firefighters said. The Florida Power & Light ground-crew worker, who was not immediately identified, was taken to North Ridge Medical Center shortly after 1 p.m. after collapsing at the work site at Northeast Sixth Avenue and 61st Court near Fort Lauderdale, Todd LeDuc, Broward Fire Rescue spokesman, said. Another FP&L worker, who was in his mid-30's, also was taken to North Ridge after complaining of numbness and tingling to his body. Both men had been using shovels at the work site, Le Duc said. Condition reports on both men were not immediately available. Le Duc said the incident occurred near a Westin hotel where work on the power feeder was under way. A crane with a 60-foot boom may have hit the power line and caused the jolt that shocked both men, LeDuc said. It appears there was some kind of significant electrical injury to at least one of the men, LeDuc said. It also illustrates the dangers of working near power lines - even if you're a pro - he said.

 

UPDATE, Woman sues Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital for $40 million in brother's death

01/28/02, BILL HILES

A Memphis woman has filed a $40 million lawsuit against Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital and several of its employees in connection with the electrocution death of her brother on Feb. 4, 2001. Sidney Connell, filed the lawsuit as the administratrix for the estate of Michael P. Connell and for the use and benefit of his heir, Chad Connell, 15. Her complaint, filed in Dyer County Circuit Court on Jan. 16 by Memphis attorneys Louis Chiozza and James V. Ball, also names several physicians and groups of physicians. Michael Connell, a licensed mechanical contractor, was electrocuted while performing air conditioning service at the Dyersburg Mall. Sidney Connell filed a separate $10 million federal lawsuit in June. That lawsuit, still pending in federal court, states that "on Jan. 27, 2001 Michael Connell was asked by Azizi International, Inc., a maintenance broker, to make a service call at Dyersburg Mall, specifically for the heating and air units of Hibbett Sporting Goods..." "In the course of providing the service," the federal lawsuit states, "Michael Connell, while standing in front of the electrical panel to check the electrical disconnect at the main electrical box and look at the breaker, opened the box and wires which were not properly secured fell onto Michael Connell, creating an electrical arc and injuring Michael Connell who received second and third degree electrical burns to his face, arms and hands." Connell developed septic shock due to the injuries and died of complications from the burns on Feb. 3, 2001, according to the complaint. The lawsuit alleges that Dyersburg Mall was guilty of negligence because "(i)t knew or should have known of the dangerous condition of the electrical panel, but did not remedy the dangerous condition", "did not exercise care in properly maintaining and servicing the electrical equipment", "failed to insure that the electrical work and construction on the building was within codes", "failed to warn persons ... of the fact that the wires were not secured within the electrical panel and were dangerous", and "failed to warn other repair and service contractors of the faulty nature of the electrical panel." The complaint alleges that the acts of negligence by the mall "... were the direct and proximate causes of the death of Michael Connell." The complaint makes similar allegations of negligence against Hibbett Sporting Goods and Azizi International. The state lawsuit against the hospital alleges that Michael Connell was evaluated by Dr. Elliot Landfield in the emergency room and "...was...treated for his flash burns only and not for the electrocution injury..." It blames Michael Connell's death on improper care by Landfield and other emergency room personnel because of alleged improper treatment before Connell was transferred to the Firefighters Regional Burn Center at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. "...as a result of defendants' negligent medical care and/or malpractice (Michael Connell) did not receive proper and immediate medical care, his medical condition was compromised prior to and during his transfer and further compromised at the time of his arrival at the Firefighters Regional Burn Center ... which said acts were a direct and proximate cause of his death on Feb. 4, 2001." The complaint names three Methodist Healthcare-Dyersburg Hospital emergency medical technicians and a nurse at the hospital and John and/or Jane Doe, unnamed defendants employed by the hospital, UT Medical Group Inc. and Phyamerica Physicians Services of the Midwest Inc. The complaint includes excerpts, said to be from an autopsy of Michael Connell's body, stating that he died of complications from the electrical injuries he received at the mall. The complaint alleges that "the defendants, jointly and/or severally, were guilty of... medical negligence ... that ... were the direct and proximate cause of the injuries to (Michael Connell) ... resulting in his death... ." It claims the hospital failed to provide education and knowledge to its staff in the handling, treatment and transfer of medical emergencies, "failed to appropriately ensure that its employees, personnel and/or staff applied, followed and carried out all applicable policies, procedures and guidelines in full force and effect for the treatment of injuries presented in the instant case..." and failed "...to appropriately ensure that (Michael Connell) received proper, appropriate and non-negligent medical care and/or treatment necessitated and required for emergencies presented in the instant case... ." The complaint further alleges that the hospital failed to ensure the safety of Michael Connell while he was in the care of the hospital and its emergency medical personnel. As to the emergency medical technicians and nurse, identified in the complaint as Shands, R. Gatlin, Buchanan and Connie Ray, R.N., the lawsuit claims they failed "...to secure the necessary information, knowledge and skills in the medical care and/or service required of them to properly assist the physicians in the treatment of (Michael Connell)..." and failed "...to appropriately follow and adhere all policies, protocols, procedures and guidelines applicable to them in full force and effect for the medical treatment of injuries presented in the instant case... ." The emergency medical personnel also were negligent in failing to properly equip the emergency room and in failing to appropriately monitor Michael Connell's condition, the complaint states. The 17-page complaint reiterates the complaints against each of the defendants and claims recovery from them for "...the wrongful death of Michael Peel Connell on Feb. 4,2001, emotional pain and suffering by Michael Connell ... pecuniary value of the life of (Michael Connell), ... loss of earning capacity of (Michael Connell) ... any and all medical expenses for (Michael Connell), ... funeral expenses, ... loss of consortium, companionship and society (to Sidney Connell), "... for mental pain and anguish (of Michael Connell's heirs) and for Sidney Connell's "... loss of wages and all expenses she has incurred as a result of the death of her brother... ." The complaint claims that the actions of the defendants are "... so willful and wanton as to shock the conscious (sic) of the community at-large and would entitle plaintiffs to punitive damages against all defendants named herein." The complaint asks for $20 million in actual damages and $20 million in punitive damages and seeks a jury trial.

 

Indiana Man Critically Burned In Power Line Accident

A man trying to install a CB antenna in a tree suffered third-degree burns over half his body when the antenna touched a power line in Brazil, Indiana, authorities said. 21-year-old Gary Long was critically burned when the CB antenna he was working on fell onto a power line, sending electricity through the antenna, shocking Long and burning the tree. Long remained in critical condition yesterday at the Wishard Memorial Hospital burn unit in Indianapolis, where he was airlifted after the accident. When emergency workers arrived at the accident scene, they found the CB antenna draped across the power line, the tree was charred from the fire and Long hanging onto a lower branch. It took 10 to 15 minutes to lower Long from the tree, as Brazil firefighters waited for Cinergy/PSI workers to cut power to the line.

 

Manhole covers fly after S.F. explosion

Published Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002, in the San Jose Mercury News, BY ROBIN EVANS

CAR LOFTED, NEARBY HOTEL DAMAGED; ONE INJURED

Glass in half a dozen buildings in San Francisco shattered when an underground explosion shot powerful sound waves and three manhole covers into the air Tuesday morning. One of those covers, made of cast iron, was propelled up into a parked passenger car, lifting it temporarily off the street then wedging underneath it like an upturned coin. Another jetted 35 feet in the air and into the Carlton Hotel, damaging its facade and breaking windows in the lobby and on the second floor, officials said. ``What was truly amazing was a 300-pound-plus manhole cover made it up 30 to 35 feet on the hotel. It was a significant amount of force,'' said Fire Department Capt. Pete Howes. If anyone had been in the way, he said, ``it would have been a tragedy.'' A third, smaller, concrete manhole on the sidewalk was also blown off its base, and one worker was sent to the hospital with minor injuries. A check of affected buildings determined there were no other injuries or fire hazards from the explosion, Howes said. ``People were home but thankfully no one was close to or looking out of the windows,'' he said. ``The windows were completely blown out.'' Traffic was barred from entering the area and PG&E immediately cut off electricity to 3,000 residents nearby as workers looked for the source of the problem, said spokesman Paul Moreno. By late afternoon electricity had been restored to all but a handful of customers. ``Our first priority is to restore power, but they may be without power for quite a while because we have to restring the cable in the entire circuit,'' he said. The electric cable underground was damaged, but Moreno said it's still ``chicken-and-egg: Did the cable fail because of the explosion or cause the explosion? ``We don't know what caused the ignition source,'' Moreno said. But he said that before the explosion, PG&E crews doing routine maintenance just downhill from the explosion, at Larkin and Sutter streets, noticed smoke from an open manhole cover. Underground explosions are common city phenomena and their cause has prompted a number of studies, Moreno said. ``A variety of things could happen. This happens all over the world. You can get sewage vapors, natural gas, methane buildup, fuel that gets down into an area,'' he said. ``It's going to be tough to pinpoint the exact source.''

 

Two men electrocuted in Zephyr

Family and friends were slated to gather Tuesday evening in Riverside Park to remember two men who were electrocuted Saturday in Zephyr. The Saturday afternoon accident claimed the life of Zephyr resident Dexter Allan Jewell, 36, and his brother-in-law, Dino Lee Ogden, 38, of Brownwood, authorities said. The two men were trimming a tree from a raised utility bucket when a power line touched one of them from behind and almost instantly electrocuted both men. According to sheriff's department reports, the accident was witnessed by others who were able to call emergency personnel, including the Zephyr Volunteer Fire Department and Brown County Sheriff's deputies. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.

 

UPDATE, Portsmouth company fined in electrocution of worker

January 23, 2002

Watch 13News' story on the death of Rickie Boyd and his familiy's support for the company he worked for. A Portsmouth moving company has been hit with a nearly $26,000 fine after one of its workers was electrocuted. Rickie Boyd fell from a moving house. He and two other men from Lang Construction, had to negotiate the home through power lines. In the process, Boyd was electrocuted. The Virginia Department of Labor and Industry fined Lang Construction, saying the company failed to tell the power company about its plans to move the house -- among other things. Lang Construction is appealing the fine. Several members of the Boyd family work for Lang Construction and think the state's action is unfair.

 

Dump truck snags power lines, snaps utility pole

By Susan Kirkland, Rome News-Tribune Staff Writer01/18/02 About 200 people were without power more than five hours Friday after a dump truck snagged several electrical power lines on U.S. 411, causing the pole holding them to snap. Around 11:45 a.m. Friday, a Wellington Industries dump truck, driven by David Wigger of Cassville, was dumping gravel in the median on U.S. 411, near its intersection with the East Rome Bypass, when it snapped the pole. A section of U.S. 411 was closed until 6:15 p.m. while crews replaced the 65-foot pole and moved lines to a new pole. According to Lt. Terry Autry of the Rome Police Department and Jimmy Darby, supervisor with Georgia Power: The truck had raised its bed to dump gravel in the median, where the Georgia Department of Transportation was working, and caught the lines. As the driver drove down the turn lane, gradually dumping the gravel, the vehicle pulled the lines, causing the pole to break. He's lucky he wasn't electrocuted, said Autry of the Rome Police Department. At one point, Autry said, five patrolmen were in the area helping direct traffic. A little more than a quarter of a mile of U.S. 411 between its intersection with the bypass and Callier Springs Road was closed. He said no charges have been filed but the incident was still being investigated. Georgia Power had several trucks at the scene with crews working, and electricity was restored by around 5:15 p.m. Luke Lumpkin, supervisor with BellSouth, said service to its customers should not have been affected, but fiberoptic cables were moved to the new pole. We've lost a lot of business, said Debra Hanson, manager of the Favorite Market at the intersection of U.S. 411 and the bypass. They've routed people around us. Hanson said most of the loss would result from not being able to sell gas. White plastic bags covered the nozzles of the pumps. Regular purchases were added on a calculator instead of the cash register, she said. Sometimes things like this happen - we don't like for them to, but they do, said Roger Fletcher, DOT project manager. The project calls for widening and extending the turn lane on U.S. 411 at the intersection.

 

KCPL Worker Hurt By Power Line

A man was badly burned after coming in contact with a high-power line Wednesday night, KMBC 9 News reported. The victim, a worker with Kansas City Power and Light, came into contact with the line while working on an aerial platform, or a cherry picker, near 87th Street and State Line Road. The man was taken to a local hospital. Witnesses said he was conscious when he left the scene, but his condition was not known.

 

Explosion, fire knock out power at Odessa hospital

Wednesday, January 16, 2002, The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal , Associated Press

ODESSA, Texas (AP) - An electrical explosion temporarily knocked out the power at a Permian Basin hospital on Tuesday. The explosion rattled Medical Center Hospital, halting five to eight surgeries being performed at the time, said hospital administrator David Meisell. Emergency generators came on within minutes, and the surgeries were completed, he said. No injuries were reported. Ambulances and emergencies were diverted to other hospitals through Tuesday night. Meisell called the explosion an electrical discharge and said it caught some insulation on fire. The smoke blackened the power plant vents, Meisell said in Wednesday's editions of the Odessa American. Power was restored at the hospital by Tuesday night, hospital spokeswoman Renee Earls said.

 

Santa Fe Building damaged by fire

Web posted Monday, January 14, 2002, 10:35 a.m. CT

Potter County's Santa Fe building remained closed until further notice today following an electrical explosion at 1:38 a.m., which filled the building with smoke. An electric-panel explosion caused a fire in the first subbasement, Capt. Bob Johnson of the Amarillo Fire Department said in a news release. "This was essentially a large electrical short," Johnson said. "The fire was confined to the electrical panel but smoke spread throughout the entire building." No one was injured. Firefighters brought the fire under control in about 45 minutes. Today, notices posted on the locked Santa Fe doors read: "Santa Fe building CLOSED until further notice. In case of emergency contact the county judge office 379-2250." Potter County Judge Arthur Ware said the building is operating with emergency generators, which must be refueled every 15 hours. Ware commended the Amarillo Fire Department for their work in going through the building. He said he was notified of the fire at about 2 a.m. Damage estimates to the building are not yet available, but Ware said the explosion spread copper and zinc dust throughout the basement. Ware briefed Potter County commissioners on the fire situation at their regular meeting today. Until officials determine the extent of the damage, Ware asked that all equipment purchases be delayed.

"The worst-case scenario is $100,000 but insurance should pick up after that," he said. Read more details in the Amarillo Globe-News or at amarillonet.com

 

UPDATE, Repairs to electrical vault downtown may take week ; Fire on Friday forced tower to evacuate

By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Dayton Daily News

DAYTON | Dayton Power and Light Co. workers have not determined the cause of Friday's fire under Second Street that disrupted power to the Kettering Tower and two other buildings and prompted the tower's evacuation. Fire in an electrical vault caused underground explosions about 4:30 p.m. that sent two manhole covers into the air and shot flames about 15 feet high through the openings. The fire knocked out power to the 30-story tower at Second and Main, the Relizon Building and the Arcade. Power was restored by 4 a.m. Saturday after workers isolated a bad cable, said Kevin Crawford, director of DP&L service operations. Crews likely will spend all week repairing damage from the fire. Some lanes along Second Street might be blocked to allow them to work, and a few street lights in the area could remain out until the end of the week, Crawford said. DP&L has not calculated the amount of damage, but Crawford said, It's not extensive at all. There was no permanent damage to the electrical vault, he added. On Monday, everything was back to normal at the tower, said Susan Considine, general manager of the Kettering Tower, where about 700 employees work at 60 businesses, including Robbins & Myers, Olivia's restaurant and Vectren. We didn't suffer any damage to the building, no damage to any of the equipment, she said. Everyone was safely evacuated (Friday), which is the most important thing. Dayton Fire Department spokeswoman Victoria Carr said fire investigators are not assisting DP&L in determining the cause of the fire because foul play is not suspected. When it's determined at the scene to be accidental, they don't call for investigators, she said.

 

Power line kills worker, hurts another

01/15/02, By BILL BRAY, The Express-Times

HIGH BRIDGE - A siding installer was electrocuted and another seriously injured Monday morning when the scaffold they were assembling touched a 7,200-volt power line. The two workers were erecting a set of pump jacks at 9:57 a.m. on the side of a two-story home at Union Avenue and Hart Street when one of the metal posts touched the power lines. Walter Cabrerra of Irvington, N.J., suffered electrical burns and internal injuries. He was taken to Hunterdon Medical Center then flown to the burn center at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston, N.J., where he was listed in critical condition late Monday. Police were withholding the name of the dead man late Monday pending notification of his family. Nicholas Susalis, chief detective for the Hunterdon County Prosecutor's Office, said the death is being ruled accidental. He added that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and GPU Energy also are conducting investigations. Susalis said the man died at the scene but was taken to Hunterdon Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Both worked for Luis A. Chavez Construction of Bellville, N.J. Calls to Chavez's home were not returned. At the home where the men had been working, a set of pump jacks remained in place. The jacks use two aluminum poles, each around 40 feet long, two jacks and an aluminum ladder. The poles are threaded through the jacks, stand up on end and anchor to the top to the building. The ladder then spans the space between the poles and fastens to the jacks. The system allows workers to stand on the platform created by the ladder and use the jacks to adjust the platform's height. Susalis said both men were on the ground and touching the system when the wire was struck. New off-white siding covered half of the Victorian home. The contractor's equipment was piled in the yard and some blue insulation board was all that indicated work had begun on the side where the electrocution occurred. A man who identified himself as the owner's son said his mother did not want to comment. He said he was there to see what happened. Mike Yarnell, assistant area director for OSHA's Avenel office, said its investigation is ongoing and had few details. He said if the contractor violated federal safety guidelines he could face a $5,000 fine. "If there was a criminal act we would contact the Justice Department," Yarnell said. He did not know if any regulations were broken but said there are rules governing the use of scaffolds around power lines. Yarnell said electrocution from accidental contact is common in New Jersey but not this way. More often, workers using back hoes or cranes run into lines. On average, one to two workers per year die this way in New Jersey, Yarnell said. Ron Morano, spokesman for GPU, said he had few details on the incident. He said power lines in the area are about 30 feet in the air. There is a telephone pole on the corner with power lines running along both the side and front of the home.

 

Power restored in downtown Dayton

Dayton Daily News

DAYTON | Power was restored early Saturday to three downtown buildings whose electricity was disrupted by underground explosions Friday afternoon, a spokesman for Dayton Power & Light said Saturday. A fire in an electrical vault under Second Street caused the explosions that sent two manhole covers flying and shot flames about 15 feet high through the openings. The fire knocked out power to the Kettering Tower, the Relizon Building and the Arcade. Kevin Crawford, director of DP&L service operations, said power was restored by about 4 a.m. Saturday. Crawford said repair crews "did a fantastic job" repairing damage. Crawford and Dayton Fire Department officials said Saturday that investigations were continuing.

