2 workers hospitalized in accident with live wires Tuesday, August 30th 2016, 8:31 am EDTTuesday, August 30th 2016, 11:00 pm EDT
By Jennifer Baker, Digital Content Producer
Photo: Flickr MILFORD TWP, BUTLER COUNTY (FOX19) - - Two workers were hurt at a Butler County church in an accident with live wires Tuesday morning.
Investigators with the Cincinnati office of Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded to Darrtown United Method Church on Walnut Street, according to the Butler County Sheriff's Office.
A male worker on church grounds fell onto power lines and suffered electrical shock just before 8 a.m., initial emergency communication reports state.
"We’re a construction team, we were moving our ladders...the ladders hit the wires and we just got shocked,” one of the construction workers told dispatch in the 911 call. "I can’t tell if his chest is rising, but his eyes are open. His chest seems to be rising very slightly."
He was flown to University of Cincinnati Medical Center, county dispatchers said.
His condition is not available.
A second worker, who was on the phone with 911 was hurt, but it was not immediately clear how, said Sgt. Melissa Gerhardt, sheriff's spokeswoman.
"“My foot is fried…it’s burned. My foot is fried," the construction said during the 911 call. "Everything is fine around us, we just got messed us."He was taken to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital in Oxford, she said.
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2 injured when equipment hits power lines at Butler County church
By Ed Richter
Staff Writer
MILFORD TWP., Butler County —
Two people replacing a roof on a Darrtown church were taken to area hospitals after their equipment touched a nearby power line, shocking them on Tuesday morning.
One person was transported by medical helicopter to University of Cincinnati Medical Center and another person was transported to McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, according to Sgt. Melissa Gerhardt of the Butler County Sheriff’s Office.
She said both men were still alive when they were transported to the hospitals. An update on their conditions was not available Tuesday evening.
An official from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Cincinnati office said its in the early stages of the investigation and a compliance officer still needs to talk with the owner of the Oxford-based roofing company, American Asian Inc., and the injured employees.
The identities of the workers have not yet been released.
“We think potentially they were in the process of relocating a ladder,” said Ken Montgomery, OSHA’s Cincinnati area director. “There are safety regulations for the distance between ladders and power lines to prevent accidental contact.”
Montgomery said the men were removing Soffitt from under the overhang of the roof at Darrtown United Methodist Church, 4309 Walnut St., when they made contact with the hot line with their 40-foot extension ladder, which was extended to about 30 feet at the time of the accident.
The company had contact with OSHA in October 2008 concerning fall protection issues resulting in four serious violations and being assessed $1,500 for each violation, according to the OSHA enforcement database.
The owner, Chau Pham, was not available for comment. The company has been in business since 1980, according to its website.
Milford Twp. fire officials could not be reached for additional information about the incident.
Sally Thelen of Duke Energy said there were no electric outages as a result of the accident.
The Rev. Christopher Trumbull, the church’s pastor, declined to comment on the incident and referred questions about the roofers to the church’s trustees.
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