Here’s a reminder for employees who work near power lines: Electricity kills workers, all too often.
Three recent incidents show the hazards:
- A man trimming a tree in Madison Township, MI, was electrocuted when a small limb of the tree touched a power line. Michael Augostino was working in the top of the tree. The local electric company had to cut power to the line that touched the tree before firefighters could rescue Augostino. By the time they were able to reach him, he was already dead. He was the owner of a tree trimming business with 20 years experience.
- Russell Culver of Bellevue, TN, was electrocuted while trimming trees. Culver had tied off to a tree when a metal clip from his gear came into contact with a power line. He was taken to a local hospital where he later died of his injuries.
- A Lisbon, OH, man was killed after he was electrocuted while working as a foreman. Thomas Otto was part of a team employed by Thompson Electric that was repairing some utility poles. Otto was leaning against a bucket truck when the boom made contact with electric lines and knocked him unconscious. He died later at a local hospital.
An OSHA eTool provides some examples of equipment that can contact power lines and cause serious injury or death:
- aluminum paint rollers
- backhoes
- concrete pumpers
- cranes
- metal building materials
- metal ladders
- raised dump truck beds, and
- scaffolds.
