Consolidated Communications, Inc.

An employee was climbing out of the bucket of a work truck when they fell, resulting in fractured ribs and a broken clavicle.

An employee was installing fiber-optic cables in an aerial lift when they made contact with electrified wires, resulting in second- and third-degree burns to their back and right arm, hand, and wrist.

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.

An employee was descending a ladder that was on a strand when the ladder shifted, causing the employee to jump off and fall about 5.5 feet to the ground. The employee sustained a fractured right ankle.

An employee was cutting boxes using a box cutting tool and lacerated an artery in their wrist. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was removing 2,500-foot reels of 1 cable-in-conduit (CIC) weighing ~1,022 lbs. from the back of an enclosed delivery truck. The employee was manually rolling a reel off the truck when another reel shifted and rolled forward, crushing his right hand between the two reels. The employee's right ring finger was partially amputated without loss of bone.

An employee was on an extension ladder working to replace a service line to a customer's home. The existing service line broke, causing him to fall off the ladder. He was hospitalized with a dislocated elbow and fractures in his left wrist requiring surgery.

An employee stepped on a traffic cone while walking to a truck. The employee slipped and fell, suffered a fractured and possibly dislocated ankle, and was hospitalized, requiring surgery.

An employee slipped while climbing a ladder on a skidder, fell to the ground, and suffered a tibia/fibula fracture. The employee was hospitalized.

An employee was lowering the bucket of a track loader that contained a grade stake and the grade stake punctured his foot, resulting in hospitalization and surgery.

An employee was using a pike to move a pallet of sugar that was stuck in the powder racking. The employee fell backward, landing on his right leg. The employee's leg was fractured and he was hospitalized.

An employee was working to fix the forks on a forklift when the fork(s) fell on her toes. The second and third toes on her right foot were fractured, lacerated, and required stitches.

An employee was delivering a 65-foot boom lift to a rental customer's construction site. The employee set up the ramp truck in the parking lot adjacent to the construction site. He elevated the boom 4-5 feet to clear a temporary fence. While driving the boom lift off the ramp, the wheels slid to the driver's side of the ramp truck, ultimately sliding off the ramp. The boom lift fell off the side of the truck and rolled onto its side. The employee sustained a fractured clavicle, a dislocated shoulder, separated/fractured ribs, a punctured lung, and a fractured left femur. The employee required surgery.