Incident date: 2024-11-18
NAICS industry code: 926130

An employee and two crewmembers were dispatched to repair downed utility conductors after a tree fell onto the facilities and caused a power outage. The injured employee climbed the utility pole to untie the conductor so the team could pull the conductor up into position from the ground. The  employee attached a web hoist to the conductor and needed to reposition the hoist to continue removing slack. As he resumed pulling slack with the web hoist, the pole made a cracking sound and subsequently fell in the direction he was working. The pole then fell to the ground with the injured employee still attached, resulting in fractured ribs, a compression fracture of their vertebrae, and a laceration to the chin.

Hazard classification:
code_event: title: Fall to lower level from collapsing structure or equipment  unspecified
code_source: title: Utility poles
code_nature: title: Fractures
code_body: title: Multiple trunk locations
severity: moderate