Landscaper electrocuted and two workers seriously injured when a felled tree landed on an overhead power line.
Authors
New Jersey Department of Health
Source
Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE 01NJ117, 2002 Oct; :1-14
On October 18, 2001, a 21-year-old landscaper was electrocuted when a felled tree landed on an overhead power line and caused the power line to drop. A landscaping company had subcontracted to take down 110 trees and clear the area for a parking lot. The company hired two experienced tree trimmers to assist with tree removal. When they felled a 65-foot oak tree, one of the branches caught onto the 69,000 volt power line that was 29 feet above the ground. The porcelain insulators on the adjacent supporting utility poles broke and the power line dropped to within a few feet from the ground. The company owner's 21-year-old son was electrocuted and two workers (including the company owner) were seriously injured by the electric current. NJ FACE investigators concluded that, to prevent similar incidents, these safety guidelines should be followed: 1. A knowledgeable person should assess each work site for safety hazards and design a work plan that addresses those hazards. 2. The employer should conduct a job briefing, based on the work plan, before starting work. 3. The employer should establish a written safety and health policy. 4. Safe tree removal techniques should be used. 5. Employers should notify the utility company when work is planned in an area near overhead power lines. 6. Employers and employees should become familiar with available resources on safety standards and safe work practices.
Links with this icon indicate that you are leaving the CDC website.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website.
Linking to a non-federal website does not constitute an endorsement by CDC or any of its employees of the sponsors or the information and products presented on the website.
You will be subject to the destination website's privacy policy when you follow the link.
CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website.
For more information on CDC's web notification policies, see Website Disclaimers.
CDC.gov Privacy Settings
We take your privacy seriously. You can review and change the way we collect information below.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies used to make website functionality more relevant to you. These cookies perform functions like remembering presentation options or choices and, in some cases, delivery of web content that based on self-identified area of interests.
Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data.
Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties.
Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page.