Date of incident: May 2024
Notice of incident number: 2024178710006
Employer: Exterior cleaning services firm

Incident summary
Two workers were washing the windows of a detached house. One of the workers had just finished cleaning some gutter trim on a pergola window with an extendable water-fed pole, and was electrocuted when the pole touched high-voltage power lines. The worker was pronounced dead at the scene.

Investigation conclusions

Cause

• Water-fed pole breached limits of approach and contacted power lines. It is likely that on completing washing the trim of the pergola gutter, the worker raised the water-fed pole overhead. The water-fed pole came into contact with the primary and neutral power lines, and the current electrocuted the worker. The electric potential of the primary line to neutral was 14.4 kV, which is classified as high voltage.

Contributing factors

• Lack of supervision.
  • The employer did not attend the worksite in advance to identify hazards and develop controls for them. BC Hydro was not contacted to de-energize the power lines. An Assurance in Writing was not completed (that is, BC Hydro had not put in place hazard controls for the power lines such as guarding or displacement), and the workers were not instructed to keep themselves and their equipment outside the limits of approach (LOA) (3 m [10 ft.] from the power lines). The employer was aware that the workers would have to work between the house and the power lines but the workers were not provided with adequate instruction, information, and supervision with respect to the high-voltage hazard.
  • The employer did not provide direct in-person supervision at the worksite on the incident day to ensure that other hazards were identified and controlled and that the required personal protective equipment (PPE), such as safety footwear and fall protection harnesses, was being worn.
• Ineffective hazard identification and lack of safe work procedures.
  • On receiving information about the scope of work from the homeowner, the employer did not ensure that a hazard identification was performed at the house prior to assigning the work to the workers. Nor was any safety information provided to the workers. The employer considered that there were no safety issues at the house as other workers from the firm had worked there two previous times without incident. The employer believed that the power lines on the street would be obvious to the workers. The high-voltage power lines were not identified and the LOA to the power lines was not considered.
  • The employer had no checklist to enable workers to identify hazards and assess risks prior to starting work. The employer also lacked safe work procedures for window washing.
• Lack of training. The employer was not familiar with the requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation, including the requirement to document training efforts. Neither worker was informed or instructed in the process and procedures for working within the LOA to high-voltage power lines. There was no trained first aid attendant at the worksite, and the workers had not been trained on use of the fall protection harnesses that were provided by the employer.

Other health and safety issues

• Lack of new worker orientation. The employer did not have a process to provide the required new worker orientation and training to workers and to document what was provided to workers in this regard.
• Lack of proper PPE. The workers were not wearing appropriate safety footwear for the work at the incident site, and did not make use of a fall protection system, even though the roof was higher than 6.8 m (22 ft. 3 in.).

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