Strand Brakes are a pretty inexpensive tool and they help save lives. I spoke to people who were there and they were doing pole transfers and a highway crossing over a 4 lane major highway and adjacent 4 lane road. For being a major utility, Verizon has a pretty shitty safety program IMO, I'm not sure if strand played a factor in this accident but this is what can happen:
WEST WHITELAND TWP., Pa. (CBS 3) ?
The death of a utility worker on Route 202 in Chester County caused major delays on the busy roadway.
A Verizon worker fell to his death onto Route 202 in East Whiteland Township overnight.
Officials said northbound Route 202 was closed at State Route 401 after a worker was killed just before midnight.
PennDOT officials said 53-year-old Thomas Hetrick, of Norristown, fell from a utility pole after a passing car struck a hanging wire near Swedesford Road.
Investigators said Hetrick was handling the cable at the time and was thrown over an embankment, falling to his death. Hetrick was pronounced dead at the scene.
Hetrick was reportedly working on moving utility poles in the area prior to the start of a project to widen several overpasses along the roadway.
Verizon said Hetrick was a local manager who worked for Verizon for the past 26 years. The company released a statement that read in part: "This was a tragic and unfortunate accident. Our sympathy goes out to his family, friends and co-workers."
The tragic incident remains under investigation.
http://cbs3.com/local/utility.worker.killed.2.730033.html
OSHA Fines Verizon in Fatality
April 21, 2008
After a five-month investigation into the death of a Verizon technician in Plymouth, Mass., the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued three citations and proposed $13,500 in fines for "serious" violations of federal occupational safety and health laws.
Gary Gibbons, a 53-year-old splice service technician, was killed on the job last October while attempting to repair a problem on Verizon lines. He was electrocuted while working in an elevated bucket near high voltage electrical wires. He was a member of Middleboro Local 2322 and had worked 34 years for Verizon.
Gibbons' death -- the fifth Verizon workplace fatality in two years – follows safety concerns raised by workers at the huge telecommunications company. Two of the fatalities were in Massachusetts and one was in Rhode Island.
"It's no surprise there has been so many serious accidents and fatalities," said Gene McLaughlin, business manager of Local 2322 and chairman of System Council T-6 which covers Verizon's New England operations. "Management has begun stressing productivity over safety. This is just the tip of the iceberg."
OSHA cited Verizon on April 9 for not ensuring that Gibbons maintained a safe working distance from overhead energized power lines. Verizon was also cited for failing to deploy traffic warning signs and improper inspection of personal protective gear, tools and equipment.
"These tragedies were preventable. Yet management continues to maximize profit at the expense of safety to satisfy the corporate greed of the top brass and their Wall Street investors," added McLaughlin. "We are doing everything we can to educate our members about safety so that this never happens again."
Just days after Gibbons' death, Verizon fired five IBEW FiOS technicians for failing to meet production quotas. The "FiOS Five" were new hires with less than 12 months on the job, just short of the one-year service requirement that would have called for a neutral arbitrator to decide on the merits of their dismissals.
Each year, thousands of workers are killed and millions more are injured or diseased because of unsafe working conditions. Local 2322 and the System Council T-6 will participate in Workers Memorial Day on Tuesday, April 29 on the stairs of the State House in Boston to honor Massachusetts workers who lost their lives in 2007.
http://www.ibew.org/articles/08daily/0804/080421_OSHAfine.htm
The Importance Of Strand Brakes
Member #: 20347
Registered: 1996-2001
Posted:
113
Name:
Bull
Occupation:
Overhead Linemen
Location:
Easement
Personal:
early 40s
Experience:
~27 years
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