Safety & Health Alert: Another Worker Electrocuted

DAVE LeGRAND
CWA Safety and Health Director

Trying to fix a customer's cable problem, Verizon technician Brent Cheney climbed a ladder against the mainframe at the company's Elkhart, Ind., plant on May 26. A few minutes later, the 35-year-old father was dead, the victim of an electrocution.

Brent apparently grasped a cord to release the ladder's brake while he was holding a high-voltage meter in his other hand. The type of cord he touched used to be made of nylon, but now is made of braided metal with plastic insulation. Tragically for Brent and his family, parts of the insulation had worn off.

Our CWA family has lost two other members to electrocution in the past two years, both SBC workers in California who were working on telephone poles when fittings holding the electric lines to the poles came loose. And just a few weeks ago, a Verizon technician was electrocuted while working on a pole in Rhode Island. He lost an arm and suffered severe burns.

We are determined to do everything possible to prevent these tragedies in the future. And it's urgent that we act. We know, at least anecdotally if not statistically, that near misses aren't uncommon.

We don't know how many times workers have come dangerously close to being struck with hot wires or have put their lives at risk because of faulty equipment.

The fact that our employers don't have consistent ways of tracking near misses, makes hard data elusive. But as Local 9423 President Louie Rocha, an activist on this and other safety issues, says, "Even one near miss is one too many."

Rocha, whose local is based in San Jose, Calif., is on the joint AT&T — formerly SBC — safety committee. Aware of a dozen or so near misses among his members and the two deaths, he routinely brings up electrical issues. Recently, the management-labor committee compiled a 20-question quiz on hazards for all workers and supervisors. Nobody is being graded on it, but it will help the committee understand where additional training is needed. To see the quiz, go to: ga.cwa-union.org/issues/osh.

We're asking our locals to help us gather as much information as possible. Whether you have specific details about near misses or more general complaints from workers about electrical dangers, please let us know.

The information you provide will help us when we push our employers for better training, safer equipment and productivity demands that don't force workers to take shortcuts.

Let's make sure that Brent Cheney's legacy is one that ensures safety for all of his union brothers and sisters.

Local officers or members with information about electrical hazards and near misses on the job are asked to e-mail LeGrande at dlegrande@cwa-union.org.