105,313Records 71,083Employers 85,290Hospitalizations 27,770Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-10-31
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14235766

BURN,ELECTRIC ARC,ELECTRICAL,POWER LINE WORKER,ELECTRIC CABLE,LOCKOUT,E PTD,ELEC UTILITY WORK,ELECTRICAL FAULT,UNDRGRD POWER LINE

Event
BURN,ELECTRIC ARC,ELECTRICAL,POWER LINE WORKER,ELECTRIC CABLE,LOCKOUT,E PTD,ELEC UTILITY WORK,ELECTRICAL FAULT,UNDRGRD POWER LINE
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14235766
Report ID
552700

Event description

BURN - ELECTRICAL FAULT IN UNDERGROUND CABLE

Investigation abstract

A power line worker was connecting an elbow for an underground power line cable that he thought was deenergized. The cable was energized, however; and an electr ical fault occurred when the elbow contacted a ground. The ensuing electric arc burned the employee on his face and left hand. He was hospitalized for 72 hours, 24 of which were spent in an intensive care unit.

Victim

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 30 M

    Nature of injury
    5
    Part of body
    9
    Event type
    1
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    13
    Environmental factor
    18
    Task assigned
    1

Codes shown verbatim from OSHA's accident-investigation database. A human-readable decoder is coming in a future release once the accident_lookup2 dictionary is loaded.