 

PECO repairman burned

Thursday, January 10, 2002

A PECO Energy Co. repairman was burned yesterday as he checked a malfunctioning electric meter outside a commercial building on Biles Island in Falls. A PECO Energy Co. repairman was burned yesterday as he checked a malfunctioning electric meter outside a commercial building on Biles Island in Falls. Steve Schrader, 36, was burned when a "flash fire" erupted about 8 a.m. after he removed the meter's glass cover, PECO spokesman Michael Wood said. The fire caused second-degree burns on Schrader's cheeks and left ear. A piece of flying metal left a third-degree burn on his face, Wood said. Physicians at Capital Health Systems' Fuld Campus in Trenton told PECO that Schrader wouldn't need plastic surgery. He was expected to stay the night at the hospital and be released today, Wood said. Schrader, a PECO energy technician since 1995, was wearing safety goggles, a hard hat and fire-resistant clothing - the standard gear for field workers, Wood said. He added that the gear most likely prevented Schrader from being more severely burned. Schrader was following up on a complaint of a damaged meter at the Penn Warner Group, a building on Biles Island, Wood said. The Penn Warner Group is a subsidiary of Waste Management Inc., which owns the island, WMI spokeswoman Judy Archibald said. The problem was caused by a circuit board owned by Penn Warner Group. As a precaution, PECO shut power to the building, Wood said. Most of Biles Island's 467 acres are mined by the Penn Warner Group for the stone and gravel used to bury trash at WMI's landfills in Falls and Tullytown. About 41 acres of the island's northern tip have been designated a wildlife preserve, Archibald said.

 

Worker Severely Burned By High-Voltage Line

A worker for a JEA subcontractor has been critically injured by contact with a high-power line on Airport Road. JEA spokesman Bruce Dugan told Channel 4 he came in contact with a 69,000-volt line. The victim was rushed to Shands via ambulance with life-threatening, third-degree burns. Channel 4 will have a live report tonight on Eyewitness News.

 

Electric Motor Explosion

by Melanie Kliebert, KRIS-TV

An electric motor explodes injuring the two mechanics working on it. It happened at electric motor rewind, incorporated just before 9:00 this morning. According to the fire department, fumes inside the motor ignited setting off a small explosion. The blast knocked out the ends of the motor, striking one man in the chest, the other in the hand. KRIS6 news is told the injuries were not life threatening, but both men were taken to Christus Spohn Memorial hospital for treatment.

 

Electrocution kills worker in apartment

Published Tue, Jan 8, 2002, By CHRIS BENDER, Gazette staff writer

The maintenance director at the Lady's Pointe II Apartments was electrocuted Monday afternoon while he was working on a water heater, according to Lt. Rick Krob of the Burton Fire District. Robert L. VonFossen, 61, of Beaufort, died of electrocution and was pronounced dead at Beaufort Memorial Hospital at 4:26 p.m., said Beaufort County Coroner Curt Copeland. Krob said emergency units were dispatched at 3:30 p.m. and arrived within a few minutes. He said firefighters did CPR on the scene, but could not resuscitate VonFossen. VonFossen was taken to BMH by Beaufort County EMS. VonFossen was working in Ken Jackson's apartment, who was there at the time. Jackson said VonFossen had come over a little after 3 p.m. "He was working on the hot water heater," Jackson said. "I didn't hear anything when it happened." Jackson said he didn't see it happen. He said he'd offered VonFossen a cup of coffee because it was getting cold in the apartment. "When he didn't respond, I knew something was wrong," Jackson said. "I pulled him away from the unit and called EMS." Troy Glover, Jackson's neighbor, said he came home from work Monday evening to find VonFossen's white Chevrolet Blazer parked in his parking spot. "I didn't think much of it at the time," Glover said. "My neighbor came over and told me what happened later." Glover said he didn't know VonFossen that well, but had seen him around the apartment complex working on various projects. "He was a diligent worker," Glover said. "He always went above and beyond what was required of the job." Stephen G. Jones and Edna L. Jones, who live in Lady's Pointe Apartments, said VonFossen was a kind and friendly man, even though they knew him only as "Bob." Stephen was at home Monday afternoon when a fire truck arrived at the main office near his apartment. "I didn't think much about it at the time," he said. In fact, he said he never would have guessed it had anything to do with VonFossen. Stephen said VonFossen had been by his apartment Monday morning to fix a light in the kitchen. Though the couple only called VonFossen on occasion for repairs, Edna said he was at the complex working every day. "Mostly we talked to him every day," she said. "He'd pick up trash around the complex." The couple said VonFossen worked hard to keep the complex neat and clean. Stephen said he had been on the job only a few months, but really seemed to enjoy the work. "He was just a good person," Stephen said. "If you wanted a person who was a good friend, he was that person."

 

Investigation into motorway electrocution
Investigation continues into the death of Greg Cousins, 20, who died before Christmas on an M1 slip road near Dunmurry, Belfast, after a crane contacted overhead power cables. Mr Cousins was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

 

Two Men Burned In Explosion At Indy Business

Paramedics rushed two men to the hospital Thursday after an explosion at an east side business. The blast at Trilithic Inc., 9710 Park Davis Drive, occurred about 9:30 a.m. as workers from a subcontractor worked on the electrical system. "It was a pretty massive explosion," employee Mike Wilson said. Jim Allen, 44, was taken to Wishard Hospital with first- and second-degree burns to his hand and forehead. Jerome McKinney, 29, received first-degree burns on his neck. Both are in stable condition and likely will be released Thursday, authorities said. No other Trilithic employees were hurt. Damage was estimated at $150,000, according to officials. Trilithic makes electronic parts for the cable television and wireless telephone industries.

 

Trash truck mishap causes power outage

Published Sunday, December 23, 2001

A city garbage truck raked utility lines with an upraised lifting apparatus as it left a west Columbia grocery store yesterday morning, resulting in a loss of electric power and phone and cable television service for a portion of town. The power outage began about 8:45 a.m. in the neighborhood of Gerbes Supermarket, 1729 W. Broadway, and lasted about an hour and 15 minutes. A manager at the store said the business operated without hindrance after switching to an auxiliary power supply. Columbia police Sgt. Ken Smith said in a prepared statement that the garbage truck left the supermarket lot with its lifting apparatus in an extended position, damaging several overhead lines. The driver realized what had happened and halted the truck at the corner of Ash and Pershing streets. Police said several residences and businesses in the area reported power, telephone and cable television outages.

 

Construction worker electrocuted

By AUTUMN C. GIUSTI, Staff Writer

DELAND -- A 28-year-old construction worker died Tuesday morning when he was electrocuted while helping pour concrete, police said. The accident happened at the construction site of the DeLand Dermatology Center at West Plymouth and North Orange avenues at about 11:43 a.m. The worker, William Bryan Miller of Leesburg, was holding a concrete chute at the end of a crane, directing the flow of concrete, when a boom on the crane came in contact with high-voltage power lines overhead, said police spokeswoman Barbara West. The electrical current traveled down the crane boom, through Miller's hands and down to his feet. The shock stopped his heartbeat and his breathing immediately, said EVAC ambulance spokesman Mark O'Keefe. Paramedics attempted unsuccessfully to restart his heart on the way to Florida Hospital-DeLand. He was pronounced dead at 1:08 p.m. Miller had been working on the project with a Eustis-based subcontractor. Co-workers said he left behind a wife and several brothers and sisters. Police and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the electrocution, but West said it appeared accidental. Co-workers at the site Tuesday evening were not sure who was operating the crane. The construction site was shut down for the remainder of the day.

 

UPDATE, Explosion at Sears blamed on error

December 17, 2001

MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Human error is to blame for an explosion that temporarily shut down a Sears store October 29. Investigators in Middleburg Heights say two technicians working on an electrical panel accidentally set of the explosion. The panel was carrying approximately 5,000 volts of electricity. Both men were injured in the incident and face a lengthy recovery.

 

Teenage electrocuted near Belfast

online.ie 16 Dec 2001

A man has been killed in an accident near Belfast last night. The victim, in his late teens, was electrocuted after a crane struck an overhead cable. Ambulances were sent to the scene on the M1 motorway at Dunmurry but failed to revive the man and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

 

Explosion in Hollywood cuts power to 4,000 customers

ASSOCIATED PRESS, December 14, 2001

LOS ANGELES - An underground electrical vault exploded in a Hollywood neighborhood Friday, sending a fireball 75 feet in the air and knocking out power to more than 4,000 customers. The first explosion occurred shortly before 8 a.m. and a fire was quickly extinguished. A second explosion occurred two hours later. Officials with the city's Department of Water and Power said electricity was not expected to be restored until midnight at the earliest. The cause of the explosion appeared to be equipment failure, possibly a transformer or a cable in the vault, said DWP spokeswoman Darlene Battle. The Red Cross opened a shelter at Hollywood High School.

 

Roofer killed as boom hits power line

By SUSAN THURSTON, St. Petersburg Times, published December 11, 2001

The accident sends a blue arc of energy to the ground. A 45-year-old man is killed and another worker is in critical condition at Tampa General Hospital. One man was killed and another critically injured Monday when a boom struck power lines on E 148th Avenue in Lutz. Trees and power lines left little room to maneuver the boom, officials at the scene said. LUTZ -- Roofer Jeff Poole had a lot to celebrate on Monday. He went to his first Buccaneers game on Sunday and was eager to tell his co-workers all about it. It was his last game. Poole was electrocuted Monday morning while working at a house in the Ranch Lake area of Lutz off Bearss and Livingston avenues. Sheriff's officials said Poole and an employee of ABC Supply Co. were jolted when a 30-foot boom attached to a flatbed truck hit overhead power lines. Employees of ABC Supply had delivered materials to the house at 2905 148th Ave. E and were raising the conveyor boom toward the roof when the operator accidentally swung the device into the power line, said sheriff's Lt. Rod Reder. Poole and Roosevelt Glover were standing next to the truck at the time of impact. The strike sent a blue arc of energy to the ground, blowing out the back tires of the truck and shocking both men. Poole, 45, was taken by ambulance to University Community Hospital, where he died. He worked for Tosca Roofing west of Plant City. Glover, 28, was airlifted to Tampa General Hospital. He remained in critical condition Monday night. His address was unknown and officials at the company's headquarters in Beloit, Wis., would not release information about his employment. The operator of the boom was not hurt. Authorities did not identify him. The incident was under investigation, but it appeared to be an accident, Reder said. The boom hit a Tampa Electric Co. distribution line that carries electricity to several homes in the neighborhood. The line has 7,620 volts, compared with 120 in the average house. Power was disrupted to about a half-dozen homes in the area for a few hours, TECO spokesman Ross Bannister said. Given the severity of the incident, Bannister said, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will investigate. He said TECO offers safety programs for contractors who work near power lines but didn't know whether the companies had taken them. Officials at the scene said the small, wooded lot made it difficult to maneuver the boom, which hauls shingles onto the roof. The operator did not have much room to navigate around the trees and wires on the power poles. Poole worked as a foreman for Tosca Roofing for eight years and lived on Sammons Road in Plant City. His boss, Rick Tosca, said Poole had dropped off a trailer at the Lutz home and was planning to leave about 9 a.m., just before the accident. "We're grieving," Tosca said. "He was the best employee. He never missed a day of work." Tosca said Poole loved the Bucs and talked about going to the game all last week. A relative bought him the ticket as an early Christmas gift and it was his first time watching the Bucs from the stands. "He was so excited," Tosca said. "He wanted to tell everyone about it." Poole's longtime companion, Nancy, said Monday he was an avid sports fan and fisherman. She described him as a devoted employee and family man. He had a 14-year-old son, Geoffrey, and was helping to raise her four grandchildren, ages 8, 7, 5 and 3. He had never had a job-related accident. "He loved his work," she said.

 

Sign worker electrocuted

WELLINGTON - An Amarillo man died Thursday night when he was electrocuted while working on a sign. Thomas Franklin Bittle, 40, an employee of Hoarel Sign Co. in Amarillo, was working on the Dairy Queen sign in Wellington out of a bucket on a hydraulic lift when he apparently was electrocuted at about 7 p.m., according to Collingsworth County Sheriff's Department Deputy Steve Hartman.

The deputy said Bittle was taken by ambulance to Collingsworth General Hospital, where he died.

UPDATE, Feds fine Mead, Cianbro in fatal accident at paper mill

By Eileen M. Adams, Staff Writer

The local paper mill and one of its subcontractors have been cited by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration on several safety violations connected with the death of a Canton man in September. OSHA ended its 10-week investigation last week into the death of James Pelletier, 38, who was electrocuted during an accident at Mead Paper Division, said Bill Freeman, OSHA area director. Pelletier, a pipefitter for Cianbro Corp. of Pittsfield, was electrocuted on Sept. 23 while he was repairing a fitting on a cooling system for electrical panels. Alan Burton, a spokesman for Cianbro, said Pelletier was repairing the cooling system when he dropped a crescent wrench. When he tried to retrieve it, he apparently walked into an energized 110-volt circuit. Mead was fined a total of $9,500 and directed by OSHA to assure that live exposed parts an employee might come in contact with be de-energized before an employee works near them. The citation also states that the mill had not developed, documented or utilized procedures for the control of potentially hazardous energy when employees were engaged in maintenance of the two cooling pumps. A statement from Mead spokeswoman Susan Parella said the fine will be paid by the end of the week. The company has no current plans to appeal the citations. The issues in both citations have also been addressed, according to Parella. Cianbro was cited for similar safety violations and directed to pay a fine of $7,000 and bring the violations into compliance. Specifically, the citations say that Pelletier was allowed to work inside the cooling pump room in which 120 volts were exposed. Further, Cianbro did not determine whether any part of the volt power circuit or volt control circuit were live before allowing Pelletier to begin work. Burton said the company doesn't expect to contest the fine. In addition, he said his company will hold an informal conference with OSHA representatives later in the month to discuss the incident and to let OSHA know that Cianbro is serious about safety. He said the company has taken additional steps to insure that such an accident doesn't happen again. We've reviewed our policies and procedures regarding energy sources and have revised as needed, including taking disciplinary action if procedures are violated, he said. Our intention is to follow OSHA. The fatal accident occurred during the mill's annual shutdown for paper machine maintenance. On July 21, 1998, Richard Whittemore, 27, of Mexico, an employee of subcontractor Bancroft Contracting Corp. of Paris, was electrocuted while using an electric arc welder in hot and damp conditions at the paper mill.

 

UPDATE, ELECTROCUTION DEATH LEADS TO $62,600 IN FINES AGAINST CONTRACTOR

BOSTON -- The electrocution death of a worker who came in contact with energized power lines at a Blackstone, Mass., sewer installation project has resulted in $62,600 in proposed fines against his employer. The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited ODF Contractors, of Dorchester, Mass., for alleged willful and serious violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act following the July 5 accident. The worker was standing in the elevated bucket of an excavator attempting to tie together overhead wiring when the arm of the excavator contacted an energized power line, killing him instantly. "The inspection found that the excavator was operating within 10 feet of energized lines, a clear violation of OSHA standards with which this employer was certainly familiar," said Ronald E. Morin, OSHA area director for Central Massachusetts. "As a result, we have issued a willful citation for failing to maintain a safe distance from the lines and proposed a fine of $56,000 for that hazard." A willful violation is defined by OSHA as one committed with an intentional disregard of, or plain indifference to, the requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and regulations. Three serious citations, totaling $6,600 in fines, were also issued. Two are for allegedly exposing employees to serious shock hazards by allowing the worker to use the excavator bucket without first deenergizing the power lines and for lack of ground fault protection for employees using a submersible pump to remove water from a trench. The third citation is for placing the excavator at the edge of an excavation, into which it could fall in the event of a collapse of the trench's walls. OSHA issues a serious citation when there is a substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from the cited condition, and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. ODF Contractors has 15 working days from receipt of its citations and proposed penalties to either elect to comply with them, to request and participate in an informal conference with the OSHA area director, or to contest them before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission. The inspection was conducted by OSHA's Springfield, Mass., area office. Citations and Proposed Penalties to ODF Contractors

One alleged willful violation, with a proposed fine of $56,000, for:

- employees exposed to electrocution hazards due to an excavator being operated within ten feet of energized power lines.

Three alleged serious violations, with $6,600 in fines proposed, for:

failure to supply employment or a place of employment free from recognized hazards likely to cause death or serious physical harm in that employees were exposed to serious shock hazard from standing in the bucket of an excavator that was in contact with energized power lines;

- no grounding protection or GFI protection for employees using a submersible pump to remove water from a trench;

- an excavator was located at the edge of an excavation where there was a risk of its falling into the excavation in the event of a wall collapse. Total proposed penalties: $62,600

 

Deckhand killed playing PlayStation

By James Watson, Posted: 03/12/2001 at 11:15 GMT

An Australian deckhand was electrocuted while thumbing the controller of a Sony PlayStation when a wave smashed into the boat's wheelhouse. The 19-year old man, Richard Wells, was sitting at a metal table playing with the console when a huge wave broke through the cabin window. The trawler was lying off the southern Queensland coast last week when the incident occurred. Three other crewmembers suffered shocks and burns while trying to rescue Wells from the cabin.

