Fall or jump curtailed by personal fall arrest system · Traumatic injuries and disorders, unspecified
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at ComEd, 75th St. and Willow Springs Rd., HODGKINS, ILLINOIS 60525
on — Traumatic injuries and disorders, unspecified, affecting the nonclassifiable.
Final narrative
Two employees were installing a new arm on a 200 foot power pole in a 295-foot aerial lift. The lift shifted and the employees fell out of the basket. The employees were using fall protection and suffered traumatic injuries from the fall protection equipment.
An employee was cutting a service line from a transformer pole to a residence's pole. He was working from a ladder secured to the pole. When the wire was cut, the release of tension caused the pole to split at ground level. The employee was strapped to the pole and fell approximately 20-25 feet to the ground. The employee suffered a brain bleed, concussion, and fractures to an orbital bone and wrist.
On December 18, 2018, a temporary employee was spotting equipment being loaded onto a trailer, when a wooden plank fell from the trailer and broke the employee's leg.
While installing overhead electrical lines, an employee received an induced electrical surge, suffering electrical burns on the hands. The employee was hospitalized overnight.
An employee was preparing to add a stiffener to a cross-brace and was loosening a nut on a bolt of the cross-brace. After the nut was removed from the bolt, the cross-brace moved and the employee's fall protection slid off the cross-brace. He fell approximately 45.6 feet to the ground, breaking his ribs, collarbone, and pelvis.
An employee was walking along a trench inspecting the trench box in the excavation when he tripped and fell toward the trench. As the employee was falling head-first into the trench, he attempted to get a hold of the fall protection cable. The cable then looped around his left hand and the employee fell approximately 8 feet into the trench before the fall protection engaged. The employee suffered amputations of his left index, middle, ring, and little fingers.
A ranger was performing back-country patrol duties while hiking. As they were climbing a technical rock patch, a rock handhold broke, causing the employee to fall approximately 15 feet before their belay engaged. The employee contacted a rock, resulting in a fracture to the right ilium as well as a subcutaneous hematoma to the right gluteal region.
Employees were erecting structural steel. The injured employee was sitting on a 12" wide horizontal member and lining up an I-beam brace as it was suspended by an overhead crane. He leaned left to push the end of the brace. The end of the suspended brace swung away from him, causing him to lose balance and fall 8 feet. His personal fall arrest system arrested his fall, but he swung into a piece of duct work during the fall that resulted in a concussion.
On September 12, 2022, an employee was on a metal roof, installing a standing seam and insulation. He lost his balance and fell toward the third floor slab, which was 10 feet from the roof. His fall protection caught him and left him suspended about 2 to 4 feet from the slab. He suffered a brain bleed and a spinal fracture in his lower back. He was hospitalized.
An employee was working from a bucket lift, removing a tree in sections. He lost his balance while pushing on a section and fell. His fall protection caught him and he swung into a tree, suffering an injury that caused head, neck, and leg pain, as well as loss of consciousness while he was at the hospital.
More severe injuries in this industry (NAICS 221121)
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 changing a die in a press when the die slipped and crushed the employee's left index finger. The employee sustained an open facture of the tuft of the left distal phalanx and a partial amputation.
An employee was driving a boom lift (in the lowered position) in an exterior dock area. The lift s left wheels rolled onto base plates that covered a 3-foot-deep sump pit. The base plates failed, and one side of the lift dropped. The employee's left leg was caught under the lift basket, and he suffered a fracture to the lower leg including the ankle.