Verizon to contest OSHA proposed fine

Verizon Communications will contest fines totaling $55,500 proposed by the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in conjunction with the electrocution death of one of its linemen in March, a spokesman for the carrier said today.

While neither Verizon or the Labor Department would comment on the specifics of the case, the Utica (N.Y.) Observer-Dispatch reported today that Jarrod Lyon, 28, of Dolgeville, N.Y., was killed on March 11 when a 12,500-volt power line made contact with a telephone cable he was repairing.

Quoting Oneida County sheriff’s department deputies, the paper said Lyon was in a bucket truck 15 to 20 feet in the air with a co-worker at the time of the accident. The pair was handling an “unshielded s support cable attached to several poles.” The co-worker was unhurt.

OSHA cited Verizon for allegedly failing to ensure that its employees did not “approach, come in contact with or take a conductive object close to overhead power lines.” Other alleged violations concerned a lack of proper safety equipment, specifically gloves that are insulated to protect against high-voltage, and a failure to properly train employees on safe practices.

The Verizon spokesman especially took issue with OSHA’s contention that the employees were not trained properly. “All of our employees are required to go through extensive training even before they start work,” he said. “They then receive continuous safety training so these types of incidents don’t happen.”

A Labor Department spokesman said such accidents in the telecommunications industry are rare. In 2000, the most recent year for which statistics are available, just 12 fatalities occurred in the industry classification that covers telecom carriers. Of those, four were from falls and six were transportation-related. None were from electrocutions.

Verizon has until September 26 to file the contest. Should it follow through, the matter would go before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission and then to an administrative law judge for disposition.