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lineman-up
10-03-2007, 07:50 AM
russel harrod of st cloud was killed tuesday afternoon. from what i hear he was deframing a pole on a pole gin when it tipped over and the pole rolled over him. he has a three and one year old kid and was 44 years old.

lineman-up
10-03-2007, 08:30 AM
BECKER — A 44-year-old utility worker from St. Augusta has died in a work accident.


Sherburne County Sheriff Bruce Anderson says Russell Harrod was working on a pole replacement project along Hwy. 10 in Becker Township. The sheriff says a wooden power pole fell on Harrod after a brace used to elevate the poll gave way.


Co-workers from the Okay Construction Company of Princeton tried to help Harrod, but he died at the scene shortly after noon Tuesday.

MGrossinger
10-07-2007, 12:13 AM
From the way it sounds, these guys from Okay were deframing an 80-85' transmission pole. They had the pole in some sort of gin on the ground and this guy was kneeling over by the top doing something. The gin sunk, gave way or whatever, the top of the pole struck this guy in the head. I don't think it rolled over him. I guess within ten minutes, he was done. Way too sad and terrible timing for something like that to happen.

lineman-up
10-10-2007, 09:04 AM
to me it sounds like the pole was actually on top of him and they had to use the pole gin to get it off him. i have a buddy that works there but everything is still pretty tight lipped. i will post more when i know

davidh
01-08-2008, 05:33 PM
I heard that the cause of the accident was due to a flimsy / inadequate pole jack. Has anyone heard anything more on this?

msger
02-07-2008, 12:20 PM
Russ was my son-in-law. My daughter, his wife, and my three grandchildren, 10,3,and 1 are griefstricken. His death has left a void in many people's lives. He was a good man and very proud of the work he did as a lineman. The OSHA report is sketchy at best. A lot of "probables", "most likely's" and "possibly's". The accident seems to center around the gin that failed and the soft soil. It's been eluded to that the equipment was 20 years old and the gin made by an Okay employee? Can someone MAKE a gin? Doesn't a gin need to be manufactured? An employee reported safety issues that were not followed up on. The conditions were not right for the kind of work the crew was doing. Yet, a definitive cause for the accident has never been given. If anyone has any information about Russ's death I would appreciate it if you would e mail me. It could go a long way towards closure for his widow. You can e mail me at msger123@aol.com. Thank you.

Wendy M.

old lineman
02-07-2008, 12:59 PM
Russ was my son-in-law. My daughter, his wife, and my three grandchildren, 10,3,and 1 are griefstricken. His death has left a void in many people's lives. He was a good man and very proud of the work he did as a lineman. The OSHA report is sketchy at best. A lot of "probables", "most likely's" and "possibly's". The accident seems to center around the gin that failed and the soft soil. It's been eluded to that the equipment was 20 years old and the gin made by an Okay employee? Can someone MAKE a gin? Doesn't a gin need to be manufactured? An employee reported safety issues that were not followed up on. The conditions were not right for the kind of work the crew was doing. Yet, a definitive cause for the accident has never been given. If anyone has any information about Russ's death I would appreciate it if you would e mail me. It could go a long way towards closure for his widow. You can e mail me at msger123@aol.com. Thank you.

Wendy M.

Every and all hoisting devices have to be designed by a certified engineer and there have to be blue prints of the structure signed by an engineer and once construction is completed there has to have been non destructive tests performed and documented.
No one is permitted to alter the design, add to or eliminate any features without being sanctioned by a certified engineer.
Basically this eliminates Joe's welding shop.
Should there be a structural failure anytime after the item is placed in service the investigators will look for unauthorized alterations or visit the manufacturer to verify all of the above.
The Old Lineman

BigClive
02-07-2008, 02:15 PM
I realise that one of the posters here has been affected at a personal level by this tragic incident, but that doesn't mean that they should automatically be looking for someone or something to blame. We don't take risks deliberately at work, but sometimes unusual circumstances arise where a task we do in a particular manner throws up an unexpected result that may cause injury or death. Sometimes nobody is to blame and yet everybody is to blame.

As far as the "possible" failure of a piece of hand built equipment goes... People have good technical ideas and they build prototypes for their own use at work. If they work well then they might continue being used into the future. If this didn't happen then things wouldn't get invented. Klein or Bashlin didn't make the first set of climbing irons. It was some guy who came up with the idea and made a set himself.

I've left a trail of very useful one-off gadgets behind me during my career so far. If someone uses one 20 years hence without applying reasonable caution and common sense as one should with all tools and equipment, does that make me responsible? I don't know what happened with this incident, but randomly looking for someone to blame achieves nothing. Using the same logic you might as well blame Tesla for all electrocutions.