 

UPDATE, SMUD fatality bears witness to perils faced by utility linemen

By Carrie Peyton -- Bee Staff Writer, Published 5:30 a.m. PST Thursday, Nov. 29, 2001

The people who work atop utility poles know that death can come in a single slip of hand or foot. Tuesday night, that one false step killed James Lewis, a wiry young former Marine whose first child is due in just a few weeks, his father said Wednesday. "We're not blaming. We accept what happened," Robert Lewis said in a steady, gentle voice. But "we're standing here as the mom and dad thinking why don't they have some kind of safety line on him?" James Lewis, whose parents called him Jimmy, was the smallest, fastest player on his high school football team, a "jungle gym" to his niece and nephew, and a Sacramento Municipal Utility District apprentice lineman who never turned down overtime. The utility released only the barest details Wednesday of his death, the third for the utility's crews since 1993. Lewis, 28, of West Sacramento was working in a group of five near Wilton, rewiring poles to replace those blown down in the wind, when he fell from a 45-foot pole, said John DiStasio, assistant general manager for customer services. Robert Lewis said SMUD officials told him his son was doing a "crossover." The delicate maneuver requires a worker to unclip his safety belt from a pole, crawl over the crossarm near the pole's tip, and then dig the spikes on his feet back into the pole on the other side before coming down. One of the spikes missed, and Lewis tumbled sideways, landing headfirst on the pavement below, his father said. "I don't know how much was due to tiredness. Certainly it was cold. You don't function right if you're out there too long in the cold," the father said. James Lewis could well have been doing everything exactly right, said a former lineman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. who is familiar with accident investigations. It is standard practice to unhook the safety belt on some crossarms, said the ex-lineman, who asked not to be named because he didn't know the accident's details firsthand. "As an apprentice lineman ... you tend to live by all the climbing and all the electrical rules. You just do. That's how you survive," he said. Extra harnesses or safety rigging generally aren't used because they can cause as many injuries as they can prevent, he said. Every year, one or two linemen in Northern California are killed on the job, said Eric Wolfe, communications director for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, which represents linemen from Bakersfield to the Oregon border. "Despite our best efforts, despite intensive focus on safety by both the employer and the union ... this is inherently extremely dangerous work," he said. That danger would be on the mind of every line worker as they braced for the storm that was blowing in Wednesday, even as word of the death was spreading among utility crews throughout the region, said Sonny McCraw, a Roseville Electric superintendent. "We'll all be more cautious, more supportive of each other," he said. SMUD's last fatality was in a bucket-truck accident in 1996, said utility spokeswoman Dace Udris. In 1993, an apprentice tree trimmer was electrocuted in an accident that triggered three worker-safety citations from Cal-OSHA, but the citations later were withdrawn, said agency spokeswoman Susan Gard. The state safety agency has probed about two dozen workplace injuries at SMUD since 1990 and issued 13 citations, at least three of which were later dismissed, she said. The agency has begun investigating Lewis' death, and will be interviewing colleagues and reviewing his equipment, its maintenance and his training. Lewis joined SMUD about a year and a half ago and was authorized to work with non-electrified equipment, but not with energized lines, DiStasio said. The job was the fulfillment of a dream to serve others, and gave him and his wife, Mari, the security to plan for their first child, said his mother, Georgeanne Lewis. "It made him feel like he was just really doing something for the community," she said. "That's the way he was." She said her son had always been the helper -- the pet lover, the boy everyone brought their sick birds to, the teenager who skated to work with a cockatoo perched on his shoulder. He married his sweetheart from Encina High School seven years ago, and spent four years in the Marines, where utility training made him set aside thoughts of becoming a police officer or firefighter. "It was hand-in-hand with the kind of person he was," said his father. "He just had a big heart." As an apprentice, his father recalled, Lewis stepped up for every overtime shift offered, in a line of work that often can call for 16-hour shifts. His parents thought he had worked several shifts since Thanksgiving, but SMUD officials said they had no information about his recent schedule except that he had been off Monday and started work at 6:30 a.m. Tuesday. He died about 8 p.m., more than 13 hours later. The thought of such long hours haunted Wilton residents who had been without power from Saturday until 10 a.m. Wednesday following a wet and windy storm. "Not all heroes wear the uniform of a policeman or a firefighter," said David Hillsman, who had been getting ready to take soup and hot cocoa to the crews when Lewis fell. Hillsman said he didn't sleep the rest of the night. "Would you rather have your microwave working six hours earlier or send a tired crew home safe to their families?" he said. Lewis also served in the California National Guard, helping operate heavy equipment on his once-a-month stints at a Redding training ground. "We're ... the ones who make the bridges and the roads and the airfields," said his friend, Staff Sgt. Perry Foster. He remembered Lewis as a steady co-worker, a quietly humorous man who was studying martial arts to learn more about himself, and an eager father-to-be who knew that his wife was expecting a son. "He was just elated," said Robert Lewis. "We were imagining," he said, pausing and then beginning again. "Can you imagine what kind of dad he's going to be? "Now we'll never know that."

 

4,500 homes lose power after TVA wire snaps, falls

COLUMBIA - A Tennessee Valley Authority high-voltage wire snapped and fell across busy Lion Parkway as area schools let out yesterday afternoon, causing a serious traffic tie-up and knocking out power to 4,500 homes. ''A conductor failed and burned the 161,000-volt line, which then dropped to the ground,'' TVA spokeswoman B.J. Gatten said. When the line fell at 2:55 p.m., it knocked out power to the south Columbia substation, according to Jim Clark, general manager of Columbia Power and Water System. ''About 4,500 customers, along with pretty much most of the business district along James Campbell Boulevard, were without power for about 45 minutes,'' Clark said. ''Maury Regional Hospital has protective switching to another substation and that worked. But here at Columbia Power, we were about to have our board meeting when our lights went out.'' No one was injured when the line fell, according to Fire Department officials. - Sue McClure

 

SMUD Worker Killed In Fall From Power Pole

A Sacramento Municipal Utility District employee was killed Tuesday night when he fell from a power pole in Wilton. The worker was one of several in the area trying to restore power to the few hundred remaining SMUD customers in Sacramento County still without power. SMUD officials, who did not identify the worker, said he died at about 9 p.m. The man was working on a pole on Hobday Road in Wilton, a rural town in the southeast area of the county, SMUD officials said. The cause of the fall was not immediately known. SMUD officials said about 260 customers were still without power, but that crews were ordered to stop working following the accident until Wednesday morning. SMUD crews have been working around the clock since Saturday's storm knocked out power to 51,000 customers.

 

Officials investigate petroleum plant fire

Published November 27, 2001

FOREST VIEW -- Firefighters from at least 10 local departments were needed early Monday morning to extinguish an extra-alarm fire at a southwest suburban petroleum plant. No one was hurt, and only minor damage was sustained in the fire, which was discovered by a plant worker just after 12:30 a.m. at the Apex Oil Co., 4801 S. Harlem Ave., in Forest View near the Stevenson Expressway. Glenn David, director of public safety for the village, said the fire started in a 12-inch pipe used to transfer asphalt and other materials to barges on the adjacent Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Forest View officials were still investigating the cause Monday but said a frayed electrical line may have been at fault. Fortunately, David said, no asphalt was flowing through the pipeline when the flames ignited, and the fire was controlled within minutes and completely put out by about 2:30 a.m. Firefighters originally feared that the flames might spread to nearby oil storage tanks, just a few hundred feet away.

 

BPC man electrocuted

19 November, 2001

A 26-year-old Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) employee was confirmed dead on arrival at Princess Marina Hospital after being electrocuted last week. Urban Police station commander Andrew Melore told BOPA that the incident happened while the victim and his colleagues were trying to replace a fuse in a transformer at Extension 14 in Gaborone. Police investigations are continuing In another incident, Melore said Extension 2 Clinic nurses reported that a 45-year-old woman of Ramotswa was confirmed dead on arrival at the clinic. They said the woman had earlier complained of a headache and stomach pains, and went to Extension 14 branch of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC) for assistance. She was later taken to the clinic where she was confirmed dead. Station Commander Melore has appealed to the public to assist police located 15-year-old Daphne Komang of Tutume. Komang worked as a maid at New Canada in Gaborone. Meanwhile, Urban police are holding a 26-year-old man of Ntlhantlhe who escaped from Molepolole Prison. The escapee was caught last week at Bontleng after he broke into a house and stealing. At the time of his arrest, he had four cellular phone prepaid cards worth P100 each.

 

Accident disrupts utilities service to 2,000

By B. Ray Owen ~ Southeast Missourian

Once the crane started freewheeling, Larry Boxdorfer knew it was going over. Boxdorfer was backing the crane with a 100-foot boom when it started pitching backward. "It got overbalanced on the incline," said Boxdorfer. "I knew then it was going to flip. I'm just thankful that no traffic was passing at the time and it didn't hit anybody." The boom fell across Chestnut Street -- a block-long section of Highway 177 -- striking a utility pole and downing electrical, telephone and cable television wires. More than 2,000 electric customers were without power for a short while, said AmerenUE spokesman Doug Groesbeck. The crane boom hit a transmission line and we had to wire around it," said Groesbeck. "Only a few customers were without power for more than half an hour, and they were restored within a couple of hours." Boxdorfer escaped injury. He had to wait inside the crane until power to the area was turned off before the crane could be stabilized. He waited for more than hour. Once the crane was stabilized, Cape Girardeau firefighter Mike Allen hoisted a ladder and helped open the door to the crane. Boxdorfer left the crane under his own power. Boxdorfer is a crane operator for Robinson Construction Co. of Perryville, Mo., which is working on a sewer project for the city of Cape Girardeau. The project calls for four new lift stations and a force main along the Mississippi River. Lift stations pump sewer water uphill so it can flow into the main sewer system. The new stations will replace existing ones that needed rehabilitating after the floods of 1993 and 1995. Force mains are pipes connected to the lift stations that carry the water pumped from the lift stations to a point where it can flow into the sewer system. "We should have a new crane in Tuesday or Wednesday," said Mike Schremp, superintendent on the job at Olive and Chestnut. "We won't know the condition of the crane involved in the accident for a while." "That crane probably won't be put back into use," said Chris Cissell, overall project manager for Robinson. Work on the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year, said Cissell. The crane was uprighted about 11:35 a.m., said Steve Niswonger of the Cape Gir-ardeau Fire Department. The fire and police departments were on the scene for more than three hours until the crane was uprighted. AmerenUE workers had to replace three utility poles.

 

Officer saved worker's life

Risked own life to pull man from 440-volt power line

Katherine Tam, Appeal-Democrat

A Yuba City police officer was awarded the department's highest honor Tuesday night for saving a man from being electrocuted last month. Officer James Marler, who has been with the department for about a year, received the Medal of Valor before his colleagues, family members and the City Council. He is the second person in the department to ever receive the medal, which was last awarded about 40 years ago. "I'm overwhelmed quite honestly," Marler said. "Our city is filled with exceptional people that do extraordinary things on a daily basis. I thank you and accept this on all their behalf and share this with them." On Oct. 31, an electrician wiring the new Home Depot store for its Nov. 8 opening came in contact with a 440-volt live current line while on an extended scissor-lift scaffold. Marler was off duty at the time, but was working part time at the store in a nearby aisle when he heard a commotion. "I went to investigate and saw the gentleman hanging over the scaffold, shaking violently," he said. He climbed the 35-foot tall scaffold, insulated himself using a piece of wood and separated the electrician from the current line. He then brought the electrician to the floor and tended to him. Meanwhile, employees were calling for an ambulance. The electrician, whose name was not available and lives out of state, was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment of shock and burns. He is reportedly doing well. "My main concern was to just get him free," said Marler, who spent 10 years with the Yuba County Sheriff's Department before transferring to Yuba City Police. "I've had training in emergency medicine and I didn't think about it, I just did it." The Medal of Valor is given to employees who voluntarily perform acts that require "unusual courage" and "danger to their personal safety for the purpose of saving or protecting human life." Nominations for the medal and other department awards are considered by a four-member board and approved by the chief of police. "Jim (Marler) is a very humble individual. If his friends at Home Depot hadn't contacted us, we wouldn't have known of it," said Yuba City Police Chief Richard Doscher, who explained Home Depot Manager Steve Vita informed the department of Marler's actions. "He does his job and he's very humble about it." Tuesday's announcement of the medal was a surprise to Marler, who had only been told to attend the council meeting for a presentation. Family members said it did not surprise them to hear of Marler's actions. "He's always trying to help other people," said his cousin, Rob Massey of Susanville. "I don't think he could live with himself otherwise." The medal was last awarded in 1963 to Officer Glen Williams, who was shot in the heart while searching for a person who had threatened an officer with a firearm.

 

Electrical pole catches on fire

An electrical pole catching on fire has been blamed for the electrical outage Monday afternoon. Wellington City Electric Distribution Superintendent Dewey Rhodd said a bad insulator was the cause for the pole igniting in flames outside Wellington. The outage was the responsibility of KGE, a rural electric distributor, he said. Those inside the city limits were without power for 30 minutes during the noon hour. Electricity was restored when the city fired up the gas turbine. Rhodd said without the turbine, the city would have been without power for an hour and 45 minutes.

 

Electrician working at South Plains Mall dies after touching exposed line

By MICHAEL GAFFNEY, LubbockOnline

Electrician Alex Covarruvias, 41, died Thursday at University Medical Center after receiving a severe shock while working at South Plains Mall. The industrial accident occurred at about 12:30 a.m. when the victim touched an exposed electrical line, said Sgt. Greg Parrott of the Lubbock County Sheriff's Office. The victim was from Cockrell Hill, a suburb about seven miles southwest of Dallas, Parrott said. "One of our deputies was working in an off-duty capacity at the South Plains Mall when it was reported to him shortly after midnight that a 41-year-old Hispanic male had been electrocuted while performing work in the mall," Parrott said. Parrott said Covarruvias was installing lighting ballasts, a major component of fluorescent light fixtures. "EMS and Fire Department personnel arrived at the scene almost immediately after the call and transported him to University Medical Center, where he was pronounced (dead)," he said. Robert Byers, chief medical investigator for the Lubbock County Medical Examiner's office, said initial autopsy results indicated that Covarruvias died of accidental electrocution. An official report on Covarruvias' death will not be complete for a few weeks, Parrott said. The victim was employed by Onsite Commercial Staffing, Parrott said. The Dallas-based company was one of four companies hired to provide energy management services at the mall. Covarruvias had six years experience as an electrician, but Parrott said he did not know if Covarruvias was professionally licensed. "We are investigating this incident as an industrial accident," Parrott said, "... and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has been notified." (Staff writer John Reynolds contributed to this article)

 

Death of cable worker ruled an electrocution

Randy Stata, of Catskill, N.Y., was working in Colt State Park on Tuesday when he was electrocuted, the state Medical Examiner's Office says.

BY SCOTT MAYEROWITZ , Journal Staff Writer

BRISTOL _ The state Medical Examiner's office has ruled the Tuesday death of a 34-year old man installing cable in Colt State Park an electrocution, the police said. Randy Stata, of Catskill, N.Y., was working shortly before 12:30 p.m. in a metal bucket suspended 25 feet above ground with a colleague below feeding him cable, Lt. Michael Serbst said. Stata touched a live wire and the metal bucket was possibly against a guide wire that ended up grounding the current, Serbst said. The jolt caused Stata to slump over the side of the bucket, Serbst said.. The worker had no vital signs when he was removed from the bucket, Serbst said. Although Bristol rescue workers performed CPR en route to Rhode Island Hospital, Serbst said, the man was pronounced dead there. Stata and two others on his crew were working for Barber Communications, of Athens, N.Y. They were on Asylum Road near the East Bay Bike Path, Serbst said. Full Channel TV Inc., which serves Barrington, Warren and Bristol, had subcontracted work to a company to install cables. That company subcontracted some its work to Barber Communications. An investigation by the federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration is under way.

 

New York man electrocuted at Colt Park, killed Tuesday afternoon

A New York man was killed Tuesday afternoon in an accident while installing coaxial cables on Asylum Road in Colt State Park for a subcontractor of Full Channel TV.

By: Brian Comfort, November 09, 2001

Randy Stata, 34, from Catskill, N.Y., worked for Barbar Communication out of Athens, N.Y. His company was contracted by Proline Corp., which was hired by Full Channel to install new cable in the area, according to police. His crew was working just west of the East Bay Bike Path on the north side of Asylum Road, stringing the new cable for service to the Quinta-Gamelin Army Reserve center in the park, according to Mike Davis, manager at Full Cable. Mr. Stata was in a metal bucket approximately 25 feet above the ground working near high tension, high voltage wires when he suddenly slumped over in the carrier, said Bristol Police Lt. Michael Serbst. Mr. Davis said Mr. Stata was working amid the foliage of nearby trees and the leaves could have obscured his view or gotten in his way. "We believe he possibly touched the wrong wire thinking it was a guide wire, but it's still under investigation at this time," Lt. Serbst said. The police, the medical examiner's office, Narragansett Electric and OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) are all investigating the case. Lt. Serbst said the Mr. Stata's co-workers indicated he had been working for the company for 10 years. Bristol Emergency Medical Services workers responded and attempted to revive him on the scene and he was taken by ambulance to Rhode Island Hospital, according to Lt. Serbst. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Though the cause of death is still under investigation, burn marks on the wire he was working on and underneath the wheels of the truck he was suspended from indicate he was electrocuted, Lt. Serbst said.

 

MAN ELECTROCUTED

A MAN who was electrocuted as he worked on an electrical junction box at a garage was named yesterday as William Young, 42, from Muirkirk, Ayrshire.

 

Ludlow man electrocuted

St. Joseph News-Press

TRENTON, Mo. - A Ludlow, Mo., man was electrocuted while tree-trimming Thursday. Elve Dwane Mills, 46, an employee of Gates Tree Trimming Service, was pronounced dead at Wright Memorial Hospital, according to Trenton Police Department officials. Gates Tree Trimming Service was trimming trees away from power lines under a contract with Trenton Municipal Utilities. The accident occurred as the hydraulic bucket came into contact with a 7,620-volt line. A worker noticed that a tire on the truck was burning, attempted to move the truck and was shocked. He was not able to let go of the door handle. Mr. Mills attempted to assist and was electrocuted.

 

Hespeler man electrocuted while working near power panel

CAMBRIDGE - A 30-year-old Hespeler man died when 600 volts of electricity coursed through his body Thursday. He was working inside Custom Aluminum Foundry's new facility, currently under construction in the city's eastern industrial park. Around 12:30 p.m., the man, who worked for M&G Millwrights Ltd. of Elmira, was working with a crew installing the last of the equipment in the new foundry slated to open before the end of the month. Officials weren't certain Thursday if he was connecting or disconnecting an extension cord cuppling near an electrical panel when he was electrocuted. The Ministry of Labour is investigating ``The Hydro had been shut off, so I'm not certain what happened,'' said Cliff Gingrich, the owner of M&G Millwrights. ``Something must have happened to make it live. It should not have been live.'' Gingrich was at a loss for words yesterday during a telephone interview from his Elmira office. A year ago, two of his employees were killed when their van collided with a car on a foggy stretch of Highway 7/8 near New Hamburg. ``Two young men, 22 and 23 years old, died coming back from a job in Tavistock and now this, '' Gingrich said. ``I guess I don't know what to say at this point, except to say I'm just so sorry it happened.'' The man had been employed by M&G for about three-and-a-half years and was named job foreman about three months ago. Gingrich said the company would be closed Friday and grief counsellors were being made available to assist the 60 employees. Thursday, about a half-dozen of the man's co-workers and Custom Aluminum employees milled around the foundry floor, speaking quietly among themselves. Yellow caution tape surrounded the large electrical panel where the man was working when he was electrocuted. Witnesses knew the man was in trouble when he fell face down onto the concrete floor. He suffered burn marks on his chest and right hand. He never regained consciousness. Waterloo Regional Police were the first to arrive, after the man's co-workers called 911. ``Someone said he had a pulse prior to emergency crews arriving, but had lost it when we arrived,'' said Sergeant Frank Monteiro. Firefighters performed CPR until paramedics arrived. He was transported by ambulance to Cambridge Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later. A co-worker called the man's wife, who met the ambulance at the hospital. The death was the eighth workplace-related fatality in Cambridge and North Dumfries Township in the past two years.

