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 #14394647

EXTENSION LADDER,OVERHEAD POWER LINE,ELECTRICAL,ELECTROCUTED,LADDER,METAL LADDER,ELECTRIC SHOCK,E GI IB

Event
EXTENSION LADDER,OVERHEAD POWER LINE,ELECTRICAL,ELECTROCUTED,LADDER,METAL LADDER,ELECTRIC SHOCK,E GI IB
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14394647
Report ID
625700

Event description

ELECTRIC SHOCK - CONTACT WITH OVERHEAD LINE THRU LADDER

Investigation abstract

A WATERPROOFING MECHANIC AND A LABORER WERE CAULKING AN EXPANSION JOINT ON THE E XTERIOR OF A BUILDING. A 13.8-KILOVOLT OVERHEAD POWER LINE WAS LOCATED 21 FEET, 3 INCHES ABOVE THE GROUND AND 19 FEET, 5 INCHES AWAY FROM THE WALL WHERE THEY WE RE CAULKING. THE WERE USING AN ALUMINUM EXTENSION LADDER THAT HAD BEEN EXTENDED TO ABOUT 24 FEET. WHILE THEY WERE MOVING THE LADDER, THEY LOST CONTROL OF IT, AN D IT FELL BACKWARDS AGAINST THE POWER LINE. THE EMPLOYEES WERE BOTH HOLDING THE LADDER WITH THEIR HANDS. ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES WAS ELECTROCUTED. HIS COWORKER, WH O WAS WEARING LEATHER GLOVES, RECEIVED BURNS TO THE FINGERS OF HIS LEFT HAND AND A BURN ON THE ARCH OF HIS LEFT FOOT. HE WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR HIS INJURIES.

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 29 M

    Nature of injury
    10
    Part of body
    4
    Event type
    6
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    599
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    13
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Hospitalized Age 36 M

    Nature of injury
    10
    Part of body
    10
    Event type
    6
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    869
    Human factor
    1
    Environmental factor
    13
    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.