• 12 News
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    Workers Electrocuted When Scaffolding Touches Power Line

    Aug. 7, 2014
    Three men died Aug. 6 when the scaffolding they were moving came into contact with power lines.

    OSHA is investigating an Aug. 6 incident in which three men were killed when the scaffolding they were moving made contact with power lines, causing them to be electrocuted.

    It was around 8 a.m. – the start of the workday for many people – when Trevor James Riddick, Gary Edward Wortman and Samuel Anderson were electrocuted and died. The men were constructing a metal building at Streamline Product Systems in Kountze, Tex.

    Brandi Gana, the sister of Trevor Riddick, told 12 News reporter Brittany Rainville, “They just wanted to take a shortcut today and it cost them their lives. Their boss probably told them to go around [the wires].”

    For more, view the 12 News report here.

    About the Author

    Sandy Smith

    Sandy Smith is the former content director of EHS Today, and is currently the EHSQ content & community lead at Intelex Technologies Inc. She has written about occupational safety and health and environmental issues since 1990.

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