 

Power station explosion blacks out Brisbane homes

Thousands of homes and businesses in Brisbane's western and southern suburbs have lost power due to a substation fire at Tennyson. The Fire and Rescue Authority says the blaze involves 30,000 litres of transmission oil and broke out after an explosion in a transformer at the Memorial Avenue substation. Firefighter at the scene Tom Dawson, says the fire has been contained and the major problem now is the toxic black smoke. "We just commenced a large foam attack to extinguish this fire and once we can make the area safe, Energex crews can start bringing back on power to the local area," he said. "We're actually just now commencing to evacuate some adjacent premises... as our extinction of the fire gets more successful we're producing a bit more smoke, lower level, so we're just monitoring the plume and moving people as we need to."

 

2 TXU workers burned in blast

By PEYTON D. WOODSON, Star-Telegram Staff Writer

FORT WORTH - Two TXU Electric & Gas workers were critically burned Monday evening when a street transformer exploded in west Fort Worth. The two men, 41 and 36, had third-degree burns and were taken by helicopter ambulance to Dallas' Parkland Memorial Hospital, police said. Their names were not released. They were working on an underground transformer at the intersection of Camp Bowie Boulevard and Bernie Anderson Avenue when the explosion occurred about 6:30 p.m., Fort Worth police officer D.H. Towson said. A fireball engulfed both men. The 41-year-old man was burned on his face, arms, chest and back, Towson said. The 36-year-old worker was burned on his face, arms and chest. The explosion disturbed electrical power in the area for several hours. David Beshear, a TXU spokesman, said the cause of the explosion is under investigation. "We're very concerned about the situation right now," Beshear said. "We don't have a cause. It's very rare. Safety is something we stress. Anytime something like this happens, we're extremely concerned."

 

Explosion at Sears injures two in Middleburg Heights

Reported by Tom Beres , October 29, 2001

MIDDLEBURG HEIGHTS, Ohio -- An explosion under a local Sears store has critically injured two people. An electrical crew was installing two high-voltage lines in the basement when an explosion rocked the Sears building at Southland Shopping center in Middleburg Heights Monday at 9 a.m. The store was not open, but the basement holds a phone credit center where 250 workers were on the job. The two injured workers were badly burned. Middleburg Heights Fire Chief Bernie Benedict said the workers suffered third degree burns and were conscious when they were transported to MetroHealth Medical for treatment. Sixteen call center workers were taken to Parma Community Southwest General and Fairview Hospital, mainly for smoke inhallation problems. Middleburg Heights Parma Heights, Strongsville and Berea firefighters responded to the accident. The Sears store will remain closed Monday as Cleveland Electric Illuminating crews and firefighters examine damage and attempt to determine the cause of the explosion.

 

Bon Aqua electrician recovering from burns

A Hickman County electrician was recovering last night from burns he received Wednesday night while working on electrical lines for Nashville Electric Service. Scott Morgan, 39, of Bon Aqua, was in Vanderbilt University Medical Center's burn unit, where he was listed last night in critical but stable condition, a hospital spokes-man said. Morgan is employed by an out-of-state business, Davis H. Elliott Co., which was doing contract work for NES, said Teresa Corlew, NES spokeswoman. Corlew said that Morgan was burned about 8 p.m., but that the incident was not related to Wednesday night's storms. She said she did not know details of how the injury occurred. - Christian Bottorff

 

Utility Worker Electrocuted In Luverne

South Dakota Man, 20, Killed On The Job Saturday

Posted: 2:29 p.m. CDT October 23, 2001

LUVERNE, Minn. - A South Dakota man is dead after an accident while working on utility poles in Luverne in southwestern Minnesota. Authorities got a call Saturday afternoon that 20-year-old Bradley Herr had been electrocuted while working in an alley next to the National Guard Armory. Herr was dead at the scene. Herr's father was notified in Waubay, South Dakota, but authorities aren't sure if that's where Bradley Herr lived. Authorities say Herr was working on utility poles for a cable TV subcontractor when he fell off a ladder. The official cause of death is listed as massive head injuries secondary to electrocution.

 

Brenham man, 31, dies after being electrocuted

By HOLLY HUFFMAN, Eagle Staff Writer

Funeral Services were held Monday for a Brenham man who was electrocuted by a power tool last week at a construction site in Washington County. Jason Benedict Hauerland, 31, was standing on a metal ladder and using an impact wrench to tighten bolts on a metal building frame when the wrench shorted and electrocuted him, said Carlene Starr Davis of the Washington County Sheriff's Department. A Bluebonnet Electric Company employee, Hauerland had been working with a construction crew on Kelm Road when the accident occurred just before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, she said. Paramedics were called and crew members began cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but their efforts failed and Hauerland was later pronounced dead at Trinity Medical Center in Brenham, Davis said. Services for Hauerland were held at 3 p.m. Monday at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Brenham. He was buried in Eben Ezer Lutheran Church Cemetery. The Brenham native was a graduate of Burton High School, where he was on the 1987 state baseball team. He attended Blinn College and was a member of St. Mary's Catholic Church. He is survived by his wife, Peggy Weidner Hauerland, and two sons, Preston Hauerland and Payton Hauerland.

 

Man electrocuted in crane accident
From AAP, October 10, 2001

A MAN is in hospital in a serious condition after receiving an electric shock from high tension powerlines while operating a crane in Melbourne's west. The 50-year-old man was in the crane at the Victoria University of Technology, on the corner of Geelong and Ballarat roads in Footscray, when the crane hit the overhead powerlines about 9.20am (AEST). A Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokesman said the man was hit by 100,000 volts of electricity and suffered entry and exit wounds.  He said the man was taken by MICA (mobile intensive care) ambulance to Western Hospital in a serious condition.  The spokesman said the man was conscious and talking to paramedics.

Details

Parent Category: Incident Alert Archives

Category: Electrical Accidents

Published: 03 September 2010

Electrical Accidents #1

This page was last updated on 05/06/2010

 

Another nuclear worker injured

Just after a temporary employee at the Florida Power nuclear plant is hurt by a falling tool Tuesday, another is burned. They are treated and released from the hospital.

By CARRIE JOHNSON, © St. Petersburg Times, published October 11, 2001

CRYSTAL RIVER -- A second temporary employee making repairs to the Florida Power nuclear plant was hurt Tuesday night, just hours after a worker was sent to the hospital when a cutting tool dropped and injured his ankle. The men were treated at Seven Rivers Community Hospital for minor injuries and released. They were expected to return to work Wednesday, said Mac Harris, a Florida Power spokesman. Harris would not release the names of the injured, but both were among the 900 workers from two Virginia-based companies contracted to handle a maintenance operation that started Sept. 29.  The second accident occurred about 11 p.m. The worker, who is from the Atlantic Group of Norfolk, Va., was cleaning equipment in the switchgear room, where electricity is dispersed to different areas of the plant, Harris said.  The man brushed against some electrical equipment that hadn't been turned off and received minor burns to his arm, Harris said. There is no radioactive material in the building where the man was injured. "The individual was not seriously hurt," he said.  It was the second trip to the emergency room for a plant worker that night. At 6 p.m., an employee from Framatome ANP of Lynchburg, Va., working in the reactor containment building was injured when a cutting instrument suspended from a cable dropped from its clasp and fell on his leg. Because the man was working in a building where radioactive particles are present, he was accompanied to the hospital by radiation protection technicians and taken to a special decontamination room where he was scanned with Geiger counters.  A low level of radiation was found on the man's clothing, but none was detected on his skin. The broken clasp has been replaced. Florida Power employees are still trying to determine why it failed, Harris said.  The worker was using the cutting tool to slice through a stainless steel pipe that feeds into the reactor. The plant was placed on "stand-down" following the two incidents, which means all work ceased until the cause of the accident could be determined, Harris said. Work resumed shortly after both injuries. The temporary employees have been brought in to replace one-third of the plant's 177 fuel bundles, metal rods filled with uranium pellets, and shift the others to maximize energy production. The operation is expected to take one month.  While the reactor is shut down, employees are working on emergency diesel generators and valves that control steam to the main turbines.  Harris said the increased number of employees makes the plant more vulnerable to industrial accidents such as Tuesday's.  "There's a lot more work going on, so there's a lot more opportunities for events to occur than the rest of the year," he said.

Staff writer Alex Leary contributed to this report.

Co Kerry man electrocuted

online.ie 07 Oct 2001

Health and Safety officials are carrying out an investigation into the death of a builder near Castleisland in Co Kerry. The local man, who was in his fifties, was electrocuted while he was loading a lorry with a small mobile crane at the time when it came in contact with an overhead cable. The man's body was taken to Tralee General Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

 

Molepolole man electrocuted

04 October, 2001

A 51-year-old man of Goora Tshosa ward in Molepolole died on Friday morning after he was electrocuted when he and four others were moving scaffolding to paint a building. Superintendent Sehubakgosi Tsekele of Old Naledi police told BOPA that two of the men were admitted in the intensive care unit at Princess Marina, one was in the general ward while the fifth man was treated and discharged. The men, who work for Murray and Roberts Construction Company, were painting a new building next to Cresta Lodge and they tried to move the scaffolding when it came in contact with a power line. Police are still witholding the names of the dead man until his next-of-kin had been informed.

 

2 men electrocuted in flagpole raising

Eagle Staff Report

Two men were fatally shocked in Fairfield, Texas, on Monday when a flagpole they were raising came into contact with high voltage electrical wire. Steve Barker, 42, and Mark Webster, 45, were taken to East Texas Medical Center in Fairfield, where they were pronounced dead. The men, longtime employees of Marathon Oil Company, were raising the flagpole in front of the company offices. The incident was ruled an accident and is not being investigated further, said Capt. Hugh Whitaker of the Freestone County sheriff's office.

 

Barnstead man electrocuted in accident

Associated Press

KINGSTON - Police have identified the man electrocuted when a cable bucket hit power lines.

Police Chief Donald Briggs said Friday it appeared Michael Brooks, 27, of Barnstead had his hand on the cable truck's door when 19,920 volts passed through him into the ground. Brooks was pronounced dead at a hospital shortly after the 2:25 p.m. accident Thursday. Briggs said Thomas Hardy, 58, of Epsom was raising the boom attached to the bucket when it hit the power lines. Hardy was standing on a platform on the truck. The truck's tires spared him. Briggs said both men worked for Twin Star Cable of Epsom and were getting ready to use the bucket when the accident happened.

 

UPDATE,  Safety shortcomings blamed for fatal mill accident

Monday, September 24, 2001, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONGVIEW -- An internal investigation found that an improperly wired circuit and inadequate safety precautions were key factors in the death of a Weyerhaeuser Co. electrician, The Daily News reported. In an article published Sunday, the newspaper said a company document also cited shortcomings in training, work standards, inspections and risk assessment in the electrocution of Brian Mock, 44, of Longview. Mock, summoned after a temporary generator delivered a minor shock to a contractor cleaning an oil tank, was hit with a 575-volt electric shock July 26 when he went to pull apart two power supply connectors. According to the company report, Mock was not wearing protective equipment and lacked experience to properly check the problem. The report also said there was no audible alarm, wiring work had not been adequately inspected and wire colors and numbers were mismatched. Mock had worked for Weyerhaeuser for 20 years, the last year and a half as an electrician. Weyerhaeuser officials would not comment on the report, citing an investigation by the state Department of Labor and Industries. A spokesman for the state agency said another two months might be needed to complete the probe. According to the internal report, a Weyerhaeuser investigator has recommended several changes, including replacement of an outmoded ground fault alarm system and checklists for inspecting abandoned wiring, troubleshooting and installing temporary wiring.

 

2 NW firefighters hurt fighting blaze at feed store

LA MONICA EVERETT-HAYNES, Citizen Staff Writer, Sept. 24, 2001

Two Northwest Fire District Firefighters were taken to a hospital after receiving electrical shocks while trying to put out a fire that caused $150,000 in damage last night. David Petrinovich, fire district spokesman, said the blaze was "suspicious," and investigators are trying to determine the cause. The firefighters do not know what caused the shocks. They were taken to Northwest Medical Center, examined and released. Petrinovich did not have the names or ages of the two firefighters. The fire began at 5:25 p.m. yesterday near Interstate 10 and West Ruthrauff Road at Top Hand Feed & Supply, 4844 N. Davis Ave., and in a storage shed behind the business. "The storage shed housed a bunch of new horse saddles and there was another trailer that housed all of the equipment for the horse saddles," Petrinovich said. The combined content and structural damage was estimated at $150,000. About 26 firefighters worked on the blaze, which was controlled at 5:50 p.m., he said. Winds last night caused problems with the fire because they helped spread it to brush in the area, Petrinovich said.

 

Dodge man electrocuted while trimming trees

A Dodge County man was electrocuted Sunday, September 16 in Bleckley County when the arm of a boom truck he was on trimming tree limbs became tangled in a power line. Bobby D. Wynne died shortly after noon at a site on Barlow Road, according to Bleckley County Sheriff Harold Lancaster. Wynne's son, who was operating the truck, was not injured. "He was leaning against the fender of the truck watching his son cut limbs down," Lancaster stated.

 

Construction Worker Electrocuted

An accident on the job electrocuted a worker in the northland Monday afternoon, KMBC 9 News reported. The accident occurred about 2:30 p.m. at 5016 N.W. Waukomis. The accident occurred at the Kelly-Hill Co., a railroad contractor operation. Ascencion Bermudez, 53, had worked there for the last 25 years. Bermudez was almost done with his shift when he began helping his co-workers move some heavy equipment. Minutes into the operation, he was knocked to the ground and killed by 12,000 volts of electricity. Police investigated the scene for hours after the accident. They said that a boom operator in a crane was moving a piece of railroad equipment off a flatbed. Bermudez was on the ground trying to stabilize it when the boom's wires hit the electrical lines above, running several thousand volts through Bermudez's body. "They are very emotionally upset about this individual," said detective Leroy Williams of the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department. Kelly-Hill officials released a public statement that said, "Ascencion was (an) extremely valuable employee. We regret the loss of a friend, an employee, a husband, a father and a grandfather." One year ago, Bermudez had become a naturalized U.S. citizen, KMBC 9 News' Emily Aylward reported. An autopsy is scheduled Tuesday to determine where the electricity hit Bermudez first. Bermudez left behind a wife, two children and three grandchildren.

 

Fireman in stable condition after receiving electrical shock at blaze

A Nashville firefighter received an electrical shock while fighting a fire yesterday afternoon.

Fire officials were not releasing the name of the firefighter, but Vanderbilt University Medical Center reported that he was in stable condition and probably would be released.  The 3:30 p.m. fire at 2725 Whites Creek Pike did heavy damage to the brick home, which the owner said was empty and used for storage, Nashville Fire Department Capt. Robert Taylor said. Taylor said an arson investigator had been called because the owner reported the power should have been shut off at the breaker box and was only turned on when he was there. Two other firefighters were treated for exhaustion, he said.

 

Government investigates worker's death

NORTHMOOR, Mo. (AP) -- Federal officials and police are investigating the death of a man who was electrocuted while unloading equipment near power lines. Ascencion Bermudez, 53, died Monday while unloading equipment near power lines at Kelly-Hill Co. in Northmoor. Manuel Olmedo, director of the Kansas City office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said his agency is investigating and will meet with a Northmoor police detective this week. The investigation could take about two months, Olmedo said. Police said Bermudez, of Kansas City, Kan., died while helping unload a railroad tie end server from a flatbed truck. Bermudez was touching the server as it was being carried by a crane. He was electrocuted when the crane came in contact with an overhead power line, sending more than 12,000 volts of electricity through his body. The crane operator was uninjured. Bermudez had worked for Kelly-Hill for about 25 years. He recently started his own trucking company, family members said. He is survived by his wife, Gloria, four children and three grandchildren.

 

Greenwood mill worker's death under investigation

The Associated Press

GREENWOOD - Officials at a cottonseed oil mill are awaiting the results of an autopsy that could show what caused the death of a worker. David Pugh, 50, a 16-year employee, collapsed at PYCO oil mill Tuesday and died at Greenwood Leflore Hospital. Investigators are looking into the possible causes, including electrocution and a heart attack. Officials said Pugh collapsed while moving an empty hopper at the mill. "We really don't know much right now," Billy Breedlove, manager of PYCO, said Wednesday. "We haven't determined if it was an accident or if he died of a heart attack. We're waiting on some facts." Leflore County Coroner Debra Sanders said investigators are looking into the possibility that Pugh was electrocuted. Sanders said Pugh and an unidentified co-worker were moving the seed hopper with a forklift before Pugh's collapse. The co-worker reported receiving an electrical shock to Pugh, said Sanders. "When the other employee went to cut the electricity off, that's when he found (Pugh) unresponsive," said Sanders. Breedlove said company officials are looking into the possibility of an electrical accident. "We're going to make sure there are not any electrical issues. That site is pretty much off limits now until we get our investigation completed," Breedlove said.

