DATE: 

September 10, 2018

TIME:

12:15 pm

VICTIM:

16-year old roofer

______________________

INDUSTRY/NAICS CODE:

Roofing contractor/238160

EMPLOYER: 

Roofing contractor

______________________

SAFETY & TRAINING:

No safety programs

SCENE: 

Private residence

LOCATION:

Kentucky

EVENT TYPE:

Electrocution

___________________________

INCIDENT HIGHLIGHTS REPORT#: 18KY054 REPORT DATE: 1-16-2019

Teen Roofer Electrocuted when Ladder 

Contacts High Voltage Power Line

________________________________________________________

SUMMARY

On Monday, September 10, 2018, a 16-year-old male roofer (the 

victim) attempted to maneuver a fully extended 25-foot ladder when 

he lost control, causing the ladder to fall backwards and contact a 

7200-volt electric power line, electrocuting him. 

READ THE FULL REPORT> (p.4)

________________________________________________________

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS

Key contributing factors identified in this investigation include:

• Work performed outside youth employment regulations

• Lack of hazard recognition and safety training

• Use of a conductive ladder around high voltage lines

• Transporting an extension ladder in the vertical position

______________________________________________________

RECOMMENDATIONS

FACE investigators concluded that, to help prevent similar

occurrences, employers should:

• Perform a job hazard analysis of the worksite

• Become familiar with and comply with all federal, state, and local

regulations associated with youth employment

• Use non-conductive ladders around power lines

• Lower the extension ladder and transport it horizontally

• LEARN MORE> (p.7)
Page 2

Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program 

This case report was developed to draw the attention of employers and employees to a serious safety hazard and is based on 

preliminary data only. This publication does not represent final determinations regarding the nature of the incident, cause of the 

injury, or fault of employer, employee, or any party involved.

This case report was developed by the Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Program. Kentucky FACE is a 

NIOSH-funded occupational fatality surveillance program with the goal of preventing fatal work injuries by studying the worker, the 

work environment, and the role of management, engineering, and behavioral changes in preventing future injuries. The FACE 

program is located in the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center (KIPRC). KIPRC is a bona fide agent for the Kentucky 

Department for Public Health.

Email: Kyfaceprogram@uky.edu

Twitter: http://twitter.com/KYFACEProgram 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Kyfaceprogram/ 

Website: http://www.mc.uky.edu/KIPRC/face/index.html 
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 3

INTRODUCTION

At 12:15 pm on Monday, September 10, 2018, a 16-year-old male roofer (the victim) was killed when the 

metal ladder he was holding while on the ground contacted a high voltage line above him. On October 1, 

2018, the Kentucky Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation Program was notified of the incident via an 

online news source. On October 2, 2018, the Kentucky FACE investigator conducted a site visit. Photographs 

of the incident site and witness statements were taken at that time. 

EMPLOYER

• The prime contractor, a small business who specialized in residential and commercial roofing, 

remodeling, and new construction, had been in business since 2005 and employed six workers. In an 

interview with the owner of the business, he stated that he often took jobs and hired subcontractors to 

complete the work. The prime contractor had no employees on site the day of the incident. 

• The subcontractor, for whom the victim worked, had been in business since 2012 and had a total staff 

number of four employees, including himself and the victim, all of whom were on site the day of the 

incident. The owner of the subcontracting company had taken and completed jobs from the prime 

contractor in the past. 

WRITTEN SAFETY PROGRAMS and TRAINING

The subcontractor had no written safety programs nor verbal safety training provided to the employees. The 

employees learned on the job how to perform their duties.

WORKER INFORMATION

The victim was a 16-year-old Hispanic male who had been employed with the subcontractor roofing company 

since July 2018. He had some high school education, but was not enrolled in school at the time of the incident. 

The employee spoke English primarily, but was bilingual, and would communicate with his coworkers in 

Spanish. The co-workers did not speak English. At the time of the incident, the victim was wearing khaki

workpants with a gray pocket tee shirt, and tan work boots. The victim was not wearing any personal 

protective equipment nor was there any on site. 

INCIDENT SCENE

The incident scene was a single family, private residence located on a rural highway, 3.5 miles from the 

nearest town. The two-story brick home measured 4,022 square feet and sat on a 57-acre parcel of land. On 

the home’s exterior was a 600 square foot garage and several decorative boxwood shrubs that circled the 

perimeter of the house.
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 4

WEATHER

The temperature was 61oF at the time of the incident. Wind was west 3 mph and clear. Weather was not 

considered a factor in this incident1.

INVESTIGATION

On Monday, September 10, 2018, at 8:00 am, the victim arrived at the worksite to begin roofing work on a 

private residential home. The homeowners, a husband and wife, contacted a local general contractor to

replace the roof on their home. The owner of the general contracting company hired a subcontractor to 

perform the work, a process he informed authorities that he performs regularly. The crew began work on the 

back of the house and quickly worked together to complete the task. 

