OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14341788

A.O.B.- UNDERGROUND INC.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL· 1988-08-15T00:00:00

Event: BACKHOE BOOM, BURN, CLOTHING, OVERHEAD POWER LINE, ELECTRICAL, BOOM, E C, ELECTRIC SHOCK, BACKHOE
NAICS: 000000
Inspection type: Accident-driven
Activity number: #106108848
Employer profile: A.O.B.- UNDERGROUND INC.
Summary number: 14341788
Report ID: 418800

Event description

ELECTRIC SHOCK & BURN - CONTACT WITH OVERHEAD LINE THRU BOOM

Investigation abstract

A PIPELINE WAS BEING INSTALLED PARALLEL TO AN EXISTING 135-KILOVOLT OVERHEAD POW ER LINE. ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES ON THE CREW WAS HOLDING A STEEL PIPE, GUIDING IT I NTO THE TRENCH. THE BOOM OF THE TRAC HOE SUSPENDING THE PIPE CONTACTED THE OVERH EAD LINE, WHICH WAS ONLY ABOUT 15 FEET AWAY. THE EMPLOYEE RECEIVED AN ELECTRIC S HOCK AND BURNS OVER 90 PERCENT OF HIS BODY. HE DIED OF COMPLICATIONS OF ELECTRIC SHOCK ON SEPTEMBER 5, 1988, 21 DAYS AFTER THE ACCIDENT.

Victim

#1 Fatality Age 21 M

Nature of injury
5

Part of body
4

Event type
6

Source
15

Occupation code
999

Human factor
1

Environmental factor
8

Hazardous substance
8880

Task assigned
2

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.