 

Fall, shock killed man, autopsy says

A Ridgeway man who fell some 65 feet from a cherry picker in Buena Vista while working on football field lights died of "electrocution and blunt force injuries," an autopsy has concluded. Dr. Gregory P. Wanger of the state medical examiner's office said Tuesday he believes John A. Bradshaw, 42, still was alive when he fell from the work basket over the Parry McCluer High School football field. Wanger said he could not say whether Bradshaw was coherent after coming in contact with a live electric line before the fall Friday night. Bradshaw was pronounced dead early Saturday morning at Stonewall Jackson Hospital in Lexington, Phil Ragland, a Buena Vista Police Department investigator, said Tuesday. Bradshaw had been hoisted up to the lights "when he reached for a safety cable to connect his safety belt," recounted Bradshaw's brother, Charles Bradshaw, on Saturday morning. "There was not supposed to be power on it," Charles Bradshaw, said, but the line "was energized." John Bradshaw was co-owner of Triangle Electric Corp. Charles Bradshaw is the firm's treasurer. Ragland said Bradshaw appeared to be unconscious when he fell. When Ragland got the emergency call, he said, he was told that a man was hung up in a cherry picker. Arriving at the scene, Ragland found Bradshaw slumped in the work basket with one leg in and the other out of the basket, he said. One of Bradshaw's two co-workers, who were standing on the ground, summoned police, Ragland said. Before electrical power to the light pole was cut, a member of the emergency medical crew was shocked when he came in contact with the pole, said Ragland. The medical worker, who was not seriously injured, was treated at the scene and taken to the hospital.  In the meantime, the fire department had extended a truck ladder with rescue personnel toward Bradshaw, said Ragland. Ragland said he had ordered a backup fire truck with a longer ladder because it appeared the ladder of the truck on hand was not long enough to reach Bradshaw. Bradshaw had begun to regain consciousness and make disoriented movements to right himself, said Ragland, as rescue workers atop a ladder on the first truck cautioned him not to move. Either ignoring them or unaware of their pleas, Ragland said, Bradshaw fell 60-65 feet to the ground. Though Ragland said he was not certain whether the ladder on the second truck would have been long enough to reach Bradshaw, he said the rescue workers on the first truck would have been able to secure him until a longer ladder arrived. A graveside funeral for Bradshaw will begin at 11 this morning at Horsepasture Christian Church Cemetery.

 

Coram Man Electrocuted On East End
By Samuel Bruchey, STAFF WRITER, August 31, 2001
A Coram man who was doing contracting work outside an East Hampton residence was electrocuted yesterday when he cut into an electrical wire, East Hampton police said. Nicholas LeDonne, 37, used metal wire cutters to splice the wire and received a shock between 120 and 240 volts, police and LIPA officials said. "It was powerful enough to kill him," said Lt. Bill McGintee. LeDonne was taken by ambulance to Southampton Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about 1 p.m., McGintee said. The accident occurred about 12:40 p.m., while LeDonne was standing on an aluminum ladder propped against an electrical pole, said LIPA spokesman Michael Lowndes. LeDonne's former wife, Kelly Atkins, was holding the ladder but was unharmed, McGintee said. She could not be reached for comment. Lowndes said LeDonne was attempting to connect the wire to a separate wire running underground into the home. The exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, he said. McGintee would not identify whom LeDonne was working for, but said he and Atkins had been doing renovations at that location for several days. Lowndes said he was doing routine electrical work. A LIPA spokesman said the company had not been notified of any electrical work being done at that address. "It was just an unfortunate accident," McGintee said.

 

PG&E truck rolls, driver killed

By ELEANOR CAMERON - Staff Writer

MAGALIA - A Pacific Gas and Electric worker was killed in a traffic accident early Wednesday morning. Gerald Wayne Smith, 56, Paradise, was driving a PG&E truck on Dogtown Road just east of Skyway. His vehicle ran off the edge of the road, hit a tree and rolled over once. According to the California Highway Patrol, Smith was wearing his seatbelt. Fatal injuries were caused when the cab of the vehicle caved in, the CHP said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Smith worked for PG&E for 30 years, said Lisa Randle, PG&E spokeswomen. He was traveling to PG&E's DeSabla camp at the time of the accident. Smith's dog, Sparky, was in the vehicle with him at the time of the accident. Sparky was returned to the victim's family.

 

UPDATE, Fire chief jolted by electricity expects to leave hospital soon

08/29/01, By JIMMY P. MILLER , The Express-Times

NAZARETH - Vigilance Hose Co. Fire Chief Danny Keenhold said he will be released from the hospital today or Thursday. In his first interview since being critically burned by at least 20,000 volts of electricity on Thursday, Keenhold said he was feeling fine and looking forward to coming home. "I’m a lucky man, I can tell you that for a fact," he said from his room in Lehigh Valley Hospital’s burn unit. Keenhold said he and his family were "holding up fine." He anticipates a full recovery with no permanent injuries, he said. "My health’s A-1," Keenhold said. "At first they thought maybe the electricity got my heart a bit, but … that came back to normal." He said it will take him months to recover from a skin graft that was done to both his hands. Doctors took skin off his legs and used it for his hands, which will be wrapped in bandages indefinitely, he said. The wraps will prevent him from driving or from lifting anything at his business, Nazareth Produce. He does, however, plan to return to work as soon as possible and help out where he can, he said. "I just got to watch so I don’t get infections," Keenhold said, adding that his daughter was about to feed him because he doesn’t have any use of his hands. "There ain’t a whole heck of a lot I can do." There’s no timetable on when he will return to his duties with the fire department, he said. Vigilance Hose Co. President Carl Strye Jr. said First Assistant Chief Ed Statler will be taking over the chief’s duties until further notice. Keenhold said he is still unsure how the electricity flowed from a flaming utility pole to his body. The fire department got a call shortly after 3:30 p.m. for a fire at the top of a utility pole on Route 248, at the west end of the borough. "We went first of all with the fire truck," he said. "And then the cop called back and said it’s flaming at the top. I brought the aerial, and thought maybe we could put some dry chem on it. I went up the ladder, and I don’t know if the electricity jumped from pole to pole or from pole to the ladder - I don’t know. It happened so quick. It locked me to the ladder. Then I broke my hands free, thank God." Keenhold said about 20,000 to 24,000 volts went through him. He was still listed in critical condition Tuesday, according to a hospital spokeswoman.  Strye explained that Keenhold was listed in critical condition because he was recovering in the burn unit. Strye said the fire department was waiting to get a report on the accident from PPL Corp., which owns the utility pole and wires. PPL spokesman Jim Burns said the company’s safety department is investigating, but he did not know when a report will be complete. Vigilance Hose might be able to incorporate the incident into the company’s training, Strye said.  "There are lessons to be learned out of this," he said. "You’re a volunteer. When you leave the house, you don’t know what can happen. Guys don’t think about that. I think they’ll think about it a little bit more now." The incident has brought the Nazareth community together, Strye said. He added that the driver of the ladder truck at the time, Ernie Fehnel, was badly shaken up by the episode. "Nobody’s blaming him," Strye said. "It was just a freak accident, and we all know that." The fire company’s members were happy to see Keenhold be himself again, Strye said.   "He’s the luckiest guy on earth, I know," Strye said. "You can have your Powerball winners and stuff, but this guy is one lucky dude. His number was not up."

230,000 volts send construction worker to hospital

By Robert Airoldi, STAFF WRITER

FREMONT -- A 22-year-old construction worker was burned after receiving an electric shock from a power line Monday morning. Adolfo Diaz was semi-conscious and in critical condition when he left the construction site via helicopter, but a Santa Clara Valley Medical Center spokeswoman said he was in fair condition Monday afternoon. "He got hit with the full force," said Division Chief Geoff LaTendresse of the Fremont Fire Department. "That's a significant amount of electricity to be exposed to." It was about 8:10 a.m. when Diaz was trying to access the roof of one of three commercial buildings under construction at 43600 S. Grimmer Blvd. Diaz was using a self-operated boom lift, when his head apparently came within the safety zone of the line and it arced, shooting 230,000 volts of electricity through his body, LaTendresse said. LaTendresse said he did not know whether the hard hat Diaz was wearing contained metal. Firefighters doing an equipment check at the S. Grimmer Boulevard fire station heard the explosion and saw the lights in the station flicker. Minutes later, the call came in. Diaz was unable to lower the boom himself, so firefighters rescued him using a nearby lift. "(Firefighters) went up near and below and him and pulled him off," LaTendresse. The passage of electricity through the body can cause severe burns, shock and death. The hospital spokeswoman refused to divulge the man's exact injuries. Perhaps the most notable accidental electric shock occurred in May 2000 when a television reporter -- sitting in the front passenger seat of a television van -- received an electric shock when the microwave antenna mast came in contact with 34,000-volt power lines. She suffered through 10 operations, 33 transfusions and the amputation of a leg, arm and part of a hand and foot. She also suffered third-degree burns to both feet, both forearms and a hand when the power coursed through the vehicle and her body.

Although the voltage was significantly higher in Diaz's accident, he never came in direct contact with the line. "It's really an incredible survival," LaTendresse said.

 

Construction worker killed in Hacks Point; * Electrocuted when part of cement truck hit power lines

HACKS POINT - A Delaware man was electrocuted Friday when the boom of the concrete truck he was operating struck an overhead power line. Cleveland Brokenbraugh, 27, of Middletown, an employee of Bear Materials in Bear, Del., was pronounced dead at Union Hospital due to injuries from the electrocution, which occurred at about 1:30 p.m. on Bohemia Lane, according to the Cecil County Sheriff's Office. Witnesses at the scene said Cleveland was using a remote control device to operate the boom of a concrete pumping truck when the boom touched a power line located about 30 feet overhead. "It is just a damn tragedy - that is all it is," said Jim Coughlin, the homeowner at Bohemia Lane where Cleveland was doing the concrete work.  Gary Noyes, who is Coughlin's neighbor, was working side-by-side with Brokenbraugh when the electrocution occurred. "He reached down to pick up the remote control joystick and as soon as he grabbed it the electricity just went right through him," Noyes said. "I had been working with him the whole day. He was a really nice kid - it was just horrible." Brokenbraugh had a girlfriend with two children with whom he lived and was in a hurry to get the concrete poured on Friday so he could go on vacation with his family, Noyes said. On Sunday, Noyes and Coughlin were sitting with their wives and friends around a pool, still shaken from the tragedy that unfolded there on Friday. "He said, 'I got to get this done as soon as I can because my family is waiting for me,'" Noyes said. "He had just poured the concrete and had lifted the boom to an upright position so he could clean it out." Coughlin said he had taken a picture of Brokenbraugh on Friday while he was operating the remote-control concrete pumper. He said no one could have known it would be the last picture ever taken of the likable, animated, 27-year-old man. "He was a really nice kid, reminded me of Chris Rock the comedian. He was just a friendly guy who was immediately the center of attention as soon as he got here," Coughlin said. "I think the sun was right in his eyes so he couldn't see that the boom was on the power line," Noyes said. "If he hadn't been electrocuted it would have been me because I was just about to put my hand on the truck when it hit him." Noyes called 911 as soon as he saw Brokenbraugh on the ground. "The paramedics were here in about one minute," Noyes said. "They worked on him for about an hour, taking turns doing CPR. They just wouldn't give up on him." The other concrete workers at the scene were visibly shaken, Noyes said. "Everyone was really affected by this, it was a real somber scene," he said. "One of the workers began praying - we had a prayer service for him right there." Brokenbraugh was pronounced dead at Union Hospital in Elkton at about 2:30 p.m., according to police. Tom Marple, director of the Occupational Safety and Health Association's Office of Construction Services, said the primary cause of electrocutions that happen in the workplace is contact with overhead power lines. "We see it happen time and time again," he said. According to OSHA data, nearly 150 workers in the nation die each year due to electrocution from contact with overhead power lines.

Electrical worker dies in accident at GE Plastics

By MARK WILSON, Courier & Press staff writer
MOUNT VERNON, Ind. — The accidental death of a contract electrical worker on Thursday night has caused GE Plastics to close part of its Mount Vernon site. Jeffrey A. Wolf, 42, was fatally shocked Thursday while working on wiring for an expansion project at GE’s Lexan Development Facility. Wolf was employed by Industrial Contractors of Evansville, where he had worked for 10 years. “This is not a GE employee, but GE Plastics is cooperating fully with the investigation (of the accident),” said GE Plastics spokeswoman Kimberly Derk. She said new safety procedures involving the work Wolf was conducting at the time of his death have been put in place and are being followed. The Lexan Development Facility has been closed until Industrial Contractors finishes its investigation of the accident. Tom Conkling, safety manager for Industrial Contractors, said the company was “deeply saddened” by Wolf’s death.  “We take safety very seriously,” he said. “There is no higher priority than the safety of our employees and those who work on our sites.”

 

Father and son electrocuted in farming tragedy; Another son burned as irrigation pipe hits hydro wires

Jennifer Kwan, STAFF REPORTER

A father and son were electrocuted in a farming accident yesterday in the tobacco belt community of Teeterville. A second son suffered severe burns to his hands and feet. The accident killed Anthony Jacques, 51, and his son Archie, 21, and left the tiny community in Norfolk County shaken. It happened as the men were laying irrigation pipe on their tobacco farm on Regional Rd. 19 around 4 p.m., said Constable Mark Foster of the Ontario Provincial Police Haldimand-Norfolk detachment. As they worked their way closer to the side of their home, where there were hydro lines, they spotted a mouse inside the 13-centimeter pipe, Foster said. `They were shaking the pipe to get the mouse to run out,'' he said. ``Only it didn't want to run out.'' Foster said the three lifted the 9-metre-long metal pipe into the air to make the mouse slide out, and the pipe came into contact with the hydro lines. ``The father is the manager, the owner (and) they're right in the middle of harvesting,'' Foster said. ``How do you deal with that? It has to be very difficult.'' All three were rushed to Norfolk General Hospital in Simcoe, where Anthony and Archie were pronounced dead. Ryan Jacques, 17, was transported to the burn unit at Hamilton General Hospital with burns to his hands and feet. George Elliott, a retired farmer who lives next to the Jacques farm, called it a ``tragedy'' when he learned about the accident last night. ``They've been in the neighbourhood for a long time,'' he said. ``They're a good family.'' Elliott said the family has been living there since the 1950s and farms at least 40 hectares of tobacco. He said there are three boys in the family and all of them help out on the farm. Gary Gallant, who lives on Windham Rd. 3, northeast of the Jacques, said Archie attended Delhi secondary school and played on the basketball team. ``My wife referees basketball for the high school and she knows the family,'' Gallant said. They also went to church together at Our Lady of La Salette, located between Scotland and Delhi.

Hydro lineman dies on the job in St. Catharines; Labour ministry investigates electrocution

Margaret Mironowicz
TORSTAR NEWS SERVICEST. CATHARINES - Staff at St. Catharines Hydro are grieving over the death of a lineman who was killed on the job. James Smyth, 41, was electrocuted on Thursday while switching power lines from one pole to another in a residential area. The last time a lineman with St. Catharines Hydro died from electrocution was in 1938, president John Kerklaan said. The labour ministry is investigating the death, and so is St. Catharines Hydro through its health and safety committee, Kerklaan said. Grief counsellors were called in yesterday to help staff cope with the fatal accident, he said. St. Catharines Hydro has a staff of 92. Smyth, who had been working for the company for four years, was one of 27 linemen, Kerklaan said. ``We're still trying to piece together what happened. He made an electrical contact with a secondary voltage (line) - it was actually 120 volts. They were doing a pole change in a residential area, and it was near the end of the job. All we know is he made contact with the secondary wire and as a result of that, he lowered himself into the bucket truck and he lost consciousness.'' Smyth was working with another lineman, who was in a separate bucket, and a supervisor. Kerklaan said co-workers called 911 and unsuccessfully tried to revive Smyth with cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He was taken to Hotel Dieu Hospital in St. Catharines and pronounced dead. Kerklaan said there have been two similar deaths in Ontario in recent years. A lineman from Niagara Falls Hydro was electrocuted two years ago on the job, and another in the former region of Haldimand-Norfolk last year. ``We have a very good safety record,'' said Kerklaan. ``The secondary voltage (line) was still live, which is normal. You isolate the primary current while you are working on it, but it's normal for a secondary voltage to be live.'' Normally, linemen wear protective gloves to isolate them from an electrical current. He did not know if Smyth was wearing gloves or not. ``We're planning first of all to get through this grieving process,'' Kerklaan said. Smyth loved his job and regarded those he worked with as his ``extended family,'' said his father John, 64. He spent most of his time outside of his job immersed in his greatest love - flying parachute-powered ultralight aircraft and teaching others to fly at a school he started more than four years ago, called Just Plane Fun. He operated the school with one ultralight aircraft kept at the Welland-Port Colborne airport. ``He flew all over the Niagara Peninsula. He was a very happy and immensely kind young man,'' said his father, who is also a licensed pilot and shared his love of flying. Smyth lived in Vineland and called every day to check on his father. He was working with his best friend when he was electrocuted on the job. They were switching lines from one pole to another in a residential area of St. Catharines, at Cayuga and York streets at about 2 p.m. ``They're all professionals working in that environment. He was specially trained to deal with high voltage,'' said his father. ``It's not the type of accident you expect to happen.'' Smyth, not married, worked for hydro companies for almost 20 years in the Hamilton and Burlington area, and settled in Vineland after his father moved to St. Catharines.

 

UPDATE, Power station blast report out; Work has resumed at the plant following the blast

A power station explosion which killed three men and left a fourth badly injured happened during a maintenance operation, a report has revealed. The Health and Safety Executive has completed the first stage of its investigation into the blast on 8 August at the Teesside Power Station, which is owned by Enron Power Operations. Initial findings indicate the incident occurred while voltages were adjusted in the plant's electrical system. The two workers who died at the scene were operator technicians Andrew Sherwood, 36, of Hartlepool, and Darren Higgins, 28, of Normanby, near Middlesbrough. The third, who died in hospital, was Paul Surtees, 40, of Hawthorn, County Durham, an engineering and maintenance manager. Operator technician Graeme White, 37, of Billingham, Teesside, is still recovering in Middlesbrough General Hospital from severe burns. A statement released by the HSE said: "During a planned maintenance programme involving shut-down of part of the power station, electrical power had to be redistributed to support the services and maintain essential supplies.  "This included adjusting the voltages in the electrical system to allow a circuit breaker to be closed. "At the time of the incident employees were engaged in an operation intended to alter the voltage across a large transformer and this resulted in an immediate explosion and fire. "Throughout the investigation, HSE inspectors have had the full co-operation of Enron managers and employees. "The generation of electricity resumed on August 19 and HSE is now preparing a report for the coroner to assist with the preparation of the inquests." A final decision on whether to bring any criminal proceedings will not be made until after the inquests. The statement continued: "The next stage of HSE's investigation will include consideration of whether there are lessons which can be learned by the electricity industry to minimise the risk of this type of incident happening again elsewhere." Inquests into the three deaths have already been opened and adjourned to a date yet to be fixed. The investigation by the HSE is expected to continue off site for several more days. Enron's chief executive flew in from America to investigate the incident at Lazenby near Middlesbrough. The explosion was the third at the plant since it was built eight years ago. Two previous accidents left two employees seriously injured, one partially blind and deaf. The power station generates electricity for the National Grid using North Sea gas.

