The United Illuminating Company

On Saturday, January 1, 2022, an employee was injured after being struck by the butt end of a utility pole that was being lifted from a pile of poles in the yard. The employee had climbed up onto a pile of poles in order to set the tongs from the derrick onto a pole for picking. The employee set the tongs in the approximate middle of the pole for weight balance and came down off of the pile. The derrick operator lifted the pole slightly and found it not balanced. The employee then went back onto the pile to adjust the tongs. He then came down off the pile again. At this time, the pole was jarred or came loose from the pile and struck him while he was the ground. He sustained six broken ribs and a punctured lung.

An employee was making modifications to an electrical panel when an arc flash occurred. The employee suffered burns to multiple parts of the body.

An employee was installing a ground wire to a power transmission pole. The ground wire contacted an energized portion of a cut-out, causing an arc-flash. The employee was hospitalized with second degree burns to their chest and arms.

An employee was connecting a utility transformer for underground service to a home. The employee's impact drill went across two connection bars with 240 volts of potential, creating an arc flash. The employee sustained burns to the face and eyes due to the arc flash and molten aluminum.

On December 15, 2023, at 9:15 AM, an employee was changing 60-amp fuses in a 480-volt panel when an arc flash occurred. The employee was hospitalized with burns to both hands.

An employee had just turned off breakers and was loosening wires on panels when they were shocked by 480 volts of electricity.

An employee was performing troubleshooting and maintenance on one of the generators that feed the RF line for glue-laminated timber (glulam) beam production. He was reattaching the outer panel of the generator. A circuit was completed and the employee was electrocuted by the generator and sustained burns. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was utilizing a utility task vehicle (UTV) to patrol a 138 kV transmission line in a right-of-way. The UTV drove into a washout hole that was approximately 6 feet deep and obstructed by vegetation. The employee sustained a dislocated shoulder, a fractured left humerus, back pain, and a strained ankle. He was hospitalized.

A crew of employees were working to replace a utility pole that was broken by a motor vehicle accident. As the crew was removing equipment from the broken pole, part of the pole broke, fell on the injured employee, and rolled over him. The employee sustained two broken shoulders, multiple broken ribs, and a damaged lung that required hospitalization and surgery.

An Ameren lineman was making secondary voltage connections in a pad-mounted residential feed transformer. The lineman contacted an energized lead bushing, sustained an electrical shock, and was hospitalized.

An employee was checking voltage on a meter. There was an arc flash, and the employee suffered burns to both hands.

An employee was checking on a machine outside of the building and removed a cover to clean out a blocked area. His hand was caught by a rotary valve in a dust collection machine. The employee's fingertip was amputated.

An employee was working to clean a glue roller with a scraper tool. The tool and the employee's left thumb were pinched between two rollers, resulting in a partial amputation.

An employee was re-arranging boxes of pipe insulation on a pallet. One of the boxes fell from the pallet and knocked over an upright empty cylinder. The cylinder fell and crushed the tip of the employee's right toe. The employee's toe required surgical amputation.

An employee was securing the claw of a grapple truck to the truck bed. His left little finger was caught between the tie down strap and the rub rail of the truck, resulting in partial amputation of the finger.

An employee was cutting extruded aluminum framing material using a horizontal band saw. She went to grab a rag in the machine when the rag contacted the blade and pulled her hand in toward the blade, resulting in a partial amputation of the right index finger.