Direct exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts · Third or fourth degree electrical burns
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at East Texas Utility Service, Inc., Highway 84, JOAQUIN, TEXAS 75954
on — Third or fourth degree electrical burns, affecting the upper arm(s).
Final narrative
An employee was in bucket replacing a utility pole when he contacted an energized powerline (7,200 volts) and received second and third degree burns to the upper left arm.
An employee was relocating the skidder digger. While turning around, the vehicle was half on, half off the blacktop. The right side of the skidder sunk into the soft dirt and it started to tip over. The employee was pinned under the skidder cage. The employee sustained lacerations to the left ear and eye and a left shoulder injury. The employee was not wearing a seat belt at the time.
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 was terminating cables in a junction box. A loose ground wire came into contact with the bushing, causing a flash that burned the right side of the employee's face and his right hand.
An employee was using a bucket truck hoist to raise secondary aerial wiring. The wire made contact with the primary wire, causing an arc flash. The employee suffered burns to both hands and was hospitalized.
An employee was terminating conductors to buss bars inside the secondary compartment of a single-phase transformer. An arc flash occurred, causing burns to the soft tissue of the employee's face.
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.
After cutting a slab of beef short ribs, an employee turned to grab the pieces he had cut and his right hand contacted the saw blade. The employee sustained an amputation to his right index finger.
An employee was unloading a carpet pad from a truck when they fell from the truck dock to the concrete below, resulting in five fractured ribs and an injury to their left lung.
An employee was walking up a walkway to enter a building through the back entrance when she tripped over the lip of the cement ramp. The employee fell and sustained a fractured right hip.