Indirect exposure to electricity, greater than 220 volts · Electrocutions, electric shocks
At a glance
Federal OSHA recorded a severe workplace injury
at Reserve Communication and Computer, LLC, 42462 Highway 42, PRAIRIEVILLE, LOUISIANA 70769
on — Electrocutions, electric shocks, affecting the bODY SYSTEMS.
Final narrative
An employee was servicing a fiber optic cable drop to a customer's home. The fiber optic line became energized and the employee received an electric shock.
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 811213)
An employee was operating a hoist and receiving the rope as it came into the hoist. Tape on a rope splice caught her glove and pulled her right hand into the capstan. The employee sustained crushing injuries resulting in amputations of the ring and little fingertips to the first knuckle.
An employee was helping a crane operator hook up a jib when the jib fell on their left foot, resulting in a fractured foot and ankle that required hospitalization.
An employee was loading equipment into the bed of a pickup truck. They were stepping off the bed, tripped over the equipment, and fell to the ground, fracturing their left knee. The employee was hospitalized.
An employee was descending a ladder that was attached midspan between two utility poles. The ladder shifted and the left hook came loose, causing the employee to be thrown 6 to 8 feet to the ground. The employee sustained rib fractures, a shoulder injury, and a head injury that caused a loss of consciousness.
An employee was using a 14-foot ladder to access a roof panel when the employee fell 14 feet to the ground below, resulting in a fracture of the T6 and T7 vertebrae.
A driver was exiting his vehicle outside the plant gate when his foot slipped on the top step of the truck. He fell to the ground, landed on his left hip and elbow. The employee was hospitalized with a fractured hip/femur.
A security employee was responding to an urgent call from staff regarding a violent patient. The employee tripped and fell on the floor outside of the stairwell. The employee sustained a closed head injury, contusion of the cerebrum without loss of consciousness, and a closed fracture of the distal end of the right radius.
A temporary employee was testing an electrical starter motor. He was placing tape on the starter while the breaker was not engaged, but the starter sent an arc flash that burned his hands and stomach.
An employee was walking on a sidewalk and stubbed his toe on an elevated portion of concrete, causing him to trip and fall. The employee's right knee was dislocated.