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 #998997

ELECTRICAL,TELECOM WORK,E TC,LIGHTING FIXTURE,GROUND FAULT,ELECTRIC SHOCK,FALL

Event
ELECTRICAL,TELECOM WORK,E TC,LIGHTING FIXTURE,GROUND FAULT,ELECTRIC SHOCK,FALL
Linked inspection
No inspection record linked to this accident's victims.
Summary number
998997
Report ID
552700

Event description

ELECTRIC SHOCK & FALL - GROUND FAULT IN LIGHTING FIXTURE

Investigation abstract

A CABLE TELEVISION LINE WORKER WAS ASSIGNED TO MOVE THE MESSENGER STRAND BLOCK F D DIED OF HEAD INJURIES 3 DAYS LATER. ROM ONE SIDE OF A UTILITY POLE TO THE OTHER. THE STRAND WAS LOCATED AT A HEIGHT OF 20 FEET ON THE 35-FOOT POLE. THE EMPLOYEE FREE CLIMBED THE POLE (WITHOUT THE USE OF HIS POLE STRAP) TO THE WORKING POSITION. HE THEN HELD A LIGHTING FIXTURE FRAME MEMBER WITH HIS LEFT HAND AS HE USED HIS RIGHT ARM TO PASS THE POLE STRAP AROUND THE POLE. THE UNGROUNDED 120-VOLT LIGHTING FIXTURE HAD A GROUND FAULT, AN D THE EMPLOYEE RECEIVED AN ELECTRIC SHOCK, WHICH FROZE HIS GRIP ON THE FIXTURE F RAME FOR ABOUT 10 SECONDS. WHEN HE WAS FINALLY ABLE TO LET GO, HE LOST HIS GRIP ON THE POLE AND FELL 20 FEET ONTO THE ASPHALT PAVEMENT. HE LANDED ON HIS HEAD AN

Victim

  1. #1 Fatality Age 20 M

    Nature of injury
    21
    Part of body
    13
    Event type
    5
    Source
    43
    Occupation code
    599
    Human factor
    14
    Environmental factor
    18
    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.