FALL FROM TELEGRAPH POLE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19700, 29 January 1926, Page 3

FALL FROM TELEGRAPH POLE.

ASSISTANT LINESMAN’S DEATH. INQUEST ON VICTIM. The adjourned inquest into the circumstances of the death of Alick Miller Duff, who fell from a telegraph pole at Outram on January 6, and died as a result of injuries received, was continued in the Courthouse yesterday morning before the Coroner (Mr H. W. Bundle, S.M.j Mr J. A. Haggitt appeared for the Electric Light and Power Department of the DunoJin Qty Corporation, and Mr W. G. Hay represented the relatives of the deceased. At the inquest held at Outrain on. January 7, Alfred Ryan, gave evidence of having seen, deceased ascend the polo and subsequently fall to the ground. He sat down on a cross tree, but did not work. He was up there only one minute. Alfred Wheeler, electric ganger, employed by the Dunedin City Council for 15 years, said ho had been at Outram prior to the accident for about 13 days. Ho was relieving R. B. Neil, linesman at Outram, and his acquaintance with the deceased was very short. Deceased was employed as an assistant linesman, and had been working for a month prior to his death._ He was under witness’s charge while witness was on at Outram. This employment was his first experience of electric work. Ho was not allowed to work amongst live wires or on the poles. His work consisted in assisting linesmen by carrying gear and equipment up thp ladder to the workman on the pole if necessary. His duties included clipping Itneea, numbering polos, digging holes, and assisting with erection of poles. Deceased was not at any time called upon to work on the polos while working under witness’s charge. While working’with Neil, deceased was often engaged handing gear up the pole to the linesmen, working amongst dead wires. Witness remembered the day of the accident. Deceased came to him at 8.15 a.m. and received instructions. He was told to clip the trees from the service wires. The service wire was a live wire, and though safe enough in expert hands was dangerous to a novice. The wire carried about 230 volts. Deceased was under no supervision while doing this work. Subsequent to receiving orders the deceased returned to the substation. Witness told deceased that if he were afraid of clipping the trees to leave them alone and witness would do the work himself. He did not see deceased again. He know the pole from which deceased fell. There wore about 15 wires on the pole, nearly all of which were alike. He had told deceased never to touch a pole, and had repeated that instruction on the morning of his death. He aid not want deceased to use a ladder in clipping the trees. There was no mark on the pole to indicate that it was dangerous. The coroner said it appeared to him extraordinary that such a pole in a township should not be marked in some way. Witness: It is not usual to mark wires with only low tension. He considered the pole dangerous to an inexperienced man. Examining the pole after the accident he could find no sign of a body having come in contact with it. 'The polo was about 3ft from the verandah of a shop. He saw human hair at the corner of the verandah, where the deceased had struck the ground. If deceased touched the wires the shock could have rendered him unconscious and caused him to fall. The wires on the pole were in good order. Deceased had no right to bo on the pole and witness knew no reason why he should have ascended the pole. He had cut the branches back as instructed. ‘ In answer to Mr Hay, witness said that the outfit supplied to an assistant linesman, as a rule, was a pair of pliers, rubber gloves and goloshes. Deceased had pliers only, and a slasher and a tomahaw’k. No gloves or goloshes had ever been supplied to the deceased, as no one was given them till he had the necessary 4 n assistant linesman learned to worn, wit-a live wires under the supervision of another. He would swear that as far as he was concerned deceased had never been called on to work among live ‘ wires. He could _ say little regarding Neil’s term. Ten minutes would be sufficient to do all the clipping necessary at Bathgate’s place. At the other place there were live wires, not insulated more than for 6ft from the house. He could have finished all his work long before the accident. He was to meet witness at the sub-station when he, was ready. When he did not return, witness assumed that he had not finished or had gone on with other trees. Ihe sub-station was a mile from the scene of the accident. The pliers, he had heard were found at the foot of the pole. These were kept in a pouch and could fall out quite easily. .He had no idea how deceased filled in his time till lunch time. ~ , . , Mr Hay said he could not understand how witness could give a boy comparatively little work and then leave him for hours with no instructions. On two occasions he had been left on his own before, continued witness. He was never up a ladder while under witness’s charge. Mr Haggitt asked Wheeler if the boy knew the difference between a live and dead wireWitness replied that he did. and that he was emphatically warned. When ho told the boy not to attempt the work if he were afraid, witness was merely adding an extraprecaution. A linesman would not wear gloves in clipping trees in any case. Mr M. C. Henderson said all the work of the department was subject to Government regulations and these had been complied with. Regulations in regard to clearances and wire had been changed several time*. The Outram scheme was 18 years old, and so the line would be put up under regulations obtaining in 1908. The department could not make the regulations retrospective. The inquest was adjourned till Monday to enable more witnesses to be called.