Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts · Electrocutions, electric shocks
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Sage Telecommunications Corporation, 0787 County Road 223, RIFLE, COLORADO 81650
on — Electrocutions, electric shocks, affecting the bODY SYSTEMS.
Final narrative
An employee was installing a down guy-wire on an overhead cable TV facility when the tail of the wire contacted the overhead powerline. The employee received an electrical shock and was hospitalized.
A crew was working near an electrical pole. A co-worker was using a front-loader to grade a slope when the loader slid into a guy-wire and became tangled and stuck. The injured employee used a handheld grinder to cut the wire a few feet from the ground. The lower part of the wire fell to the ground, but the upper part of the wire fell toward the pole and contacted an energized part before the end landed in nearby bushes. The employee attempted to shake the bush to free the wire so it could fall back toward the pole. The wire popped up and contacted his hands, resulting in electrical entry burns to both hands and exit burns on both feet.
On November 18, 2023, two employees were using a 2x4 to lift a power line. The boom lift they were operating made contact with power lines and both employees sustained electrical shock injuries.
An employee was part of a crew that was servicing a power line. The employee was in a bucket truck when he contacted the 7,200-volt power line. The electricity entered through one hand and exited the other, causing several electrical burns. The employee was not wearing proper personal protective equipment at the time.
An employee was helping a crew set up a 45-foot pole between two other poles. It was being set up between two energized lines and the pole made contact with the A-phase. The employee was electrocuted and lost consciousness. The electricity also caused an entry wound in their left forearm and an exit wound in their left foot.
An employee was handling a 45-foot long rebar for installation on the third floor of a building at a 30-foot elevation. The rebar came into close proximity of a powerline situated 13 feet off the building. The employee sustained electrical burns to his hands from electric discharge, requiring hospitalization.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 517919)
An employee was adjusting a cable reel that was loaded onto the forks of a forklift. The reel shifted and caught the employee's left index fingertip against the backrest, amputating it.
An employee was on an extension ladder, about 15-18 feet high, while spraying a wasp nest on a telecommunications pole. He fell to the ground and sustained fractures to his hip, requiring hospitalization.
An employee was working from a ladder, pulling a cable line through a wall at a customer's house. He lost his balance and jumped off the ladder, landed on the ground about 7 feet below, and suffered injuries to both ankles including a fracture to at least one. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was pulling inner duct from one handhole to another. The shackle on a winch cable contacted the cable sheave's roller block. The employee released tension on the winch cable and lifted the cable to guide the shackle over the lip of the handhole. As he re-engaged the winch, his left index fingertip became caught between components in the winch's retrieval wheel. The fingertip was amputated between the last knuckle and the nail.
An employee was delivering materials. He was doing his pre-delivery inspection on the roof of the jobsite (a warehouse) when he fell through a plexiglass skylight. He landed on his feet on the concrete floor 14 feet below. The employee sustained fractures to his spine, left ulnar/radius, and right heel. The employee required surgery.
An employee was removing packaging from a roll of printing substrate. The blade of their utility knife got stuck. The employee used both hands to free the knife and the blade partially amputated their left little fingertip.
A concrete batch plant operator was assisting with clearing spoil piles using a skid steer. The skid steer backed into a stationary screen plant. The employee's left little finger was crushed between the controls of the skid steer and the screen plant, resulting in a fracture and laceration. The employee's finger was surgically amputated.
An employee was standing on an extension ladder, using a torquing tool to remove bolts that secured blades to a rotor. When the torquing tool activated, its reaction arm came around and pinched the employee's right middle finger against a lifting eye. His fingertip was amputated.