At approximately 12:00 pm, the victim gathered a model D1828-2EQ Werner aluminum extension ladder and 

moved to the front of the house to begin work there while the other three men moved on to the side of the 

house. At the front of the house, there were two 4 feet x 4 feet boxwood bushes planted 3 feet from the 

home’s exterior wall at the point where the victim was attempting to access the roof. There were no 

witnesses, but it is believed that because of the bushes, the victim was having trouble accessing the roof. With 

the ladder still fully extended, the victim attempted to move it closer by lifting the ladder and walking 

between the bushes to find a suitable base. The ladder became unstable, causing the victim to lose his 

balance falling backwards. As the victim and ladder were falling, the ladder fell into a top phase power line 

carrying 7.2 kilovolts (7,200 volts). Because the victim was still in contact with the highly conductive aluminum 

ladder when it struck the power line, electricity was able to travel through the metal and into the young 

worker. He was immediately electrocuted. 

Image 1. Residence the victim was working on at the time of the incident.

Photo property of KY FACE.
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 5

After hearing a noise from the front of the home, the owner of the subcontracting company went to 

investigate and found the victim lying unresponsive on the ground. He immediately knocked on the home’s 

front door and frantically tried to communicate to the wife what had happened and asked for help. The 

homeowner called 911 at 12:15 pm. When EMS arrived eight minutes later, they observed the victim lying on 

the ground facing upwards. Both of the worker’s boots had burn holes near the fifth toe; burn marks were also 

present on the stomach area. He was pronounced dead by the county coroner minutes later. 

In an interview with the county sheriff’s office with the help of a translator, the coworkers stated that they 

were on the side of the home and did not observe this incident. The owner of the subcontracting company 

acknowledged that he had instructed the victim to move to the front of the house to continue work there. 

Both coworkers were aware that the victim was putting up a ladder to access the front roof and that the 

victim had not asked for assistance.

Photo 2. Front of the residence and power line that employee contacted with ladder.

Photo property of KY FACE Program.
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 6

Photo 3. The ladder used by the victim.

Photo property of KY FACE.

Photo 4. The box wood bush the victim was attempting to work around.

Photo property of KY FACE.
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 7

CAUSE OF DEATH 

The cause of death was high voltage electrocution. 

CONTRIBUTING FACTORS 

Occupational injuries and fatalities are often the result of one or more contributing factors or key events in a 

larger sequence of events that ultimately result in the injury or fatality. Kentucky FACE investigator identified 

the following unrecognized hazards as key contributing factors in this incident: 

• Work performed outside youth employment regulations

• Lack of hazard recognition and safety training

• Use of a conductive ladder around high voltage lines

• Transporting an extension ladder in the vertical position

RECOMMENDATIONS/DISCUSSION

Recommendation #1: Employers should perform a job hazard analysis prior to performing a new task.

Discussion: A job hazard analysis (JHA) is a technique employed by site supervisors, experienced employees, 

and safety personnel that focuses on job tasks as a way of identifying what potential hazards workers may 

encounter when performing each task. The Occupational Safety Health Association (OSHA) states that JHAs 

should take priority on the following types of jobs: jobs with the highest injury or illness rates; jobs with the 

potential to cause severe or disabling injuries or illness, even if there is no history of previous accidents; jobs in 

which one simple human error could lead to a severe accident or injury; jobs that are new to your operation or 

have undergone changes in processes and procedures; and jobs complex enough to require written 

instructions2. 

In this incident, the employees were exposed to working at heights, working from ladders, and close proximity 

to high voltage power lines. A job hazard analysis would recognize the numerous hazards that the roofing 

workforce was being exposed to so that necessary safety precautions could be undertaken. 

Recommendation #2: Employers should become familiar with and comply with all federal, state, and local 

regulations associated with youth employment, including safety training and hazard recognition. 

Discussion: According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), approximately 1.5 million youth under the age 

of 18 are employed during the school year3, with a majority of high school students working at some point 

before they graduate. Due to their age and inexperience, these workers are more vulnerable to work-related 

injury and death. In 2014, the rate of work-related injuries treated in emergency departments for workers, 

ages 15–19, was 2.18 times greater than the rate for workers 25 years of age and older4. 

Due to the high injury rate of minors in the workplace, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has very specific child 

labor laws, providing guidelines on how many hours per week young workers are permitted to work, what 
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 8

times of the day they are allowed to work, and what occupations are prohibited for minors under the age of 

185. The Kentucky Labor Cabinet lists 19 occupations that are prohibited for minors, including #16: “Roofing 

operations and all work on or about a roof.” Subcontractors and contractors should familiarize themselves 

with Kentucky child labor laws and Federal child labor laws before employing youths in specific occupations. In 

addition federal laws apply Hazardous Occupations from the US department of labor: Eighteen is the minimum 

age for employment in non-agricultural occupations declared hazardous by the Secretary of Labor. The rules 

prohibiting working in hazardous occupations (HO) apply either on an industry basis, or on an occupational 

basis no matter what industry the job is in. Parents employing their own children are subject to these same 

rules. General exemptions apply to all of these occupations, while limited apprentice/student-learner 

exemptions apply to those occupations marked with an *. 