Another UtiliCorp employee injured
By BURTON TAYLOR, St. Joseph News-Press

Two UtiliCorp United employees are in the hospital after sustaining electrical-related injuries while working in the field. Robin Roberts, 45, is in serious condition, recuperating from injuries he received Tuesday working on a company transformer in St. Joseph. The UtiliCorp technician was burned while conducting maintenance procedures outside the St. Joseph Foods building at the Mitchell Woods Business Park. “We called the emergency equipment as soon as it happened, and he was taken out of here,” said Larry Coffman, vice president of St. Joseph Foods. The St. Joseph resident was first transported to Heartland Health and then flown to the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., joining another UtiliCorp worker also laid up at the hospital’s burn unit. District Lineman Lloyd Pitts, 60, was injured while replacing an electrical transformer and connecting a customer’s service on Aug. 14 in Pickering, Mo. He has been in the hospital since the accident took place, and his condition has recently been upgraded to fair. UtiliCorp officials maintain accidents such as these are rare and that the two are not connected in any way. “Accidents are always a concern of the company, but these were unrelated,” said George Minter, UtiliCorp spokesman. “Our main concern is the standpoint of the employees getting well and finding out what caused the accidents.” While UtiliCorp maintains the incidents are unrelated by time and cause, doctors note the effects of the accidents also are different. Although he couldn’t go into detail about the two patients’ conditions, Dr. Richard Korentager, an assistant professor at the Medical Center, named two different types of high-voltage electrical injuries. Each example mirrors the injuries experienced by the UtiliCorp employees. In the more recent case, Mr. Roberts experienced an electrical burn, which is sometimes similar to a flame burn or surface burn, depending on severity, Dr. Korentager said.  The other type of high-voltage injury is electrical shock, Dr. Korentager said. This is the type of injury Mr. Pitts experienced a couple weeks ago. In an electrical shock, the current of electricity enters one point of the body, does its damage and then exits through another point, the doctor said. During that process, the electrical current typically causes most damage deep inside the body, Dr. Korentager said. “The electrical current travels through the path of lesser resistance, which is normally areas of deeper tissue,” Dr. Korentager said. “The heat is generated in the deeper tissue so you literally see cooking from the inside out.” Treatment can be extensive in both cases and often includes the removal of tissue, muscle and sometimes is followed with skin grafts, he added. However, in most cases the patients survive. “In the vast majority of cases, people will certainly survive, but they could have major long-term (effects),” Dr. Korentager said. In an attempt to limit those long-term effects, the two injured UtiliCorp employees will continue to be cared for at the Medical Center. “You treat them at the hospital until the dead muscle has been removed and the wounds have been able to heal,” Dr. Korentager said. “With these types of injuries, treatment can be very hard.” UtiliCorp United officials are currently working on an investigation to determine the causes of the accidents.

 

Worker still in critical condition

BY PETE NARDI , The Island Packet, Published Wednesday, August 15th, 2001

A construction worker remained in critical condition Tuesday evening after being electrocuted earlier in the day at a Sun City Hilton Head construction yard off Bulltomb Road, authorities said. Cecil Alphord, 25, was in critical condition at Hilton Head Medical Center and Clinics as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, said hospital spokeswoman Kelly Presnell. Co-workers were performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Alphord when Beaufort County paramedics and Bluffton firefighters reached him shortly after 9:30 a.m., said Capt. Trey Fludd of the Bluffton Township Fire District. "Beaufort County EMS paramedics shocked him once and got a pulse," Fludd said. Alphord was working under Sun City builder DJ Construction on Tuesday, and apparently was electrocuted by the cord of a power tool he was using on the roof of a building when the cord got caught on the roofing, said Ken Hull, Sun City general manager.

 

Blast cuts power
Many residents, UGA left in dark

By Stephen Gurr, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

An explosion at a Georgia Power substation off Old Hull Road disrupted power for thousands of Athenians during the lunch hour Wednesday, knocking out traffic signals and halting electrical service to the University of Georgia. Power was restored without incident within 30 minutes, at about 12:25 p.m. Wednesday. Athens-Clarke and UGA police scrambled to direct traffic at dozens of busy intersections from North Avenue to College Station and Lexington roads. There was only one reported accident during the time power was out -- a two-car accident with no injuries at the Athens Perimeter and Olympic Drive. The failure of a 115,000-volt transmission breaker at the Athena substation ruptured an oil-filled breaker tank, sparking a massive explosion and fire that destroyed the breaker, said Doug McGowan, region distribution manager for the Georgia Power Co. The site was unmanned and no one was injured in the explosion. ''It would have gotten your attention,'' McGowan said of the blast. ''That's one of the reasons there are those fences around them.'' UGA Police Chief Chuck Horton said the outage caused no major problems, though some folks were stuck in elevators during the blackout. The university police switchboard was swamped with callers ''kind enough to tell us we had a power outage,'' Horton quipped. McGowan said approximately 13,000 power customers in eastern Clarke county were affected, with a ripple effect that may have reached as far as 40 miles into neighboring counties. There were reports of scattered power outages in Oconee and Oglethorpe counties. Catastrophic breaker failures are rare, McGowan said. The cause of Wednesday's failure was not immediately known, but earlier lightning damage may have weakened the breaker, he said. Georgia Power officials expect to have the breaker repaired within the next few days. In the meantime, a hole in the system's power grid makes it more vulnerable to isolated outages in the event of fallen trees or accidents.

UtiliCorp employee burned by shock
St. Joseph News-Press, By BURTON TAYLOR
Lineman in critical condition at burn unit

A UtiliCorp United employee is recovering after an accident in which 7,200 volts of electricity passed through his body. District lineman Lloyd Pitts, 60, was accidentally shocked Tuesday afternoon while working to replace an electrical transformer and connect a customer’s service near Missouri Route 148 in Pickering, Mo. UtiliCorp, which began offering electrical service to Northwest Missouri residents after purchasing St. Joseph Light & Power in December, is working to determine how the accident happened. However, more immediate concerns remain with Mr. Pitts’ current condition, UtiliCorp spokesperson George Minter said. The veteran employee was transported to the University of Kansas Medical Center burn unit for treatment after the accident. Mr. Pitts was in critical condition late Wednesday, a hospital official said. No details of his injuries were released. As doctors work to help Mr. Pitts, company officials and the employees’ union are investigating what events took place leading up to the accident. He was working with another lineman when the accident happened. Other than that one witness’s testimony, the company will rely heavily on Mr. Pitts’ own account of what took place, UtiliCorp spokesperson Judy Ness said. “You just have to go back and talk to the people involved, and of course he is not in the condition to talk himself,” she said. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local No. 695 is working with the company to determine the cause of the accident. However, they, too, are unsure of what transpired. “We don’t know exactly what happened yet,” said Rick Strasser, IBEW business manager/financial secretary. “But our work is hazardous work. That’s why they pay us what they do.” Linemen work with several different types of electrical lines each day. Mr. Pitts was working on an area distribution line, which has enough of a current to serve an entire neighborhood of customers, Ms. Ness said. “It’s a line that other lines feed off of, but it’s not one of the high-voltage transmission lines,” she said. Transmission lines carry more than 100,000 volts of electricity.

 

UPDATE, Death blast power station reopens

An official report into the explosion is expected

Power generation is to resume at the Enron plant on Teesside where three people died in an explosion on 8 August. The move follows the completion of an on-site investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The reopening will not happen until after the funerals of the three men, which are expected on Friday. The investigation by the HSE is expected to continue off site for several more days. Enron's chief executive flew in from America to investigate the incident at Lazenby near Middlesbrough. The explosion was the third at the plant since it was built eight years ago. Two previous accidents left two employees seriously injured, one partially blind and deaf. The combined heat and power station, which uses gas from the North Sea to produce electricity for the national grid, had been switched off for maintenance at the time of the explosion. The power station is opposite the former ICI Wilton site, which is still a petro-chemical complex.

Worker hurt at Utilities' substation worksite

A man working at the site of a new Hutchinson Utilities substation was injured Monday when he fell into a basement located under a concrete equipment pad. According to Hutchinson Fire Chief Brad Emans, the Hutchinson Ambulance and Hutchinson Fire Department was called to the scene, which is about five miles south of Hutchinson on County Road 25, at 11:03 a.m. The injured worker, identified as David Tifft, a mechanic in the power supply division, apparently fell through an opening in the concrete pad and landed in about 10 inches of water. He was conscious, but complained of back pain and numbness in his left arm, according to Emans. The victim was lifted out of the eight- to 10-foot deep basement with the help of a crane on the construction site and was airlifted to a Twin Cities hospital. No further information on his condition was available as this edition of the Leader went to the press. A transformer, a key component of the project, was delivered to the substation site last week.

 

Repairman receives serious shock on roof

By ALAN BURKE, News staff

PEABODY -- A critically injured air conditioning technician, struck by hundreds of volts of electricity, was rescued yesterday from a Centennial Park rooftop after he managed to call for help on his cell phone.  The repairman, Edward Eastman, 37, of Methuen, was taken first to Salem Hospital and then to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition late last night.

Eastman, an independent contractor working on behalf of Associated Mechanical Industries in Woburn, was alone on the roof of FEI Company at 10 Technology Drive at the time of the accident.  Exactly what brought him into contact with the electricity could not be determined yesterday. But workers inside the building knew at once that something was wrong.   "I guess the lights flickered," said Ed Cahill of FEI. "That must have been when he was injured."  On the loading dock, another employee heard a series of loud pops.  According to Deputy Fire Chief Paul Hinchion, Eastman was hit with between 220 and 440 volts of electricity.  "The electricity probably entered through his hands," he said. "He was working with his hands. Then it has to exit somewhere and it came out up near his neck. ... He got zapped pretty good."  Eastman suffered significant blood loss through the wound on his neck, according to one witness. Stunned, he was nevertheless able to call 911 and report the accident. He could not make clear, however, which part of the huge roof he was on.  But in a remarkable twist, workers at FEI were apparently listening to a scanner and realized that the accident had occurred above them. They also called 911, while alerting the dock workers. Eastman was located slumped alongside the air conditioning unit.  A charred metal neck chain was found next to him.  The Peabody Fire Department, along with Peabody Police and Northshore Ambulance, responded "within minutes," according Hinchion, reaching the roof and turning off the power.  "He was still breathing, still talking to us," said EMT David Rowley. The air conditioning unit was found open, the no-longer-live wires exposed.

The fact that the victim remained conscious was encouraging, Rowley said.  Moments after the accident, Eastman was being slowly, painstakingly lowered from the two-story brick building, down the gradual slope of a fire truck's ladder. His arms were raw and red from burns and blood, and he was moving occasionally. Employees of FEI stood about watching, grim faced.  "It's extremely unsettling," said Eileen Boudreau of FEI, which produces semiconductors for computers. The building's air conditioning, she added, had been showing the stress of a long heat spell.  The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration and city officials have begun an investigation of the accident, according to police spokesman Sgt. Dennis Bonaiuto.

Autopsy shows worker at Millville Airport was electrocuted

August 14, 2001 - 12:15 AM, By JOYCE VANAMAN, Staff Writer, (856) 825-2303
MILLVILLE - The result of an autopsy conducted this past weekend lists electrocution as the cause of death of Mark Voorhees Jr., who was working in an electrical vault at Millville Airport last Thursday. Glenn Nickerson, Cumberland County public information officer, said Monday the autopsy was conducted at Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point by Dr. Elliot Gross, medical examiner for Cumberland and Cape May counties. Further study and investigation of the incident is being conducted under the direction of Col. John McCarnan, chief of police for the Delaware River and Bay Authority, which operates Millville Airport. "We are conducting the investigation and evaluation of evidence," McCarnan said. Voorhees Jr., who would have been 34 this month, was employed by Gary Kubiak & Sons of Allentown, Monmouth County. Cumberland County Prosecutor Arthur Marchand, whose office worked with McCarnan, previously said it looked like Voorhees might have gotten a jolt and then drowned. There was some water in the vault. The victim was removed from the vault by workers and emergency medical personnel. Voorhees was transported to South Jersey Hospital-Newcomb Medical Center in Vineland by the Millville Rescue Squad and was pronounced dead a short time later.

UPDATE, Electrocution Investigation Begins

Monday August 13 10:39 PM EDT

Two investigations were under way Monday after an Allegheny Power worker died Friday morning after receiving a shock from damaged power lines in Bell, Westmoreland County. Two other workers were injured. The incident happened near Route 981 in a wooded part of town. A power line in that area had been damaged during an early morning thunderstorm, causing about 700 people to lose service. About a dozen Allegheny Power investigators and one representative from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were at the scene Monday to try to determine the cause of the electrocution. "The line they were working on was de-energized at the time they were making repairs," said Allen Staggers of Allegheny Power. "Now something happened, and that's what we're trying to determine." Thomas Lewis Moyes, 34, of New Kensington, Pa., died at the scene Friday. Edward Copney of Export, Pa., is now in fair condition at Allegheny General Hospital. David Berkebile of New Kensington, Pa., is in serious condition at West Penn Hospital. The OSHA investigator will try to determine a cause and if the company is liable for any violations.

 

2 workers burned in electrical accident

By Cass Peterson, Daily Record

EAST HANOVER — An electrical accident left two workmen critically burned Tuesday morning at a pharmaceutical business on DeForest Avenue. Ralph Newhouse, 41, and Franco Augstan, 37, both of Elizabeth, were working on electrical equipment in the basement of a building at 44 DeForest Ave. about 8:22 a.m. when the accident occurred, police said. The building is occupied by Sidmak Laboratories Inc.  East Hanover Lt. James Monaghan said both men were critically injured, Newhouse suffering burns over 50 percent of his body and Augstan over 14 percent of his body. Both were taken to the St. Barnabas Medical Center burn unit in Livingston, where both were listed in critical condition. Newhouse and Augstan were employed as electricians by Arco Electric of Elizabeth. The cause of the accident had not been determined Tuesday evening, and was under investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office and East Hanover police, Monaghan said. Sidmak Laboratories, headquartered in East Hanover, is a maker of generic versions of widely known prescription drugs, including propranolol (Inderal), cimetidine (Tagamet), metronidazole (Flagyl) and cyclosporine (Neoral).

Worker dies in office renovation accident

By Desireé Hunter, The Arizona Republic, July 31, 2001

An electrician who suffered a charge of electricity while doing work renovating an office building in Phoenix this afternoon has died. The name of the 35-year-old man is not being released at this time, said Sargent Doug Mummert with the Phoenix Fire Department. A co-worker had called the fire department at 2:10 p.m. after seeing a flash of electricity and the Phoenix man fall to the ground, Mummert said. It appears the man and another worker had been using water from a cooler when the man slipped. To stop his fall, he reached out to grab something and took hold of electrical wires and was shocked, Mummert said. Upon arrival, paramedics found the man with no pulse or respiratory function. He was taken to John C. Lincoln Hospital but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. The man had been working on the first floor of a building at 10851 N. Black Canyon Access.

 

Bay St. Louis man electrocuted while on the job

BILOXI (AP) -- A Gulf Coast utility worker has died after he was electrocuted while on the job. Coast Electric Power Association employee Bernard Mutter III, 43, died Monday afternoon when he touched a primary line while changing a circuit breaker connection on a light pole. Harrison County Coroner Gary Hargrove said between 300,000 and 400,000 volts of electricity passed through Mutter's body. Hargrove said Mutter was in cardiac arrest when he was transported to Garden Park Medical Center. He died shortly afterward. Coast Electric spokesman Ron Barnes said the company stresses safety and is constantly upgrading its equipment to ensure employees' safety. Barnes said the company is one of two in Mississippi that is accredited nationally for its safety procedures. Barnes said Coast Electric will "redouble its efforts with our employees to understand safety comes first."

 

UPDATE, Outlook good for injured LES worker

BY MARGARET REIST Lincoln Journal Star

"Hi, mom." Those two words made Anita Pellan's day Thursday, if not her year. They probably rank right up there with the best two words she's ever heard. Because such greetings - such casual, every-day kind of remarks -- take on added significance when they're said by your 34-year-old son just three days after 7,200 volts of electricity coursed through his body. They mean everything when you've sat by his bed in the Saint Elizabeth Regional Medical Center's burn unit, when you've prayed for your heavily sedated son, a tube down his throat, life support equipment attached to his body. "We just took it moment by moment," Pellan said Thursday of the accident that critically injured her son Mike Pellan - a Lincoln Electric System employee hit in the neck by a live electric line while he worked near 70th Street and Bluff Road Tuesday morning. "It was really great to hear his voice and realize he recognized us," said Pellan of North Bend. Mike Pellan, who is unmarried and has two sisters and a brother, has had family members by his side since the accident. Dr. Chet Paul called the recovery miraculous - and he credited the Lincoln man's survival to a co-worker who got him safely down from the "bucket" he was working in and performed CPR until help arrived. "In all likelihood, he saved his life, so that fellow is a hero," Paul said. LES officials declined to name the co-worker, who they said was still very upset by what happened. But they also commended him for the action he took - procedures employees are trained in but seldom need to use. The last time contact with an electrical wire injured an employee was in 1997. Before that, it was in the 1980s, said LES Operations Manager Neil Engelman. "It catches our attention and makes us aware of how dangerous electric work is," he said. Mike Pellan was working on a nonenergized line when he rotated his bucket and inadvertently touched a live line, Engelman said. LES officials are reviewing the accident, and it appears he thought the live wire was below him. Employees were just as happy to learn that their co-worker - who has worked for LES since December but had about five years of experience before that with Nebraska Public Power District - was alert and off most of the life support equipment Thursday. "It's remarkable in my mind," Engelman said. "We've been with Anita for three days now, we didn't know what permanent damage there might be." Dr. Paul said the prognosis for a full recovery is good. Mike Pellan suffered third-degree burns on his neck where the wire touched him, and his right hand where the electricity left his body. He will likely have to undergo some skin grafting on his right arm and hand, Paul said. But the electric contact was not long enough to cause significant damage to his muscles, he said. His mother credits her son's quick recovery to faith - an important part of their lives. E-mails came to her from acquaintances all over the country who sent their prayers online, she said. "We were just putting our trust in the Lord and our faith, and taking it day by day," she said.

