A 33-year-old male heavy construction equipment field mechanic (victim), repairing a tractor at a residential construction site, was struck and electrocuted by a severed overhead power line. Two other mechanics were in the process of repairing a drive sprocket of an excavator parked 150 feet away from the tractor. The tractor, the excavator, and a tank truck were parked on the curb-side of a residential roadway, beneath a three-phase 8000V power line. To remove the damaged sprocket, it was necessary to swing the excavator boom 180 degrees and use it to raise one excavator track. Despite one mechanic serving as a spotter, the excavator boom hit and severed the power line as it was swung. The line fell across the tank truck, and knocked the victim off of the tractor to the ground. He was electrocuted when it came to rest on top of him. MN FACE investigators concluded that, in order to prevent similar occurrences, the following guidelines should be followed: (1) identify and evaluate workplace hazards, including job hazard analysis as an ongoing part of each construction phase; and (2) maintain safe minimum working clearances from energized overhead power lines when operating a boomed vehicle.


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    Title :

    Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report for Minnesota: Heavy Construction Equipment Mechanic Dies From Electrocution, FACE-93-MN-062


    Publication date :

    1994


    Size :

    4 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English