FALL FROM POWER POLE

Evening Star, Issue 23129, 1 December 1938, Page 1

FALL FROM POWER POLE

STRIPPING LIVE WIRE SHOULD POWER BE GUT OFF ? [Per United Press Association.] WELLINGTON. November 30. No reason for the fatal fall of Vivian Frederick Hall, aged 37, from an electric light polo in Hataitai was found by the coroner, Mr E. Gilbertson, at the inquest to-day. The man fell while working, but his mate, who was also working on the pole, did not see him slip; This witness, James Haddock, said that Hall’s position was quite safe. The use of a safety belt would hinder him. Witness could not say whether Hall received a shock. The work being done necessitated the stripping of a live low-tension wire. To Mr H. E. Swindell, who appeared for the Electrical Workers’ Union, witness said that if Hall received 230 volts it would be sufficient to make him overbalance. There were cases where men working on live wires got “ a bit of a nip.” To the Coroner, witness said that the‘wearing of a safety belt was not mandatory except in certain cases. Mr Swindell said there must be some way of stopping such accidents. What linesmen were called on to do was suicide. The men were stepping over 11,000-volt lines. Last year there were 42 such accidents, and this year there had been 27, five of which had occurred in one week. He suggested that the power should be cut off when men were working- on lines. Mr O’Shea, who appeared for the City Council, said there was no need for the men to walk over high-tension wires. Mr Swindell: They have to do it. Mr O’Shea: I am instructed that they do not. The Coroner found that death was due to haemorrhage from a fractured skull, due to Hall accidentally falling from a ipole.