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 #14567994

UNCONSCIOUSNESS,OVERHEAD POWER LINE,ELECTRICAL,CUTOUT SWITCH,POTENTIAL GRADIENT,ELECTROCUTED,E PTD,GUY,ELEC UTILITY WORK,ELECTRIC SHOCK

Event
UNCONSCIOUSNESS,OVERHEAD POWER LINE,ELECTRICAL,CUTOUT SWITCH,POTENTIAL GRADIENT,ELECTROCUTED,E PTD,GUY,ELEC UTILITY WORK,ELECTRIC SHOCK
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
14567994
Report ID
454510

Event description

ELECTRIC SHOCK - CONTACT WITH OVERHEAD LINE THRU CUTOUT

Investigation abstract

TWO POWER LINE WORKERS RESPONDED FOR A CALL TO REPAIR A RESIDENTIAL SERVICE OUTA THROWN ABOUT 5 FEET AND LOST CONSCIOUSNESS BRIEFLY AS A RESULT OF THE ELECTRIC SHOCK HE RECEIVED. FOR SOME REASON, THIS EMPLOYEE WAS NOT HOSPITALIZED FOR HIS I NJURY. GE. WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE RESIDENCE, THEY DISCOVERED THAT A CUTOUT ON A UTILI TY POLE HAD OPENED. ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES REMOVED THE CUTOUT WITH AN EXTENDIBLE L IVE LINE TOOL. STANDING ABOUT 5 FEET FROM THE POLE, THE OTHER EMPLOYEE REPLACED THE FUSE AND THEN BEGAN TO REPLACE THE CUTOUT. AS HE DID SO, HE CROSSED THE UPPE R, ENERGIZED PORTIONED OF THE CUTOUT WITH ITS SUPPORT BRACKET. THIS ENERGIZED TH E COPPER GUARD AND ALL OTHER SUPPORT HARDWARE, INCLUDING THE GUYS SUPPORTING THE POLE. THE EMPLOYEE WHO CAUSED THE GROUND FAULT WAS THROWN ABOUT 15 FEET AND DIE D OF ELECTROCUTION. THE OTHER EMPLOYEE, WHO WAS ABOUT 15 FEET FROM THE POLE, WAS

Victims (2)

  1. #1 Fatality Age 24 M

    Nature of injury
    10
    Part of body
    29
    Event type
    13
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    14
    Environmental factor
    17
    Task assigned
    1
  2. #2 Non-hospitalized injury Age 33 M

    Nature of injury
    10
    Part of body
    29
    Event type
    13
    Source
    15
    Occupation code
    577
    Human factor
    14
    Environmental factor
    17
    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.