Maryland Tech Is Third Verizon Electrocution Victim

A Verizon technician in Maryland died Monday, Oct. 16, when he made contact with electrical wires on a shared utility pole, the company's third electrocution death in five months.

Marvin Benson, a member of CWA Local 2100, was electrocuted while working in an aerial bucket attempting to place fiber optic cable near Baltimore-Washington International Airport. The accident sent electricity through the bucket and to the truck, where the tires caught fire and fuses blew with a second technician trapped inside.

Dave LeGrande, CWA safety and health director, said a third technician outside the truck yelled at the trapped man not to touch anything, and he managed to escape without injury once the electricity burned itself out.

District 2 Vice President Pete Catucci said Benson's death "is a terrible tragedy which must not be repeated. While we don't know precisely what caused it, we will be sitting down with the company to discuss a variety of safety and training issues."

Benson, 36, had worked for Verizon for about two years. In June, an IBEW member working for Verizon was killed in a similar accident in Rhode Island. In May, a CWA member in Elkhart, Ind., 35-year-old Brent Cheney, was electrocuted while working on the office mainframe trying to detect a customer's cable problem.

The Maryland incident is being investigated by the state's Occupational Safety and Health department, as well as by Verizon. Local 2100 Executive Vice President Mark Balsamo went to the site with company investigators and is monitoring their probe.

LeGrande's office recently surveyed locals about injury, fatality and near-miss incidents and is continuing to ask locals to report accidents and close calls to headquarters. A fact sheet is being prepared for all CWA technicians detailing the accidents and how to avoid safety hazards.