 

Man hurt when electricity flows in line under repair

A utility worker was seriously injured Wednesday after receiving an electric shock at an apartment complex in northern Charlotte, authorities said. The worker, identified by police as 48-year-old Roger Crump, was working on an underground power line in a hole near the intersection of Canterwood Drive and Elgywood Lane about 1:45 p.m. Somehow, the power was turned on, police said. Several co-workers rushed to help Crump, a Pike Electrical Co. employee. The Charlotte man had stopped breathing before co-workers and paramedics resuscitated him. Medic took Crump to Carolinas Medical Center, where he was in serious condition late Wednesday. The incident occurred at the Maple Run Apartments in the Hidden Valley community. Officials from the N.C. office of the Occupational Safety & Health Administration are investigating.

 

Plumber killed in flat

A plumber has died after being involved in a freak accident while working on a central heating system in a flat. It appears that James Duncan, 55, who had been working alone, was electrocuted. He was found in the bathroom of a flat in Thomson Street, Aberdeen, by the owner of the property. Emergency services who were immediately called to the scene of the tragedy battled to revive Mr Duncan, but were unsuccessful.  The plumber, who had run his own business in the city for a number of years, was well-known throughout the city. Grampian Police and the health and safety executive are investigating the accident and a post mortem will be carried out. A spokesman for the police said: "It is not known how long a period of time there was between the occupier leaving him to get on with the task and him returning to the flat around 2pm to make the discovery."

 

Theater janitor electrocuted

Posted: 9:31 PM (Manila Time) | August 06, 2001, By Jerome Aning, Inquirer News Service

A JANITOR yesterday morning was electrocuted while looking for the source of a foul smell under an escalator in a moviehouse in Quiapo, Manila. Lorenzo Breiz, 24, married, employed as a janitor at the Tandem Theater on C.M. Recto Avenue in Quiapo and a resident of V. Mapa Street in Sta. Mesa, died on the spot after touching an exposed live wire under the escalator. His fellow janitor, Nestor Ellar, 26, told homicide investigator SPO1 Steve Casimiro that they were searching the escalator for what they suspected was a dead rat. “He asked me to stop the elevator and I did, and he immediately went into a hole at the bottom of the staircase,” Ellar told SPO1 Casimiro.  As soon as he got into the opening, Breiz screamed, his body quivered and then lay still, Ellar said. Breiz was no longer breathing when he was pulled out of the hole, Ellar said. SPO1 Casimiro said an exposed live wire found inside the vent could have touched the victim's chest, where policemen found a large burn.

 

City BLW worker electrocuted while fixing utility pole; Officials unsure of events leading to man's death

By Jeffrey Widmer, Marietta Daily Journal Staff Writer

MARIETTA - A five and a half year employee of the Marietta Board of Lights died after he was electrocuted early Saturday morning as he tried to repair a damaged utility pole on Allgood Road near Cobb Parkway. William Ryan Evans, 24, of Jasper was on a bucket truck attempting to repair the pole at about 5 a.m. when he came into contact with 120 volts of electricity. The incident took place directly in front of Marietta Fire Station No. 6. The pole had been damaged at 5 p.m. Friday in a car accident during heavy rains, said city spokesperson Audrey Griffies. Evans, hired by the city in December 1995 as a member of the tree trimming crew, received medical attention from his co-workers and firefighters at Station No. 6 before being transported to WellStar Kennestone Hospital, where he died. Ms. Griffies said no one is exactly sure how the incident occurred. A safety investigation team from the Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia (MEAG), which investigates such incidents, has completed its study of the incident and a report will be made available to the public Monday afternoon, she said. “We're not sure how it happened right now,” Ms. Griffies said. Evans, who was married with a 5-month-old baby, was a tree trimmer for several years before being promoted to an apprentice line worker in 1998. He was a junior line worker when the incident took place. O.D. Reynolds, Marietta Board of Lights and Water manager, expressed sadness at the loss of Evans. “All of us are devastated,” Reynolds said. “Ryan was a fine young man ... most of us were not here the last time we had a fatal accident, and this is going to hit the BLW family hard. Our thoughts and prayers are with Ryan's family.” Saturday's incident is the first fatal accident involving the BLW since the summer of 1980. That incident occurred at a construction site off Kennesaw Avenue, when a worker was electrocuted and killed while working on a buried power line. Ambulance crews had trouble finding the location of the 1980 incident because at that time, there were no street names at construction sites. Ironically, the mayor and council ordered the city fire department to get into the rescue business as a result, said Phil Chovan, former deputy chief for the fire department.

Kennett Square Man Electrocuted (07/02/01)

A worker is dead after he was electrocuted while cutting down tree limbs in Radnor Township, Delaware County. Township police say officers found 31-year-old Steven Wintz of Newtown Square hanging from a tree shortly after 10:30 Monday morning along Yorkshire Road in the Rosemont section of the township. His co-workers of a tree company told police he had come in contact with a live wire. Wintz was taken to Bryn Mawr Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

City of Winfield employee who was nearly electrocuted

By Traveler staff

A City of Winfield employee who was nearly electrocuted Tuesday morning was expected to be released today from a Wichita hospital. Kevin Briles, 36, was flown by air ambulance to Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus after being injured while working on a 7,200-volt electrical transformer at Strother Field. Briles was standing on the ground, checking the transformer, when a wire shorted to the ground and blew Briles backward. The hair on his arm and head was singed. Medical personnel said he was transferred to the burn unit in Wichita as a precautionary measure because of the potential for internal injuries.

Fall River man electrocuted

BLACKSTONE -- A 50-year-old construction worker is dead after being electrocuted while maneuvering high-voltage wires in a steel cherry picker bucket at the town's High Rocks sewer project Thursday, police said. The Fall River man was felled by a line with 73,500 volts of electricity. He dropped about 15 feet from the bucket onto the dirt road below and died instantly, police said. Police Chief Ross A. Atstupenas identified the victim as Luis F. Sousa of 271 Glasgow St., Fall River. He was reportedly a foreman on the crew employed by ODF Contracting Co. Inc. of Dorchester, Mass., which has a $2 million contract with the town to install sewerage into the High Rocks area that includes Main and County streets, town officials said. State Police taking charge at the site, between 12 and 13 Staples Ave., about 150 yards from the Blackstone Gorge and dam, immediately shut down the work after the 2 p.m. accident. Local authorities contacted the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is expected to investigate the accident today. "He was in the bucket tying the wires up to raise them," said Officer Howard McGourty, one of the first emergency personnel to respond. McGourty said that Sousa was 15 to 18 feet off the ground inside the bucket of a piece of heavy equipment that operates like a back hoe with a huge crane-like arm to dig the sewer trenches when something went horribly wrong. He had tied together two or three sections of wires with nylon cord -- electrical, cable, telephone -- and was attempting to do the same to another section, McGourty said, when apparently a part of the machinery arm attached to the bucket hit the electrical wires. While Sousa was standing in a bucket that was three-quarters filled with sand, rescue workers surmised that Sousa "must have moved or turned," McGourty said, striking the metal machinery with his back. That's where the electricity shot into his body, flinging him from the bucket truck, face-first onto the ground, police said. "The (police) detail guy said it was like an explosion, it sounded like a shot," McGourty said. One older couple living nearby at 13 Staples Ave., Vincent and Marie Erickson, were home when the accident happened. "I was inside ironing and I saw the sparks and I came out to see what happened," Marie Erickson said. Like everyone nearby, she knew immediately the victim had little chance to survive. "It's sad. I feel bad for his family," she said. "The first officer who arrived checked for a pulse and there was none," said McGourty, who arrived just afterwards along with fire department EMTs. Shortly before 5 p.m., about three hours after the accident, Cartier's Funeral Home in Bellingham removed the body and transported the deceased to the Worcester County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. Police said a work crew of six or seven people from ODF Construction was at the site. Police said they were told that by tying the wires together, the crane-like arm of the machinery, with the bucket attached to it, would be able to swing virtually in a circle on the narrow street, which was supposedly a safe maneuver. "It's a very unfortunate accident and we'll just have to see what OSHA says," said Town Administrator Michael J. Guzinski, who was summonsed to the site as the person responsible for the town's sewer contract. While Guzinski said he could offer no further details about what happened, he was certain the often-delayed High Rocks project would be postponed indefinitely, pending the OSHA investigation. "They will have to give the town and the contractor the OK to proceed," he said. Guzinski acknowledged the town has been unhappy with the progress made by ODF Construction, which began work last summer, stopped for the winter and resumed work about three weeks ago. "Our main concern has been the fact they haven't been as eager to complete the project as quickly as we'd like," Guzinksi said. Because of additional costs associated with the delays, town meeting voters this spring appropriated an additional $500,000 for the High Rocks sewer project. The initial contract was for $1.8 million. This is part of several sewer projects in various stages of start-up that will cost about $8 million. Guzinski also said ODF "has been switching crews," causing problems for sewer engineers. He did not know how long Sousa had been working on this project. The accident also caused lost power in the immediate area, although some homeowners, like the Ericksons, said theirs had been restored. Massachusetts Electric Co. was contacted to restore power. Police had no explanation for why the utility company was not asked to move the power lines prior to the accident. "Right now our thoughts and prayers are for the person who was killed and his family," Guzinski said.

Victim of electrocution identified

News Tribune

 

A man who was electrocuted Friday while working at Georgia-Pacific Co.'s hardboard plant in Superior has been identified as Paul Douglas Roberts.  Roberts, 49, of Foxboro, Wis., had been doing electrical work at the plant in Superior's North End. He was a field service engineer for sub-contractor ABB Power T&D Co. Georgia-Pacific and ABB Power are investigating the cause of the accident, which was reported Friday at about 11:45 a.m. No one witnessed the incident, according to Superior police. Family members said Saturday they had no details on the events leading up to Roberts' death. Roberts and his wife, Jean, moved onto a hobby farm in Foxboro in 1995, his daughter Dawn Roberts said Saturday. He kept cattle and horses, and he was a beekeeper. "He was an amazing person, always pretended to be crabby, but he always had a grin on his face,'' said Roberts. "He liked teasing people; that's probably what he's known for. "Having a farm was a dream. He made it for a while.''

 

Electrical worker critically burned on the job

By Eve Sullivan, Staff Writer

STAMFORD - A Canadian man was severely burned while working on a utility pole yesterday morning on High Ridge Road. Yvon Primo, 53, was listed in critical condition at Westchester County Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., where he was taken after the 9:25 a.m. incident. Primo, who lives near Montreal, was working for Thiro, a Newington company that subcontracts to Connecticut Light & Power. His crew was transferring wires from one pole to another at 856 High Ridge Road. Witnesses said they heard an explosion, then saw an arc - a luminous discharge of electric current - and a bright flash. "You couldn't really see the guy in the bucket for a second or so," said police Officer Paul Mellett, who was stationed at the site. Mellett radioed for help and had Primo's co-workers lower his bucket to the ground. He said Primo's flame-retardant clothing partially caught fire. "He was actually conscious," Mellett said. "He wanted to climb out of the bucket, but we made him stay in." Deputy Fire Marshal Frank Docimo, who arrived first on the scene with the Turn of River Fire Department, said Primo was standing in the bucket and speaking in French. "It was instantaneous," Docimo said. "It was just one bright flash, and it was over. In a millisecond, he went from being OK to being severely burned. It was almost like being struck by lightning." Rescue workers removed Primo's protective clothing and saw he was extensively burned on the front and back of his body. "It was apparent that this was a life-threatening injury," Docimo said. "I told my partner to make sure the burn units were on alert." Docimo said Primo had burns on about 75 percent of his body. Police officers said Primo appeared to be in shock and the skin was peeling off his back. "You could see he had second- and third-degree burns; his clothing was partially burnt off his body," police Sgt. Clifton Weed said. Deputy Fire Chief Lewis Belmont said rescuers removed Primo's clothing and placed a sterile sheet around him. They doused the sheet with water. Primo was initially taken to Stamford Hospital and later transported to Westchester County Medical Center's burn unit. John Swanson, a CL&P supervisor in Glenbrook, arrived on the scene shortly after the accident. "All I know is they were going to do the pole shift," Swanson said. "They were changing the wires to a new pole." Swanson said it's typical for CL&P to work with "energized conductors" and not shut off the power. He said he didn't know what caused the arc. "There's so many different things that conduct electricity," Swanson said. "It could have happened many different ways." Swanson said Primo appeared to be doing everything right, including wearing protective clothing. Several pieces of Primo's clothing were scattered around the roadway near the charred bucket, including a burnt orange coverall, rubber gloves, pants and a belt that had to be cut off him. "It happens time to time. It's not totally unheard of," Swanson said of the accident. "There are some hazards with the job that need to be taken into consideration." Primo came to Connecticut with a crew of other Canadians, authorities said. The state Occupational Safety and Health Administration was investigating at the site yesterday afternoon.

Electrician killed at Toyota plant

CAMBRIDGE - Cambridge's Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada plant has suffered its first work-related death after the electrocution of a 50-year-old city man yesterday. Around 10 a.m., Gerald M. Leader, a Cambridge electrician with State Group Limited, was working on Toyota's welding equipment when he was electrocuted. He was rushed to Cambridge Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. State Group is a North America-wide multi-trade company that employs over 2,000 electricians, pipe fitters and iron workers. State Group has been an on-site contractor with Toyota since the Fountain Street North automotive plant opened in 1988. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to the worker's family,'' said Ed Ryan, safety director for State Group. It's the company's first fatality in its 30 years of existence. He said any State Group employee is required to take safety orientation tests from the company and from Toyota. Also, employees undergo one weekly job safety test a week, he said. Grief counselling is being made available to co-workers and to Leader's s family, Ryan said. The Ministry of Labour is investigating and wouldn't comment. Ryan said it's too early to determine how Leader was electrocuted. "All of Toyota employees and were shocked and, of course, saddened by the accident,'' said Steve Kennedy, a Toyota spokesman. He said the company is in a state of grieving. The plant has been on shutdown since Thursday. Production will resume July 23. All of Toyota's manufacturing plants pride themselves on maintaining impeccable safety standards, Kennedy said. "Safety is our first priority, it always has been.'' Last year, three workers died in industrial accidents in Cambridge and North Dumfries. Douglas Loyer, 20, of Kitchener was killed while cleaning a cement mixer at Pavestone Plus last summer. Pavestone was fined $140,000 on July 3. Charges of improper training, and to failure to take reasonable precaution were withdrawn. Bennett-Chev-Olds-Cadillac 2000 on Hespeler Road faces five charges under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Sean Smith died on Sept. 14 when a limousine he was working under crashed down on him and crushed him. The charges remain before the courts. And April 4 last year, Gorge Ferreira died at Orchid International on Fountain Street, when the 38-year-old welder was crushed after the 2,700-kilogram frame he was working on fell on him. The company is facing three charges.

TRACK WORKER ELECTROCUTED

By DAN MANGAN

July 18, 2001 -- A subway track worker was killed yesterday morning after falling onto an electrified third rail in Queens. Samuel McPhaul, 49, of Elmhurst, had been working as a flagman for a track crew at 2 a.m. when he died, said TA spokeswoman Deirdre Parker. McPhaul was pronounced dead at the scene, about 100 feet north of the Grand Avenue station. Service was disrupted on the line for about two hours, Parker said. John Samuelsen, the Transit Workers Union's track division chairman, said it was the first track-worker death since 1997.

Worker at library site electrocuted
CULVER - A man working on the Culver Library expansion project was electrocuted Thursday. Marshall County Coroner John Grolich said Clairance Strawderman, 45, of Walkerton, was pronounced dead on arrival at Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, Inc. - Plymouth Campus. Strawderman was employed by W.A. Sheets and Sons of Fort Wayne, one of the contractors working on the library project. The Culver-Union Township Library is being expanded from 4,500 square feet to more than 19,000 square feet in order to meet the needs of the library for the next 20-30 years. The construction project is expected to last between 12 and 15 months. Strawderman was reportedly working with a pumping device to pour concrete walls. Witnesses at the scene said Strawderman did not come in contact with power lines. Investigators believe he may have come too close to the lines and was electrocuted. Efforts were made to revive him at the scene. A 911 call was made to Culver Police, Fire and EMS, but he died before emergency rescue personnel arrived. The incident remains under investigation by the Marshall County Coroner's office. Frazee man electrocuted while working on car

Associated Press, Thursday, July 19, 2001

FRAZEE -- A Frazee man was electrocuted while welding in his garage. Authorities say that 24-year-old Scott Schermerhorn was electrocuted last night when he grabbed the car with his free hand as he welded underneath the vehicle. Schermerhorn's wife discovered him in the garage, unconscious and not breathing. He was transported to St. Mary's in Detroit Lakes, where he was pronounced dead. Doctors concluded that electrocution was the cause of death.

Miner dies in underground electrical accident

21 July 2001, By Roger Alford, Associated Press

PIKEVILLE, Ky. -- A coal miner was electrocuted Friday morning in an underground mine at Slemp. Gary R. Caudill Jr., 26, of Delphia, was pronounced dead at Blue Diamond Coal's No. 77 mine in southern Perry County. The fatality was the first in Kentucky's coal industry this year. Inspectors from the Kentucky Department of Mines and Minerals and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration are investigating the cause. Perry County Deputy Coroner Clayton Brown said Caudill, who had been a miner for five years, was working on an electrical panel that controlled a conveyor belt when the electrocution occurred about 2:45 a.m. Brown pronounced Caudill dead at the scene about 4 a.m. It was the first mine fatality in Kentucky since Oct. 4, 2000, said Cathy Prothro, spokeswoman for the Department of Mines and Minerals. "At this point last year there had been six fatalities," she said. Prothro said the safety of miners is a key concern for regulators in Kentucky, which has had more fatalities than any other state for the last three years. "As always our personnel are out there working hard to make sure every miner is performing his job safely," she said. MSHA, in a report released in January, said Kentucky accounted for about one-third of the 38 coal miners killed in the United States last year. Thirteen miners were killed in Kentucky mines; nine in West Virginia; four each in Virginia and Utah; two each in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Wyoming; and one each in Colorado and Indiana. The last time Kentucky had more than 13 mining deaths was 1993 when 18 miners were killed on the job. More stringent safety procedures and closer oversight by regulatory agencies have greatly decreased mine fatalities over previous decades. Nationally, more than 100 miners were killed each year through the 1970s. In the 1980s, the annual deaths ranged from 53 in 1988 to 125 in 1984. The number of fatalities nationally fell each year from 1990 through 1998, when they reached an all-time low of 29. In 1999, 35 miners died on the job.

