Robert Sanders, an Ohio Edison lineman in Springfield, was taken to Miami Valley Hospital on March 4 after his bucket truck collapsed during a telephone pole replacement, according to the Dayton Daily News

Sanders was reportedly ejected from the bucket when the arm on the boom separated from the truck and flew out away from the machine — falling about 30 feet, according to the Daily News.

As seen in the video above, one of the residents nearby who saw the incident happen through her window said she thought the worker had been killed, she told the newspaper.

Ohio Edison spokesman Tim Suter said equipment failures are “not common at all” and that the company will interview all the employees who were at the site and have engineers examine the equipment, reported the Dayton Daily News.

The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is also conducting an investigation, according to WDTN.com.

In 2013, a total of 53 fatalities involving aerial work platforms were reported to the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF), an organization that promotes the safe and effective use of powered access worldwide.

With the growing demand for wireless and broadcast communications spurring a dramatic increase in communication tower construction and maintenance, OSHA has also been working to reduce the number of falls and fatalities in the communication tower industry.

0 Comments