104,543Records 70,659Employers 84,666Hospitalizations 27,563Amputations 2015-01-01 2025-09-30
Safety Incidents OSHA Severe Injury Reports · 2015–2025

OSHA Accident Investigation · Summary #14542906

POWER LINE WORKER,ELEC UTILITY WORK,FALL,FALL PROTECTION,UTILITY POLE,AERIAL LIFT

Event
POWER LINE WORKER,ELEC UTILITY WORK,FALL,FALL PROTECTION,UTILITY POLE,AERIAL LIFT
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14542906
Report ID
418100

Event description

FALL FROM ELEVATED WORK PLATFORM

Investigation abstract

A TRANSMISSION LINE CREW WAS DETAILED TO INSTALL NEW 75-FOOT WOODEN POLES ON AN POLE CONNECTION. WHEN THE BUCKET WAS BACKED AWAY, THE 5/16-INCH GROUND WIRE IN TENSION SLIPPED UP THE BASKET, STRIKING THE EMPLOYEE AND KNOCKING HIM OUT OF THE BASKET. THE EMPLOYEE FELL 65 FEET TO THE GROUND. HE DIED AS A RESULT OF INJURIE S SUSTAINED IN THE FALL. EXISTING 115-KILOVOLT TRANSMISSION LINE. THE LINES WERE DEENERGIZED AND GROUNDED . THE FIRST NEW 75-FOOT POLE WAS SET NEXT TO THE EXISTING 65-FOOT POLE WITHOUT I NCIDENT. THE CREW LEADER AND ANOTHER EMPLOYEE TOOK ONE VEHICLE UPHILL TO INSTALL POLE #2. THE REMAINING CREW MEMBERS, A LINEMAN AND A HELPER, SET UP AN AERIAL L IFT NEXT TO POLE #1 TO TRANSFER THE CONDUCTORS TO THE NEW POLE. AFTER THE LINEMA N POSITIONED HIMSELF WITH THE AERIAL LIFT, HE INSTALLED A GIN POLE WITH TACKLE T O THE NEW POLE, ATTACHING ONE END TO THE EXISTING 5/16-INCH GROUND WIRE (STATIC WIRE). USING THE BUCKET TO PIN THE WIRE, HE REMOVED THE SHACKLE PIN FROM THE OLD

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 34 M

    Nature of injury
    12
    Part of body
    20
    Event type
    5
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    577
    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.