Power workers injured at Bay Point

TOM QUIMBY, The News Herald

Two power workers were hospitalized Wednesday with second- and third-degree burns after being electrocuted at Bay Point Beach Resort. Greg Clem and Darrell Watson, who are employees of Asplundh, were working for Gulf Power under contract. Jennifer Clem said her husband suffered second-degree burns to his arm, neck and back. He will have to stay at Bay Medical Center for two weeks, she said. Watson suffered a third-degree burn to his arm, Jennifer Clem said. Gulf Power supervisor David King said the utility had contracted with Asplundh to replace power lines at the resort. Clem and Watson were trying to install new lines at the resort's main switching relay near Marlin Circle and Wahoo Road when they were electrocuted. "They were putting an elbow on the conduit (inside the relay housing)," said a Gulf Power employee. "There was a huge flash. I don't know what went wrong. It's dangerous work." The sound of the electrical surge was the equivalent of a shotgun blast going off in their faces, the employee said. The relay's main fuse was blown, knocking out power to parts of the resort. Electricity was restored a few hours later. Two doctors getting ready to tee off on a nearby golf course rushed to help the men. The men's charred clothes were left near the relay. In the past month and a half, Asplundh employees have installed about 10,000 feet of wire and conduit at Bay Point. Gibbons said they expected to be done in about a week. Asplundh, a company that built its name in tree trimming and removal, has been contracting with Gulf Power for about three years. Employees perform many of the same jobs that Gulf Power technicians do. "They do everything now," said a Gulf Power employee. "They do overhead work, trenching, digging, boring - they do all of it."

KCPL worker killed in Olathe identified

Patrick J. Powers, Daily News Reporter

Authorities have identified 35-year-old Mickey Lynn Williams, of Harrisonville, Mo., as the man killed Tuesday afternoon after he allegedly touched a live electrical wire. Williams, a Kansas City Power and Light employee for 10 years, allegedly was working on a power line outside on an electrical pole when he struck the live wire and fell to the ground. He was taken to Overland Park Regional Medical Center, 10500 Quivira Road, where he was pronounced dead. There are two teams investigating the incident to determine the exact cause of death, said Tom Robinson, a KCPL spokesman. One investigation will be conducted by KCPL management and the other by a compliance officer with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. "I imagine that it would be quite some time until they release any information," Robinson said. If OSHA discovers the need to issue KCPL a citation, it must be done within six months of the employee's death, otherwise there is no timeline for its investigation, said Kris Lenoch, an assistant area director for OSHA. "We never have one in reality, because there's so many unexpected things in an investigation," Lenoch said. She added that the investigation of Williams' death isn't unusual -anytime an employee dies on the job, OSHA is called to investigate. "There is an obligation for the employer to call us within an eight-hour time frame," Lenoch said. The last time KCPL had an employee killed on the job was 1990, Robinson said.

Alamosa plumber electrocuted

By ERIN SMITH, The Pueblo Chieftain

ALAMOSA - A plumber died Tuesday morning while working on a house about 4 miles west of Alamosa and just north of U.S. 160. Deputy County Coroner Harry Alejo said he suspected that electrocution was the cause of death for Matthew Medina, 28, a plumber with Husmann Plumbing of Alamosa. An autopsy will be conducted this morning in Colorado Springs at the El Paso County Coroner's office. Medina reportedly was working underneath a home at 5291 Del Viento in the Jonesville Subdivision about 11 a.m. when the accident happened. Medina was taken to the San Luis Valley Regional Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Workers in critical condition after truck hits power lines

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Two brothers were in critical condition with second and third degree burns, and a third man in fair condition early Monday morning after their truck hit power lines as they worked on a construction project. The brothers -- one of which suffered second to third degree burns on 50 percent of his body and the other on 30 to 40 percent -- were in the burn intensive care unit at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, hospital spokeswoman Adelaida De La Cerda said. The accident happened shortly after 4 a.m. as a concrete pumping crew was working on the Alameda Corridor rail project, which aims to link the harbor area to downtown, Los Angeles City Fire spokesman Brian Humphrey said. As their truck swiveled, the "boom" -- a part of the truck that extends to pump and transport the concrete -- came in contact with both 34,500 volt and 4,800 volt power lines, he said. "The victims were leaning against a metal fence when the fence became energized causing them to be shocked and clothing to catch fire," Humphrey said. A 56-year old man, who was operating the boom truck, suffered minor burns to elbows and back. He was in fair condition, Humphrey said. A fourth victim received minor burns to his hands when workers tried to put out the flames, he said. All four, whose names were not released, were transported to the hospital. As a result of the incident, electricity was lost in parts of the mostly industrial area of south-central Los Angeles, said Department of Water and Power spokeswoman MaryAnne Pierson. Workers arrived at the scene and "de-energized lines," which is routine in incident-related cases. "But the initial outage was caused by the boom going into the lines," she said. Pierson was not sure how many customers were affected or when power would be restored.

Lineman stable after receiving 7,200-volt shock

By John J. Archibald, of the Northwestern

WINCHESTER A Wisconsin Electric Power Company lineman is in stable condition and headed to a Madison hospital after 7,200 volts shocked him on a town of Winchester line. The accident occurred about 1:30 p.m. Friday on Sauby Road just south of the Meyer Lane intersection. Linemen with bucket trucks had worked to restore power lost in Monday nights storm when the man touched a conductor. A resident of the area, Vernadine Knaack said her husband, Charles, saw the accident scene. They were bringing him (the lineman) down in the bucket and he was slumped over the bucket, she said. A ThedaStar helicopter landed in an oat field and flew the lineman to Theda Clark Medical Center, where he was listed as stable, said Chris Iglar, Wisconsin Electric spokesman. Since then, hes been transferred to University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison, Iglar said. A Wisconsin Electric Power Company man who didnt identify himself said repairs at the site had closed for the rest of the day after the accident. The location is a few miles west of the intersections of highways 110 and 150, about 12 miles northwest of Oshkosh city limits.

Virco employee in electrical incident

By SAMANTHA HUSEAS, Log Cabin Staff Writer

Thursday, June 14, 2001

A Virco Mfg. Corp. employee remained hospitalized Wednesday in fair condition after an electrical shock incident Tuesday night at the Virco Warehouse. David Johnson "received an electrical shock while attempting to charge a forklift battery" according to Glen Parish, Virco vice-president and Conway division general manager. Parish said he did not know a great deal about the incident but said "we're investigating it right now." He added everything possible will be done to prevent a similar accident in the future. Johnson was transported to Conway Regional Medical Center following the accident and remains there. According to Conway Fire Department incident reports, firefighters were dispatched to the warehouse at 10:07 a.m. Tuesday.

Man loses arms, but inspires many

By Carolyne Park, Staff Writer

Jesse Sullivan of Dayton, Tenn., may have lost both his arms, but that has not kept him from touching the hearts of many. Five weeks ago Mr. Sullivan, 54, was badly injured when 7,200 volts of electricity passed through his body. Severe tissue damage caused him to have his arms amputated. But family members, doctors and hospital staff said he has remained upbeat and positive, and has been an inspiration to all. Mr. Sullivan said he is just glad to be alive. "I just feel grateful that God spared me," he said. "It should have gone straight through my heart and killed me. I got more left than I ever lost." The accident happened the afternoon of May 9. Mr. Sullivan was working as a lineman for the Electric Power Board in Rhea County. The last thing he remembers before the accident was being in a lineman's bucket on Spence Cemetary Road, Mr. Sullivan said. He had been on the job for 23 years and the work was routine. "I don't remember a thing that happened in the bucket," Mr. Sullivan said. When he awoke his co-workers had pulled him out. "The fella I've worked with for years and years was holding me and telling me not to leave," Mr. Sullivan said. From Rhea County Hospital he was transferred to the burn unit at Erlanger hospital and remained semiconscious for 15 days. Carolyn, his wife of 17 years, has stayed with him throughout the ordeal. She said the first days were the hardest. "For the first five days I thought he would die," she said. Dr. Lesley Wong is the medical director of Erlanger's burn unit and has been treating Mr. Sullivan since he arrived. Electrical burn patients usually have organ damage, but Mr. Sullivan did not, she said. "He's the worst that I've seen in terms of tissue loss," Dr. Wong said, but added "he is almost miraculously lucky that nothing else happened." As far as they know, Mr. Sullivan's heart did not miss a beat, Dr. Wong said. Mr. Sullivan has had seven surgeries and is undergoing physical therapy to help him adapt, Dr. Wong said. In the next week or so he is expected to fly to Chicago to be fitted for specially-designed prosthetic arms. Even with everything he has been through, Mr. Sullivan has remained upbeat, Dr. Wong said. "He's unbelievable," she said. "His attitude is just a tribute to humanity." Tammy Berens, a registered nurse in the burn unit, agrees. "He has been an inspiration to us and so many patients," she said. "He's been amazing, we've all just fallen in love with him. "He told us when he got his prosthetics he would come back and give us all a big hug," she said. Mr. Sullivan speaks highly of those who have cared for him. They're fantastic," he said. "I call them my guardian angels." He attributes his survival to the grace of God. "Most men that take 7200 volts like that are dead," he said. "He left me here for a reason." Mr. Sullivan and his wife have six children and eight grandchildren. Dr. Wong said the strength and support of his family and friends has made treatment easy, and helped in his recovery. Mrs. Sullivan said the accident has not changed her husband. "Jesse is the same man he has always been, but now everybody has the pleasure of meeting him," she said of the many friends the couple have made since the accident. Mr. Sullivan said he and his wife, who he describes as his "rock," plan to take life one day at a time. For now, he is looking forward to getting his prosthetic arms. "I'm going to get to be like Inspector Gadget," he said.

Worker in Critical Condition After Electric Shock

6/15/01 12:16 PM

A 29 year old man is in critical condition after being shocked while trimming trees near Des Peres this morning. The employee worked for Asplundh contracting. He was trimming the trees under contract to Ameren UE. He was shocked when his saw came in contact with a power line. The line carried 72-hundred volts of electricity. Eyewitnesses say the man was screaming from the tree after he was burned. The injured man's co-worker risked injury himself by breaking the power line with his saw. At last report the injured worker was in critical condition at a local hospital.

SPECIAL ALERT: Home Safety!

June 16, 2001

CHICAGO -- A Chicago elementary school teacher was electrocuted while using an electrical trimmer on her lawn when an exposed part of an extension cord touched wet grass, authorities said. Cecelia Castillo, 45, of the 2900 block of West 38th Place was found by her brother at about 8:20 p.m. Thursday in her back yard, said a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner. Castillo was trimming around the hedges in her bare feet when the extension cord she was using hit the wet grass, officials said. The cord had been repaired using electrical tape, but a piece was exposed. Castillo, a mother of two and a 1st-grade teacher at Pullman Elementary School on the Far South Side, was pronounced dead more than two hours later in St. Anthony Hospital. The medical examiner ruled her death an accident.

Power pole falls, injuring 3

Tuesday, June 19, 2001, By Steve Gunn, CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER

Three men working for Consumers Energy, including a Grand Haven man, were injured Monday when a pole they were working on in Holton Township fell to the ground. All three men were transported to area hospitals, according to a Muskegon County Sheriff's Department report. One man remained hospitalized, and none of the injuries appeared to be life-threatening. The accident occurred around 2 p.m. Monday when the men were building a power line on property along the 3300 block of Dagen Road near Sweeter Road. At least one of the men was apparently on the pole when it fell, but it was not known this morning whether the other two were on the pole or the ground. One of the men injured in the accident was Doug Pellegrom, 35, of 13486 Greenbriar in Grand Haven. He was apparently on the pole when the mishap occurred and fell about 35 feet, according to a spokesman for Hackley Hospital. He was treated and released for minor injuries. Also transported to Hackley Hospital was Conrado Ortiz, 52, of Albion, who was listed in stable condition this morning after being shocked by electricity. A third victim, Eugene Alfaro, 41, of Holland, was treated and released from Mercy Hospital with minor injuries. The nature of his injuries, or what caused them, was not known this morning. Tim Pietryga, a spokesman for Consumers Energy, said the utility would not release information about the victims or what might have caused the pole to fall. It was unclear this morning whether the workers were employees of Consumers or contractors.

Bishopville crane operator electrocuted

By Liz Holland, Somerset Herald

PRINCESS ANNE - A 28-year-old Bishopville man was electrocuted Thursday when a crane he was operating touched an overhead power line on Old Princess Anne-Westover Road. Michael Gray was pronounced dead at Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, despite efforts by two nearby homeowners and Princess Anne Volunteer Fire Company paramedics to revive him. Gray, who worked for White's Construction Co. of Willards, was installing new power lines to buildings owned by Eastern Shore Forest Products when the accident happened. Terry Shreaves and Tomeka Murray, who live near the site, said one of Gray's coworkers ran to their homes for help. Both women called 911 and were directed to administer CPR until an ambulance arrived. Shreaves and Murray, along with two men they believed were employees of the construction company, stayed with Gray until paramedics arrived. Neither woman is trained in CPR, but followed instructions from one of the men, Shreaves said. ''Everybody really should learn (CPR),'' she said. Gray apparently had his hands on the controls of the crane when it touched the power line. The crane was on the back of a truck parked just off the road on the side of a field, and Gray was standing outside the vehicle at the time. Shreaves said a jolt of electricity also ignited the truck's tires. The Somerset County Sheriff's Office blocked off the area until Conectiv Power Delivery workers were able to turn off the power so the truck and crane could be removed from the site.

Six burned in battery explosion on central Alberta industrial site

Canadian Press

BLACKFALDS, Alta. (CP) - Six workers were burned, at least two seriously, after an explosion Wednesday at an oil and gas battery site in a remote area of central Alberta. The explosion happened about 11 a.m. while a tank at the site was being serviced, said Cpl. Terry Best of the Red Deer RCMP rural detachment.  "There were a group of employees inspecting a tank of some sort," Best said. "There was an electrical short from an extension cord they were using for the trouble light and the electrical short caused an explosion inside the tank.  "I believe it was from inside the tank and the employees were blown away from the site of the explosion." The battery, owned by NAL Resources of Calgary, is located about 10 kilometres east of Blackfalds. Such batteries clean and treat oil or gas before it is put into a pipeline. Elaine McFadden, spokeswoman for the David Thompson Regional Health Authority, said all six of the injured were men. The two most seriously hurt were taken to hospitals in Calgary and Edmonton.  Jeff McIntosh, a photographer for The Canadian Press, saw one worker being brought into Calgary's Foothills Hospital. "His shoulder and face was really burned and charred," McIntosh said. "It was melted into his flesh. I don't think he was conscious. He was swollen and his face and chest were reddened. He had an oxygen mask on his face. They took him from the helipad and wheeled him directly into the hospital." The man, whose name has not been released, was in serious condition in the hospital's burn unit. The man taken to University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton has been identified as Ron Callan, 37. He was in good condition, said a hospital spokeswoman. Two other workers were in stable condition at Lacombe Hospital, and the other two were in stable condition in the emergency room at Red Deer Regional Hospital. Jonathan Lexier of NAL Resources said the battery had been shut down during the maintenance, so no fumes or leaks got into the environment. "The facility was shut down for scheduled maintenance at the time. It was not processing hydrocarbons. It was immediately secured. At no time were nearby residents or the general public in danger," he said in an interview from Calgary. He said nearest residents were more than half a kilometre away. "Work on the site won't continue until safety inspectors complete their investigation," Lexier added. Investigators from Alberta Human Resources and Employment as well as the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board were at the site to determine what happened. Blackfalds is about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton.

Worker electrocuted at University of Akron

05/17/01

AKRON - An Akron man was electrocuted last night while trying to fix a power failure at the University of Akron. The Summit County medical examiner said Douglas R. Young, 35, was pronounced dead at 7:42 p.m., about 35 minutes after the accident. Tony Barnes, a spokesman for the university, said Young was trying to restore power to the new Student Center being built on campus next to the Gardner Center, the current student center. Barnes said Young, an employee of Thompson Electric Co., was working in a switch gear room at the site when he apparently touched a high voltage line.

A man was found dead in the Mountasia entertainment park in the 2400 block of Premier Street in Plano Wednesday afternoon after a possible electrocution.

Thomas Mayes, 21, had only worked in the maintenance department of the park for three days. He had been repairing a light fixture in an area that held a small body of water. He was found unconscious in the water, and attempts were made to resuscitate him. Despite efforts to revive him, Mayes died at the scene. Police say electrocution was probably the cause of Mayes death, however, Richard Beckard, CEO of Mountasia, said electrocution was one possibility, but they are not completely sure that is what happened. The company is investigating the incident. "We are trying to sort out what happened; this is obviously a tragic thing," Beckard said. Beckard said the company was saddened by this and Mayes' family is in everyone's thoughts. "It's a shock to the organization," he said. "We are certainly concerned. We're most concerned about his family." Mayes was married and had three young children.

 

Five hurt in blast from live crane

Five workers were injured yesterday when a crane brushed overhead wires at Cordeaux Dam near Picton.  The electrical surge caused the crane's front tires to explode, scattering debris over a large area.  The driver, 46, who is believed to have suffered heart complications, and his co-worker, 38, were airlifted to Liverpool Hospital. The contractors, were allowed to leave late yesterday.  The other workers - two contractors and a Sydney Catchment Authority employee - were taken to Liverpool Hospital with shrapnel injuries and later released.  NRMA Careflight executive director Mr Ian Badham said the crane became "alive" when its jib came close to 33,000-volt power lines at the dam.  "While the crane apparently did not touch the lines, electricity arced from the high tension supply to the crane," he said.  Ambulance spokesman Mr Jeff Woods said the men were extremely lucky, considering the high voltage of the wires and the widespread damage caused by the blast.  A Sydney Catchment Authority spokesman said the dam and nearby picnic area was closed to the public yesterday while WorkCover officers investigated.  The authority would also conduct its own investigation.  The spokesman said the popular picnic area at Cordeaux Dam had later been reopened.

Details

Parent Category: Incident Alert Archives

Category: Electrical Accidents

Published: 17 August 2010

Electrical Accidents

Electrical Accidents #1 Electrical Accidents #2 Electrical Accidents #3 Electrical Accidents #4 Electrical Accidents #5 Electrical Accidents #6 Electrical Accidents #7 Electrical Accidents #8 Electrical Accidents #9 (most recent accidents) OSHA's Electrical Accident Investigation Summaries

Electrical Accident Summary for the year 2001 from the Ontario Ministry of Labor Washington state Dept. of Labor and Industries official report on a 480 Volt near miss