These rules prohibit work in, or with the following: 

HO 16.

Roofing operations and all work on or about a roof.

Recommendation #3: Employers should consider using non-conductive ladders when working near electrical 

lines.

Discussion: At the time of the incident, the victim was using an aluminum ladder to access the roof. Aluminum 

has an electrical resistivity (ρ (Ω•m)) – the measure of how strongly a material opposes the flow of electric 

current – of 2.82×10-8 at 20oC. Inversely, aluminum has an electrical conductivity (σ (S/m)) – the measure of 

how well a material conducts an electrical current – of 3.5×107 at 20oC. Because of its extremely low resistivity 

and extremely high conductivity, aluminum is one of the best electrical conducting metals, behind only silver, 

copper, annealed copper, and gold6. As the ladder contacted the overhead power line, 7,200 volts and 16 

amperes (amps) travelled through ladder, into the victim, and exited his body via the stomach and each foot’s 

fifth (pinky) toe. At values as low as 100 milliamps (.1 amps), death can occur7. Due to the high amount of 

amperes that entered the victim’s body, cardiac arrest occurred instantly. 

In order to prevent similar incidents, the employer should consider using a non-conductive ladder, such as 

those made of a fiberglass-reinforced polymer, when working around live power lines. Due to its low electrical 

conductivity and high resistance to corrosion, these ladders would make a safe and practical choice when 

working outdoors around electricity. However, employers should ensure that these fiberglass ladders are 

maintained properly as required by 29 CFR 1926.1053. Unmaintained ladders may accumulate excess dirt or 

moisture that can conduct electricity in the event it encounters a high voltage line. 

Recommendation #4: Employees should always lower the extended section and transport ladders 

horizontally.

Discussion: The victim was moving a model D1828-2EQ Werner aluminum extension ladder that weighed 

approximately 56 pounds. When collapsed, the ladder was 14 feet tall and had a maximum open extended 

length of 25 feet. At the time of the incident, the victim, who measured 5’10” tall and weighed 165 pounds, 
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 9

was moving the ladder, which was extended to the maximum length of 25 feet. As the ladder became unstable 

and began to fall, the victim may have been unable to support the ladder’s top-heavy design while standing on 

uneven terrain, which allowed it to contact the power line. 

In instances where an extension ladder needs to be relocated, employees should lower the extended portion 

of the ladder until it is appropriately collapsed, carefully lay the ladder down, and transport it horizontally 

while grasping the ladder’s middle section with both hands in order to safety manage its weight. Once the 

ladder is placed in the necessary area, ensure the base is secure and re-extend the ladder to the appropriate 

height. Had the ladder been lowered and transported horizontally, the high voltage line could have been 

avoided. 

DISCLAIMER

Mention of any company or product does not constitute endorsement by the National Institute for 

Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). In addition, citations to websites external to NIOSH do not constitute 

NIOSH endorsement of the sponsoring organizations or their programs or products. Furthermore, NIOSH is not 

responsible for the content of these websites. All web addresses referenced in this document were accessible 

as of the publication date.

This case report was developed to draw the attention of employers and employees to a serious safety hazard 

and is based on preliminary data only. This publication does not represent final determinations regarding the 

nature of the incident, cause of the injury, or fault of employer, employee, or any party involved.

PROGRAM FUNDING

The Kentucky Fatality Assessment & Control Evaluation Program (FACE) is funded by grant 5U60OH008483-14

from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

REFERENCES

[1] “Historical Weather.” Archive. Weather Underground. https://www.wunderground.com/history

[2] Job Hazard Analysis. https://www.osha.gov/Publications/osha3071.pdf

[3] Stats and Stories. http://youngworkers.org/injuries/stats/

[4] Youth Workers and Safety. https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/youth/default.html

[5] Kentucky Child Labor Laws Poster. 

https://labor.ky.gov/Documents/KY%20Child%20Labor%20Poster%20English.pdf

[6] Table of Electrical Resistivity and Conductivity. https://www.thoughtco.com/table-of-electrical-resistivityconductivity-608499.
REPORT#: 18KY054 Page 10

[7] How much electricity can you take on before you die?

https://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/how-much-voltage-can-you-take-on-before-you-die/

INVESTIGATOR INFORMATION

This investigation was conducted by DeAnna McIntosh, Safety Specialist, Fatality Assessment and Control 

Evaluation, Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center, University of Kentucky, College of Public Health.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

The Kentucky FACE program would like to acknowledge the Sheriff’s Department, the Coroner, and the 

General Contractor for their assistance with this report.