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 #14549034

BURN,CLOTHING,ELECTRICAL,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,TRENCH DIGGER,E C,ELECTRIC SHOCK,UNDRGRD POWER LINE

Event
BURN,CLOTHING,ELECTRICAL,CONSTRUCTION,TRENCH,TRENCH DIGGER,E C,ELECTRIC SHOCK,UNDRGRD POWER LINE
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14549034
Report ID
951510

Event description

ELECTRIC SHOCK - CONTACT WITH UNDERGROUND LINE THRU DIGGER

Investigation abstract

AN EMPLOYEE WAS BREAKING UP UNDERGROUND CONCRETE SUPPORT BEAMS WITH A TRENCH DIG GER. HE CAME TO A "CONCRETE JACKET" WHICH PROTECTED UNDERGROUND POWER LINES. WIT HOUT RECOGNIZING THE PURPOSE OF THE "CONCRETE JACKET", HE CONTINUED TO BREAK THR OUGH IT AND MADE CONTACT WITH THE ENERGIZED LINES. AS A RESULT OF THE FLASH AND EXPLOSION, HE WAS THROWN OUT OF THE 3-FOOT-DEEP DIRT TRENCH IN WHICH HE WAS WORK ING. HE WAS HOSPITALIZED FOR SECOND-DEGREE BURNS TO HIS HANDS, THIGHS, AND STOMA CH.

Victim

  1. #1 Hospitalized Age 53 M

    Nature of injury
    10
    Part of body
    19
    Event type
    13
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    564
    Human factor
    4
    Environmental factor
    18
    Hazardous substance
    8870
    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.