Don't forget that you're a pioneer and inventor too Old Lineman.

mainline
02-07-2008, 02:42 PM
My condolences ma'am. My family and I send our best wishes to you and yours. Often times lineman use tools that have been fabricated by an inhouse fabricator. They often don't have an engineers stamp. This doesn't mean that they are necessarily poorly designed. I have no idea what the lineman were using, but there could many factors involved. None the less, it is tragic and unfortunate, and I am truly sorry for your loss.

old lineman
02-07-2008, 10:36 PM
I realise that one of the posters here has been affected at a personal level by this tragic incident, but that doesn't mean that they should automatically be looking for someone or something to blame. We don't take risks deliberately at work, but sometimes unusual circumstances arise where a task we do in a particular manner throws up an unexpected result that may cause injury or death. Sometimes nobody is to blame and yet everybody is to blame.

As far as the "possible" failure of a piece of hand built equipment goes... People have good technical ideas and they build prototypes for their own use at work. If they work well then they might continue being used into the future. If this didn't happen then things wouldn't get invented. Klein or Bashlin didn't make the first set of climbing irons. It was some guy who came up with the idea and made a set himself.

I've left a trail of very useful one-off gadgets behind me during my career so far. If someone uses one 20 years hence without applying reasonable caution and common sense as one should with all tools and equipment, does that make me responsible? I don't know what happened with this incident, but randomly looking for someone to blame achieves nothing. Using the same logic you might as well blame Tesla for all electrocutions.


Don't forget that you're a pioneer and inventor too Old Lineman.


All I was trying to relate is that when the shit hits the fan they come a lookin.
I've seen how far they (those SOB"s if we could ever figure out who they are) will go to hang somebody out to dry.
They've got endless time and resources.
The Old Lineman

msger
02-08-2008, 01:42 AM
Thanks to all of you for your interest. I'm sorry if I left the impression we are looking for someone to blame. I know blame can always be found but not all loss is preventable. The co workers and owners of Okay are genuinely devastated, but we still have not been given a plausible, factual definition of the accident. We've just heard so many accounts of what happened and why, it's very frustrating. I think we deserve some facts and it seems there are those afraid to talk about it. I had hoped to find someone on this forum who might be able to shed some light. Wendy M.

BigClive
02-08-2008, 11:13 AM
Keep in mind that when a bunch of co-workers are involved in an incident then they may not want to state exactly what happened or might even "adjust" the facts slightly if they and the victim were involved in something slightly less than perfectly safe.

As an example. I was working with a guy and we were accessing a plant area through a trap door via a very wonky set of steps. We shouldn't have been using the steps in the first place, but they were all we had.

My colleague fell and fractured his skull and it was a very awkward situation when I was "interviewed" by the the safety officials, since I didn't want to make it appear that we brought the incident upon ourselves by using defective gear.

He recovered OK, although he lost his sense of taste and smell for a while.

msger
02-08-2008, 12:39 PM
I understand fully why there is some reluctance to talk about the details. If I were on the other end of the spectrum, I'm sure I would be just as reluctant. Being where I am however, is unique to all those who have been there. We need to know. We want to know. If someone you love dies there is gnawing at you to know why and how. Given explanations of, maybe this is why, or could possibly be due to that, is hard to accept. I appreciate your comments and understand you may also be at a loss for explanations. Russ had a dangerous job but he loved it and he loved being able to take care of his family. I'm sure we will all learn to accept what we need to accept. I won't impeach again on your site since the forum is not really for my use. Thank you again and be careful. God Bless. Wendy M.

australiantroubleman
02-16-2008, 01:57 AM
I agree with the discussion , these things happen in our workplace , when bad things happen these days it seems that the company searches for a scapegoat or two , for this reason you have to be very careful what you tell safety and OH@S investigators.

In our company we are expressly forbidden to use any special "home made" tools or equipment,only company supplied and approved tools and devices are allowed we have regular tool checks and they confiscate any non standard equipment.

The latest legal documents we have to deal with are "work method statements" these are documents that state how you will do the job and what equipment/tools etc you will use . We all know there are many ways we can do the same job but if trouble occurs and you haven t followed the work method statement correctly you can be made responsible. It gives lawyers that much extra ammunition against you.

You can thank lawyers for all this , it complicates and creates extra worry that we don't need at the workplace.

BigClive
02-16-2008, 03:11 AM
The latest legal documents we have to deal with are "work method statements" these are documents that state how you will do the job and what equipment/tools etc you will use . We all know there are many ways we can do the same job but if trouble occurs and you haven t followed the work method statement correctly you can be made responsible. It gives lawyers that much extra ammunition against you.

That's in keeping with what we have here in the UK. It is just red tape designed to shift liability onto workers. In general you can make a method statement quite generic, but on some sites they insist on a specific one for the job.

I do a fair amount of site work, and one of the things that we have to do is attend an "induction" on entry to each site. This involves watching a patronising video and then signing a multitude of disclaimers. If we don't do it, we don't get to work.

At the moment I'm having to wear a hi-viz jacket with a large red panel on the back that says "PERMIT HOLDER". This is just so I can use an ordinary pair of seven rung steps!

The net result of all this red tape is that skilled workers are becoming so fed up that they are leaving the industry. They are being replaced by "adult trainees" and immigrants who are receiving "training" that mounts to little more than signing a disclaimer stating that they will be responsible for any accidents they cause.

It's a shame we don't have a proper independent union in the UK, because we really need one.