ELECTRIC POWER LINESMAN

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 30 November 1938, Page 8

ELECTRIC POWER LINESMAN

INQUEST INTO FATAL FALL COMMENT BY COUNSEL I United Press Association! WELLINGTON. This Day. No reason for the fatal fall of Vivian Frederick Hall, aged 37. from an electric light pole in Hataitai. was found by the coroner, Mr Gilbertson, at the inquest to-day. He fell while working, but his mate, who was also working on the pole, did not see him slip. This witness. James Maddock, said that Hall’s position was quite safe. The use of a safety belt would hinder him. He could not say W'hether Hall received a shock. The work being done necessitated the stripping of a live low tension wire. To Mr H. E. Swindell (appearing 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 To the coroner witness said that the wearing of a safety belt was not mandatory. except in certain cases. Mr Swindell said that there must be some way of stopping such accidents. What linesmen were called on to do was suicide. Men were stepping over 11.000 volt lines. Last year there were 42 accidents, and this year 27. five in one week. He suggested that the power should be cut off when the men were working on the lines. Mr O’Shea, appearing for the City Council, said that there was no need for men to walk over high tension Mr Swindell: “They have to do it.” Mr O’Shea: “I am instructed that they don’t.” The Coroner found that deatli was due to haemorrhage from a fractured skull due to Hall accidentally falling from the pole.