Groundie killed today

[Griffbm3]

Groundie killed today in Connecticut, it has been posted on courant.com, the Hartford Courant's website, and he has been identified. He was electrocuted while performing ground work as the boom may have been contacting the lines, and he may have contacted the truck. Very sad, please stay safe...

Jason

 

[BostonBull]

Thats awful! Have to make sure the ground guys are WELL aware of the power of electricity!

EHAP trainng should be MANDATORY for all employees in every industry.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Rats!

I hope he was at least trained properly as to the potential danger. Of course, especially with a new guy, I can see force of habit having him lean up against the truck talking while the trimmer is trimming. At first I thought maybe he was busy at the chipper, but the article says that he was in front of the truck. Not that that means anything, per se. Maybe he went after a limb that had fallen on the rack?? Getting in or out/ on or off the truck?? Hard to say, but I'd like to know more.

I printed out the article. I know what this week's safety meeting is going to be about.

EAST HADDAM - Police have identified a man killed while cutting tree limbs Monday morning as Peter Sokolovsky, 36, of Brooklyn, Ct.

State police said Sokolovsky was working on the ground in front of a bucket truck when the boom, or lift, either came in contact with or in close proximity to live power lines. An electrical surge traveled from the power lines to the truck to the victim.

Sokolovsky was working for ABC Tree Services as part of a five-man, two-truck crew hired by CL&P to trim trees along North Moodus Road, police said. They are still investigating his death.

Here is a link to the TV news story:

http://www.wfsb.com/news/14395270/detail.html

 

[Griffbm3]

Without saying too much...

I can comfortably say that this was not a case of someone leaning on the front of a truck while the trimmer was working. It was much more tragic than that, but I will wait for the proper people to sort out all of the info before it comes to discussion...

Jason

 

[Bigus Termitius]

I can comfortably say that this was not a case of someone leaning on the front of a truck while the trimmer was working. It was much more tragic than that, but I will wait for the proper people to sort out all of the info before it comes to discussion...

Jason

Well that is good to know, I hope you're right and that info is made available in due time. I see that you are in Conn. Are you relatively close to the situation? Will you let us know how this pans out?

For now I'm content to pray for the family, friends, and coworkers. And to bring this up with my crew in the morning.

I'd also like to know if there will be a way to help the family out with some sort of contribution.

 

[Griffbm3]

I will keep an eye on it

Close to the situation, yes. I will try to find out more about his family and any help that can be made for them. I will however wait for the newspaper due to my "closeness" to the current situation/investigation. This was a multi state contract tree company working for the local power company. When it comes out around here locally, I will update this post.

My prayers are with his family, 36 years old, sounds too familiar.

Jason

 

[tree md]

Here's the thing, once the electricity gets to the truck it's looking for a way out... A ground.... Where that comes out is anybody's guess. Could be the guy holding the joystick to the boom truck or the closest groundie... it could come out anywhere... Crapshoot. Electricity will often go right through a climber and hit someone on the ground. Unfortunately, I have been close to one of these situations as well.

God's love to the family.

 

[Bigus Termitius]

Close to the situation, yes. I will try to find out more about his family and any help that can be made for them. I will however wait for the newspaper due to my "closeness" to the current situation/investigation. This was a multi state contract tree company working for the local power company. When it comes out around here locally, I will update this post.

My prayers are with his family, 36 years old, sounds too familiar.

Jason

Thanks Jason.

Newspapers tend to mess things up too, so it will be good to have the truth if the papers make a mistake. Right now, the various sources can't even agree on his age.

Too familiar and it hits too close to home no matter where you live, especially when you spend most of your day around the lines.

 

[hornett22]

happened in the next town over from me.

to bad.my heart goes out to his fellow co workers and family.

 

[Mitchell]

prayers for the family

I hope his company and or the state wcb will take care of his family.
I may be terribly ignorant concerning these matters however, it seems to me that the truck could be grounded out with a master ground with out to much trouble?

 

[hornett22]

here is the video broadcast on local news

http://www.wfsb.com/video/14398532/index.html

i was just working in this town sunday.pretty crazy.

 

[Sprig]

I skirted this post for a bit because I just knew, knew it shouldn't have happened and I'd cry, well
Prayers to the surviving family and much sadness on their great loss

With All Respect,

Serge

 

[Ekka]

What a pity, insulated booms should be mandatory!

 

[Griffbm3]

Now I can post the other stuff

There is a better article outlining some of the facts of the case, this is the forward to the article.
http://www.courant.com/news/custom/...artoct23,0,5912352.story?coll=hc_tab01_layout

It does mention the fact that he has 2 VERY young children and had only been working for about 2 weeks for the company.

The truck had a insulated stick so I don't know how it happened. He touched the corner of the truck as he rounded the corner, and it arced through him. He was dead on scene. The other details are in the article.

Jason

 

[Dadatwins]

Since the worker in the bucket was insulated from the electric I can assume the lower boom was not insulated and allowed the power to ground. The upper boom insulation held and the worker in the air was fine. Have seen this on booms that are not maintained properly. Sawdust and leaves build up in the boom from not being cleaned and create a path to ground. The boom may have a clean outward appearance with the fiberglass insulation intact, but the leaves, sawdust and debris inside the boom cause the problem. Add some dampness and there is a disaster. My condolances to the family and co-workers.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

My condolances to the family and co-workers.

So true, I cannot imagine being the bucketman there.

There was one like that here 5-6 years ago. The guy in the bucket was bumping secondary so much he wore the weather coating off. New, "undocumented" Slavic groundman touched the truck and was gone.

Everyone was shocked that the company is still operating.

 

[Fast Freddy]

????-i hate hearing about stuff like this. So sad.

 

[2FatGuys]

It's always sad when the unexpected happens. My prayers go out to the family, as well as the coworkers.

 

[polexie]

Very sad news!! Best redgards to family, co-workers and friends!!!

 

[daveyclimber]

Sad indeed. Just because an aerial lift is insulated it may not protect those on the ground and even those in the basket if certain conditions exist as mentioned earlier. Electricity radiates as it is be "grounded" depending on the KV it may radiate several feet and has not been fully scientifically documented on the who where and hows, from my readings anyway. It is truely amazing that more individuals don't die or there aren't more related injuries. Those that work around power for a living for any long term generally realize that anythng can happen for no forseen reason. I am sure this individual has had some limited education on electrical safety, perhaps it was his mistake or a fault of the structure. Any number of things could have been in play here and it will be very valuable lesson to those here. i worked around power fulltime for over 7 years in the worst situations. Though I tried to be as safe as possible I was still tickled several times by just doing the work. No matter how safe you try to be it sometimes isn't enough. When I worked for Davey Tree we recieved the bottom of the barrel equipment to do a insane job with bunk gear. After working there for a few years bought my own safe good gear just to get a write up and admonishment though I was one of the few who would do the nutty jobs. After about 6 years there I finally got a port a wrap. This lack of proper equipment is the number one killer of clearance trimmers not safety. Nobody wants to die but nobody wants to lose their job over ?????ing to management about getting line drops and special gear.