Workers Electrocuted When Scaffolding Touches Power Line

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

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

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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