Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts · Third or fourth degree electrical burns
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Hooper Corporation, 2030 Pennsylvania Avenue, MADISON, WISCONSIN 53704
on — Third or fourth degree electrical burns, affecting the foot(feet) and knee(s).
Final narrative
An employee was directing the operator of a digger derrick in placing a wooden utility pole in the ground when the insulated boom of the digger derrick contacted an overhead powerline and the employee's leg contacted the energized utility pole, resulting in third degree burns to his knee and foot.
HospitalizedFoot(feet) and knee(s)Utility and telephone poles
An employee was climbing a utility pole to conduct maintenance work and made contact with the electrical line. The employee was hospitalized for electric shock with burns to his right hand and wrist. Personal protective equipment was not worn at the time.
An employee was trimming tree branches at a client property. The employee was climbing the tree when they fell 10 feet to the ground, suffering fractured vertebrae.
An employee was loading HVAC components onto the back of a flatbed truck using a forklift. The employee got onto the flatbed to adjust/position the pallet to make room for a second pallet. The materials on top of the pallet shifted and moved toward the employee. The employee then jumped off the flatbed to the pavement four feet below, resulting in a fractured left tibia.
On August 12, 2024, an employee was traveling in a boom lift through a substation when it contacted an angle iron brace. The employee's body was caught between the brace and the boom lift controls and they sustained a fractured jaw.
An employee was working on a 120-volt secondary line from the bucket of a line truck when they contacted the line and sustained an irregular heart rhythm.
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 238220)
An employee was moving a 3-ton condensing unit, strapped down on a dolly, out of a garage. The strap broke, causing the employee to fall backward onto the brick pavered driveway. The employee suffered injury to a spinal ligament in the neck.
An employee was closing the side cargo door to a company van. The tip of his finger got caught between the door and the door jamb, resulting in a partial amputation.
While working at a customer's residence, an employee was cutting tape with a box cutter to wrap insulation for a piece of pipe. The box cutter struck a hardened object within the wall causing it to bounce back and puncture the employee's right eye. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was assembling a baker type scaffold. He was beginning to transverse down the scaffold, approximately six feet off the ground, when the scaffold tipped over and he fell. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured femur.
An employee was trimming out sprinklers on the exterior of a building when he fell off an extension ladder. He landed on the ground and sustained fractures to his nose and arm.
The injured employee was assisting five other employees with bracing a wall panel that was being stood up. Another employee slipped on frost on the floor surface. The employees went to evacuate the area in anticipation of the wall panel falling over. The injured employee went to jump through a window opening within the wall panel and their lower half was crushed by the falling wall panel. The employee sustained a fractured pelvis.
An employee was using a vertical band saw to cut a thick piece of rubber material. While being cut, the material shifted, causing the employee s right hand to contact the moving blade. The employee's thumb was amputated below the knuckle. The employee was hospitalized, undergoing surgery.
A production sanitation employee was pre-rinsing an incline conveyor and noticed cheese stuck between the belt idler. The employee went to remove the cheese and their glove got caught and pulled their left forearm into the conveyor. The employee's arm was fractured. The machine was not locked out/tagged out at the time.
An employee was on a ladder, taking measurements for a new gutter installation. The ladder slipped out from under him and both he and the ladder fell to the ground. He was hospitalized with seven broken ribs and a broken clavicle.
An employee was unloading a truck for a delivery job. While moving boxes in the truck, the employee tripped over a pallet and fell out of the truck to the ground, resulting in four broken ribs.