Locates have a variance of up to 2' in either direction. Your right, this could have been prevented by utilizing a vacuum excavator or hand digging the hole but you never know what actually happened unless your onsite. They could have missed the locate all together, the paint could have washed off by the time they got there or maybe it wasn't reported by the contractor that installed it. I know from personal experience that locates are off at least 10% of the time, if not more. And it's a shame this guy died at 25 years old.
FROM POWER-LINEMAN.COM
I talked with a Georgia Power represenative this weekend and he said the lineman had a phase in his jib head when the auger struck the gas line. Crew said he jumped out of the bucket and dangled until his harness burned in two. Real horrible accident that more than likely could not have been prevented. My prayers to him and his family.
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Yep thats what I heard too. I talked to a lady on facebook that said she knew him and she said the same.
If thats true (no reason to doubt it as of right now) then he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Couldnt boom left or right, up or down, and couldnt dump the phase either. Only option was to jump and the harness held him sadly too long as well.
I wonder what could have happened with using the auger? Was there any locates? If so, how far away were they? Did they hand clear the hole first? Its just hard to tell or know as of now. Georgia Power is a very safe company as is all the Southern Company affiliates.
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Hey guys, I work for Ga Power and what we heard was the crew was replacing a pole into the old hole after pulling it. The new pole was bigger so they had to use the auger to bore out the hole. Don't know about locates. The crew hit the gas line and as usual shut off all the trucks. The gas line didn't ignite until later. Arcing in the jib's phase head started the fire around the bucket area and went DOWN. The guy in the bucket couldn't move because the truck was shut off. We heard he went to the bottom of the bucket but it started melting and thats when he dove out. Of course the harness caught him but he dangled there until it burned off of him and thats how he got to the ground. Whe he was down some of the guys on the ground were burned on their hands removing him from the area. All of this probably happened so fast there was no time for the usual "What They Should Have Done" response we usually reply with when we hear about accidents where we all work or on this site. This is a nightmare scenario we couldn't imagine happening. Of course we are still in the rumor stage of all of this. The investigation team has just gotten started and will be two weeks or more until finished. The man injured we heard is in stable condition, all vital signs and organ functions are great, and he began procedures today to start healing. He was burned over 80% plus injuries from the fall. Poor guy is 25 and married for only a few weeks. Please keep him and his family in your thoughts.
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Member #: 20347
Registered: 1996-2001
Posted:
113
Name:
Bull
Occupation:
Overhead Linemen
Location:
Easement
Personal:
early 40s
Experience:
~27 years
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