Two Western Pa. women shocked by fallen power line

As absurd as some may think it is, we are on the road a lot, leaving us more open to accidents.

I myself have been in 2 accidents this year, both not caused by me, but still it happens.

What TMW is trying to do here is a great thing, it's unfortunate that some people don't interpret it that way.

I'm hoping the investigation into this incedent will shed some light on the failure that caused this line to come down, that way workers who are not EHAP/EUSA certified will have some idea of what to look for when working anywhere near lines. Or other hazards for that matter.

We work in an extremely dangerous profession, in all aspects of it. Take what you can from everything you read.

TMW you're doing a great job, and if you do decide to stop posting these, "Awakenings" please pm me the notifier program you're using so I can keep myself up to date.
 
In the past few years I've had the opportunity to teach hundreds of arborists in EHAP classes. During that time I've collected many first and second hand stories about accidents, near misses and fatalities to pro-arbos and line clearance tree workers. There is a common thread between the stories that I hear and the amateur or civilian stories...in most of them there is a serious injury or DEATH.

I've had TRAINED line clearance workers tell me that they've moved hot wires using plain jane pole saws...not Hotsticks. What does this say about them and the alleged training that they've gotten?

The more awareness there is about dangers the better chance that one more person per day will go home walking. That's my goal and I know it is the same as most of the rest of the folks who participate here.
 
That is a bullsh*t response . I hate numbers . Here is the catch , People get hurt every day and killed , but the plus side people are born too. I live in a very busy tree area and your numbers and Dr. Balls are off the charts and fabricated . TMW I respect you , been hitting you off since the ISA forums but if running a post every time some homeowner gets hurt is your gig , than you my man , have missed your calling . Hey let's talk about cancer now . Over educated people look beyond whats in front of them . Wait ,I got to go , my Mom's neighbor stubbed her foot on the root at the base of her Silver Maple , she should have had steel toe flip flops . My God what was she thinking . Should I tell her I took down a dead Oak today and everything went fine . No than she would think I have a safe job , we don't want anyone to think that do we ?
 
You are right Riggs. John and I sit around all day and make up the numbers.

No one has ever been killed or injured doing tree work, or ever will be. So there is no need to try to learn from what other people do in order to increase safety.

I guess I'll just throw my degrees in the garbage and see if I can get a job flipping burgers.

I will miss all of this safety stuff though. It has been so much fun reading all of the false fatality reports, reviewing all of the pictures and video of fake accident scenes, seeing CG bodies lying dead in the ditch, feeling the fake tears on my skin after being hugged by the actors who were playing the grieving family members of the treeworkers who didn't die.

I will also miss the phone calls from OSHA, NIOSH, the lawyers, companies and manufacturers who wanted me to review the details of the bad things that don't happen to tree workers..

Damn, too bad you figured me out Riggs. You want fries with that?
 
[ QUOTE ]
I guess I'll just throw my degrees in the garbage, I will miss all of this safety stuff though

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually have a hard time beliving they have a real degree for safety??? Do they have a degree for common sense?? One should understand any and all safety guy jobs are only created for the lower insurance rate. One safety man onboard holding a meeting once aweek for 1/2 hour, that noone listens to anyways, ='s I think a 5% reduction.
 
[quote ]I live in a very busy tree area and your numbers and Dr. Balls are off the charts and fabricated.

[/ QUOTE ]

Riggs, I think that you should be a little more respectful of Dr. John Ball and Tim, and realize that the numbers don’t lie. They are only trying to provide us with information that we can all learn from.

If you and others don’t like what’s being posted, that’s fine, but please don’t bash the people that are only trying to make the industry safer for all of us
 
Civil Suit Against Allegheny Power Filed In Death

Take a close look at the slide show. Notice the connecting link that they used, which failed. This is the second time that I have seen one of these pull out. The first is sitting on my desk and caused an outage, but, thankfully, no injury.

Civil Suit Against Allegheny Power Filed In Woman's Death

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/20759332/detail.html

PITTSBURGH -- A Philadelphia attorney's civil lawsuit filed over the electrocution of a Hempfield Township woman contends it took 20 rings before Allegheny Power answered a call from a 911 dispatcher, WTAE Channel 4's news-exchange partner, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, reported Sunday.

Carrie Goretzka died in June after she was trapped under a fallen power line outside her home as her mother-in-law and two young daughters helplessly watched.

Goretzka suffered burns over 85 percent of her body. She died three days later at a Pittsburgh hospital.

The Trib reported that the lawsuit alleges that Allegheny Power failed to use reasonable and proper care in installing and maintaining a power line so it would not fall to the ground.
 
Re: Civil Suit Against Allegheny Power Filed In Death

If I may here TMW......


the reason that Al connecting link (sleeve) failed is improper lazy install. When i was a linesman we were taught to always crimp them 3-4 times per side. It is an easy process that takes maybe 5 minutes for the whole job. If this was a short slackied in span then those two crimprs you see would have been fine. Looks like a long span under tension to me from the photos.


Damn shame this happened!
 
Re: Civil Suit Against Allegheny Power Filed In Death

I concur; the one on my desk has spider webs inside the end that the wire pulled out, indicating that it had not been installed properly.

These connectors are a potential weakness in the system and when present, should remind folks to be more cautious than normal.
 
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