Life-altering changes after contact with power line
March 29, 2010 by Fred HosierPosted in: Electrical safety, In this week's e-newsletter, Injuries, Latest News & Views, construction safety
Randy Newton was installing windows on a two-story building with another worker when he accidentally swung the lift he was standing on into a power line. Doctors say it was nothing short of a miracle that he lived. His story serves as a warning to people who work near power lines.
The other worker wasn’t hurt.
Newton awoke three weeks after the March 2003 incident. A TV was on in his hospital room. He could hear it, but he couldn’t see it. He was blind.
He’d lingered between life and death for weeks. Doctors performed several surgeries to save his left arm and hand.
Newton had to relearn how to walk, speak and do other things that had been automatic in the past.
Doctors restored some of his vision, but he can only see shadows and silhouettes.
He fell into depression and took his anger out on his family. Somehow his marriage survived. The divorce rate for people in these situations in around 90%.
Newton was fortunate to survive. With the help of a local center for the blind, he’s learned new skills and gone back to school.
But he’ll never be able to regain the rest of his vision. His life has been changed forever.
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March 30th, 2010 at 11:32 am
While this is a sad story, what is the purpose of sharing it with us?
March 30th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Do any of your employees have a “it won’t happen to me” attitude? If so, share stories with them to show the consequence of even a moment’s lapse in safety. The action of swinging the lift in the wrong direction caused Randy Newton’s life to change forever.
March 31st, 2010 at 9:52 am
Even though this is a sad story it has a positive outcome. The story emphasizes the dangers of working in close proximity to power lines and how dangerous they really are. Randy Newton’s life will never be the same but his story may save someone from suffering a similar fate. That is why it is important to share this with us!
April 8th, 2010 at 10:00 am
It’s not just an example of the changes to the individual himself, the article also shows how it affects everyone around that individual as well. His family also suffered. For three weeks they were on edge as to whether or not he was gong to survive and now they have to make adjustments to the changes in lifestyle. All due to his own fault.
Bonnie, I’m surprised. This is a Safety Newsletter, how could you not make the connection.
April 8th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Bonnie,
I use stories like Randy’s to bring home the seriousness of a single lapse. Our younger employees routinely take “shortcuts” without considering the possible consequences. As the Safety Gal, it is my responsibility to train and RE-train workers who feel invincible. The attitude is easy to spot. I use lots of eye contact and simply ask, “How many truck payments can you make if you’ve lost your right arm?”
April 8th, 2010 at 11:41 am
This is a sad story. He obviously knew that there was a power line in the vacinity. I think complacency played a part. We all must look before we make a movement of any kind. If not you may as well walk backwards without turning your head.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Randy was lucky. We had a driller on one of our jobs that hit a power line. He was dead by the time they got to the hospital. He was engaged to be married. If he had looked up and seen the power line, he would be alive today. It’s very important to share these kinds of stories with personnel that work in the field and could encounter powerlines during their workday. It’s really sad when people die like this. It affected everyone who knew the driller.
April 8th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
How many truck payments can I make if I lose my right arm at work? Depends on how good my lawyer is! Probably pay it off in one lump sum.
April 8th, 2010 at 3:02 pm
if Randy’s story wakes up and saves just one life it was worth it. i take my hat off to randy for having the courage to try to prevent others from making the same mistake he made. all it takes is a split second. will you get a second chance. probly not.
April 8th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
I had a similar accident happen to my cousin. He was putting up a CB antena. Touched it aganist an overhead power line. Dead at 15 yrs old.
April 9th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
@ Jon, How much do you think you will enjoy that truck with one arm the rest of your life? Trust me. The people around you will probably get more enjoyment out of it that you will. The same people who won’t even want to look at you with 1 arm.
April 9th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
Jon, not if it’s determined that you were the one that was negligent.
April 22nd, 2010 at 9:46 am
I train operators on lifts every week and get several comments regarding power lines. Investigating several of these accidents has also given me some insight.
Some workers do not recognize the power line, by not looking overhead or even if they do look they don’t SEE it.
Then there are some workers who feel thru experience or pressure from a supervisor that they need to work closer to the line than 10 feet and think they can stay away, because “they’ve done it before.”
Another little known fact is OSHA considers ALL overhead lines power lines.
May 11th, 2010 at 11:14 am
It underscores the saying:
“You are most dangerous when you THINK you know what you are doing…”
Thanks for the story …
September 29th, 2010 at 10:40 am
BP is to create a new safety division that it says will have sweeping powers to oversee and audit the company’s operations around the world. The new unit is being created as part of a series of changes being made in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon disaster.As a result of the shake up, Andy Inglis will no longer head BP’s Upstream business. By mutual agreement with the BP board he will step down as a main board director on October 31 and will leave the company at the end of the year.incoming chief executive Bob Dudley said: “Andy has played a critical part in the re-shaping of the Upstream business which we are announcing today and is remaining with BP over the coming months to help with the transition to the new organization.”BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg said that Mr. Inglis had “worked tirelessly at the head of a great team to seal the Macondo well. For that, and for his insightful participation in reorganizing our upstream business to face the challenges ahead, he has our gratitude.”BP is to re-structure its Upstream segment from a single business into three functional divisions - Exploration, Development and Production - and to carry out a detailed and wide-ranging review of how it manages third-party contractors.