Public Service Electric & Gas

Employees were working on an excavation to expose underground gas lines for repair. The backhoe operator pulled up the digging stabilizers and turned his chair around to drive the machine away from the excavation. As the operator turned his chair, the headrest on the back of the chair caught the boom joystick, causing the boom to swing to the right. The injured employee who was near the backhoe was struck in the chest by the backhoe boom and pushed up against the dump truck, resulting in 5 rib fractures, a punctured lung, and heart arrythmia.

An employee was coming upstairs from a basement when his foot was caught in a hole in a step. He fell backward and tore his quadriceps. He was hospitalized for surgery.

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.

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.

Two employees were removing a circuit breaker. The injured employee was using wrenches in the removal process. One of the wrenches contacted an adjacent door, resulting in an arc flash. The employee suffered burns to their neck, face, and ear, as well as momentary vision loss due to the flash.

An employee was installing a fuse in a machine cabinet. An arc flash burned the employee's left arm, and the employee was hospitalized.

An employee was setting up communication equipment for a meeting. They were walking and tripped over a speaker on the ground. The employee sustained a leg injury.

An employee (a lineman) was working to restore power by installing a hand line when he contacted a high-voltage device (7,200 volts), resulting in electrical burns to his upper body and hands.

A chain sling failed while a utility pole was being removed. A chain link struck an employee who was operating a front-end loader, puncturing the employee's chest.

An employee was connecting two wires when his rubber insulated gloves failed and he suffered an electric shock to his right hand, resulting in an electrical burn.

A four-man crew was replacing a crossarm near a street. The injured employee was in a bucket truck unpinning the neutral when the crossarm broke and the primary crossarm above fell onto them. The employee suffered electrical burns to their upper body and both arms.

An employee tripped over a stool and fell on the floor, resulting in a left displaced mid-cervical femoral neck fracture.

An employee was installing fence posts when they stepped into a recently dug hole that was not visible due to rainfall. The employee's leg was fractured.

An employee assisted in cleaning material from a conveyor pit. After the pit was cleaned, the employee proceeded to replace metal safety plates to ensure other employees did not fall into the pit. While replacing one of the last plates, the employee mis-stepped and fell approximately 5 feet into the pit. The employee was hospitalized with back/side bruising, elbow bruising, bone bruises, and/or fractured ribs.

An employee was inspecting a breaker box and turning on/off a circuit breaker when he was electrocuted.

An employee was walking on the sidewalk. When they stepped off the curb, they fell to the ground, resulting in fractures to their tibia, fibula, and a metatarsal.