7 foot pole + 12,000 volts = no arms + $9m medical bills

Gary Mauer

Gary Mauer

New member
A jury trial is underway in civil court in San Diego – a window cleaner who lost both arms is suing the power company.
http://www.10news.com/news/31185910/detail.html It is sad and scary - and more complicated than you probably thought. Sounds like the power lines shouldn't have been there - the glass shouldn't have been there - the window cleaner shouldn't have been there.
 
Gary Mauer said:
A jury trial is underway in civil court in San Diego – a window cleaner who lost both arms is suing the power company.
http://www.10news.com/news/31185910/detail.html It is sad and scary - and more complicated than you probably thought. Sounds like the power lines shouldn't have been there - the glass shouldn't have been there - the window cleaner shouldn't have been there.
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Thanks Gary for posting, we all need more safety awareness for service people in the Industry. Its a Shame this stuff happens, hopefully in the future by talking an blogging we can help together. Awareness this type of thing could happen to any of us. Presssure washers use poles, long an short.
 
Ron Musgraves said:
Thanks Gary for posting, we all need more safety awareness for service people in the Industry. Its a Shame this stuff happens, hopefully in the future by talking an blogging we can help together. Awareness this type of thing could happen to any of us. Pressure washers use poles, long an short.
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Ron, you really should start a safety sub forum on this site. When I posted about UL-1776 a few months ago virtually no one had heard about it. I even took heat for posting about it.

And that's the industry safety standard written specifically for you guys!
 
Flipper said:
Ron, you really should start a safety sub forum on this site. When I posted about UL-1776 a few months ago virtually no one had heard about it. I even took heat for posting about it.

And that's the industry safety standard written specifically for you guys!
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Your right, we will
 
Here's some video from 2008 that shows where it happened.

http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/Window-Washer-Gets-High-Voltage-Shock.html

Hose is mentioned. Without knowing what happened - and not trying to judge - you can kind of see how a person could forget there were high voltage lines nearby - standing on an AC unit, maybe distracted by fiddling with hose to get some slack.

This is why I feel like it's not enough to simply make a mental note to avoid wires. I think - if you know they are there - you give yourself the length of your equipment, plus 10 feet.
 
The trial continues – here is a link to news coverage.
Cameras in court – there is video of the scene, the pole, and a scale model of the scene, complete with roof top, windows, power lines, etc.
http://www.10news.com/news/31201756/detail.html
 
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