4 fatalities and 2 serious injuries in three weeks ???

[Ghostrider]

Our Safety man told us there have been 4 fatalities and three serious injuries in the past three weeks. Elloit had two. One in OH and one in VA, Asplundh had one in MO, a REA had one in TN, R H Henery had a serious injury in OH, and L. E. Myers had a serious injury in OH, JCR had a serious injury in MA.

If these are true I wonder what is happening outside the midwest. I am working for a contactor on REA property in NC so we do not hear much.

The contractor we work for gives us what we need to work safe but I am amazed how many of us lineman do not use or steal what we do have. Just last week both first aid kits were missing off the trucks. No one ever thinks to steal the shovels.

[dbrown20]

Yeah, we heard about the one in Ohio. Boss read the report to us. It was in the Columbus area but not on AEP's property. It was a 25 year old guy (so young) who was working for Davis Elliot. It was on a coop's property. I believe it was called Buckeye REC. I don't think it will ever stop. With the push for more linemen you know damn well they're letting very inexperienced people do work they shouldn't.

Guy I work with has a son-in-law who works for an REC. He says his son-in-law regularly changes out arms on 24.9 alone. So stupid. Some of these entities have no conscience. dbrown20

[Ghostrider]

dbrown20 - From what the safety man had to say about all the accidents the men had all the help they needed, It would appear that they made foolish and costly decisions. Seems a shame to have the right training and equipment only to make a poor decision. He did say that most of what he had was second hand and the truth would come out sooner or later. The company I am working for had an accident when we were in TX three years ago. The crew knew better but took a change with grounding and paid dearly for it. I have been in several arguements with folks about how to ground since then. They have a hard time convincing me to work the lines ungrounded.

[Trampbag]

I have found that in most, if not all, accidents in this trade the whole truth never comes out. Between the companies and the unions, who are protecting themselves, and the fact there is no concentrated authority acting as a watchdog over this trade little will change.

We in the trade are mushrooms, kept in the dark and fed bull shit. We never hear of all the accidents, and when we are working in a yard where one happens the first thing the company does is tell everyone not to talk about it because here is an investigation happening. Then we get some watered down version of the final report, if we ever get one at all. More often than not we get nothing but rumours that suit the companies and unions wellbeing.

Truly, how many of us have ever seen a coroners report or an inquest verdict concerning on of our own? How many linemen, not company managers carrying linemen tickets, have actually have made themselves available to the coroner as an expert witness?

Until us linemen take control of our trade these senseless devastating accidents will continue. What is needed is a national or international standard for training and work methods. I really don’t expect to see it because there are just too many people unwilling to give up their authority or empire.

[rgnizr]

Does anyone have any details about the reported fatality of an Elliot employee in Virginia?

Elliot has been having an extraordinary number of accidents lately. Luckily most have been close calls but the company doesn't seem to be learning anything from the near-misses. Davis H Elliot in Tulsa ran off their safety and training guy last year because he wanted to shut down some crews in order to put them through badly needed safety classes. This is one of the very worst companies to work for. I'd recommend staying clear of Elliot.

[Lnemn's Mom]

GALLIA, Ohio (AP) -- Authorities say a man was electrocuted while working on a power line in southeastern Ohio.
Greenfield Fire Department officials say 25-year-old Victor Morris of Langsville was replacing power poles when he was struck yesterday with about 72-hundred kilowatts through his index finger and thumb.

Morris went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

He was working for the Davis H. Elliot Company, a subcontractor for the Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative.

Fire Chief James Bartels says his department had no further details about what caused the accident.
© 2006

[Ghostrider]

Just found out about another fatality at Davis H Elliot that happened on June 6th. Had a good friend at OSHA search for OSHA form 36 (Report of fatality)on Davis Elliot this morning. They have two confirmed kills, one on June 6 in VA, and one on June 13 in OH.

From the June 6th accident:
Marshall Dean Tomlin, 37, of Monroe, passed away Tuesday, June 6, 2006 in Shenandoah County.
Born October 25, 1968, in Lynchburg, he was the son of Marshall O. Tomlin and the late Etta Lee Burnette Tomlin. He was a lineman with Davis H. Elliott Electrical Contractors, Roanoke.

I don't have much detail of the accident yet but it was said to be a hat mac draped into the bottom of the bucket with him when he backed into 14.4.

He had three kids but if you want to hear what his daughter Katie had to say, click this link and read her post. http://www.legacy.com/NewsAdvance/G...028&GuestPage=2 Sad, sad, sad.

[wudwlkr]

GALLIA, Ohio (AP) -- Authorities say a man was electrocuted while working on a power line in southeastern Ohio.
Greenfield Fire Department officials say 25-year-old Victor Morris of Langsville was replacing power poles when he was struck yesterday with about 72-hundred kilowatts through his index finger and thumb.

Morris went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

He was working for the Davis H. Elliot Company, a subcontractor for the Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative.

Fire Chief James Bartels says his department had no further details about what caused the accident.
© 2006

Heard that there were two crews working on the same line. One crew finished their work and either thought the other crew was also finished or didn't know they were on the line. No safety tags in place and they energized the line on the second crew. Mr. Morris was in contact with the phase conductor when it was energized.

[edski104]

what the F**K is going on with all of these deaths and near misses. I had one down here in Fla. where dispatch went hot with a feeder without checking to see if everyone was clear!! as for this elliot company,sounds like they just hire guys of the streets and throw them upstairs as fast as they can,and these guys are dying to do it. how do we control all the youngsters when as soon as they make 2nd year,the company wants to throw them on a truck and let'em go. get killed and blame us for not training them right after we said they were NOT ready. or apes that won't go away even after they know they will never make a good lineman,but just HAVE to top out. and the union lets them. shit!I'll shut up now.

[BigClive]

I'm afraid that when it comes to the crunch, manslaughter charges have to be raised against the companies that are putting out inexperienced men into positions where they are dying. Unfortunately the government will side with the contractors because the "works got to be done". (And it's all about money.)

It would be interesting to see a fatality graph over time. I bet you'd see a dip in the last few years then the line would be steadily going up again.

I really think it's time every crew had one of the robust little heartstart type defibrillators. There's really no excuse not to have them. They are quite literally childs play to use. They appear to be pretty robust these days, so they should handle a bit of rough and tumble in the cab of a truck. That quick response to getting a stopped heart going again is priceless.

Could the defibrillator thing be raised as a union issue? Given the nature of the work these things should be an OSHA requirement.