07.01.2015
Another electrocution
A man aged 64 was electrocuted in Arcata, Northern California, yesterday, when he took the platform he was working from too close to a set of overhead power lines.
The emergency services were called to the scene at a lumber mill owned and operated by Sierra Pacific Industries and reported that the man appeared to be unconscious in the platform at a height of around seven metres. The platform was not in contact with the power lines, but was only inches away. Firefighters believe that part of his body touched the cables causing the shock.
The firemen managed to use the machine’s emergency lowering valves to bring the platform down, once they were able to reach the man they quickly determined that he was already dead. The man was a contractor testing and repairing equipment at the mill.
The incident is under investigation by Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Sierra Pacific Industries
Vertikal Comment
ANSI standards stipulate Minimal Approach Distances for working near overhead power lines, and at last year’s Conexpo IPAF made this subject a cornerstone of its display and has pushed hard to get its nine and 15 metre rule adopted. And yet to many platform users, contractors and plant owners seem oblivious to them.
How many more people have to die before this subject is truly taken seriously?
Sherm
We who work at height must think before we act, know the risks and take no chances. If there is an evident risk reset the lift vehicle to provide a safe angle of approach to the target.