Workplace hazards facing line installers and repairers

Electricity and telecommunications are essential parts of our daily lives. In the last two decades of the 19th century, electricity became commercially viable, with electric streetcar lines and street lights installed in various cities around the world. The electrification of American households began early in the 20th century, mainly in major cities and places served by electric railways, and spread rapidly until about 1930, when two-thirds of American households were electrified.¹ At the end of World War II, four-fifths of American households were electrified, and by 1970, the electrification of homes and businesses had become virtually universal.² In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone, the first device enabling people to talk directly with one another over large distances. Today, more than 40 percent of American homes use landline telephones.³

Both electrical and telecommunication technologies rely on lines installed atop a vast infrastructure of utility poles, although underground lines are becoming more prevalent. Line installers and repairers are on the front lines of that infrastructure, building, maintaining, and repairing the nation’s electrical and telecommunication grids. When we lose power, cable television, or Internet services, our daily routines are disrupted, and we become anxious to have those services restored. When everything works, however, we often give little thought to the work line workers do or the dangers they face in performing it. This article provides details about the work-related injuries and illnesses suffered by line installers and repairers during the 2011–15 period.

Data and methodology

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) collects and reports data on occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities through the Occupational Safety and Health Statistics program, which includes both the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries (CFOI) and the Survey of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses (SOII). The CFOI reports a complete count of fatal workplace injuries, including details about worker demographics, injury characteristics, and circumstances associated with each fatality. The SOII is a survey of establishments that estimates nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses on the basis of employer-provided data.⁴ The SOII captures additional detail for nonfatal cases requiring at least 1 day away from work.⁵ All nonfatal occupational injury and illness data presented in this article are from the SOII.⁶ Fatality data from the CFOI are also referenced in the analysis.⁷

The characteristics and case circumstances of fatal and nonfatal work-related injuries and illnesses are based on the BLS Occupational Injury and Illness Classification System (OIICS) and include the following: “nature” of injury or illness; “event or exposure”; “part of body affected”; and “primary or secondary source” (e.g., machinery, equipment, or other factors that precipitated the event or exposure).⁸ Data used to measure employment are annualized from the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program, which publishes wages and a count of employment reported quarterly by employers.⁹ QCEW data are available by industry and geographical area (county, Metropolitan Statistical Area, and state and national levels).

Line installers and repairers in the electrical power and telecommunications sectors

BLS uses the 2010 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system to classify workers into occupational categories for the purposes of collecting, calculating, and disseminating data.¹⁰ Line installers and repairers (SOC 49-9050) in the electrical and telecommunications sectors fall under two distinct, but related, occupations. The first occupation, electrical power-line installers and repairers (SOC 49-9051), involves installing or repairing high-voltage cables and related equipment that operate on up to hundreds of thousands of volts. These cables and equipment are used in electrical power transmission or distribution systems for both aboveground and underground electrical grids. Workers in this occupation perform tasks ranging from erecting poles and light- or heavy-duty transmission towers to replacing fuses or entire transformers. The second occupation, telecommunications line installers and repairers (SOC 49-9052), involves installing and repairing the telecommunication cables used to provide cable, Internet, and telephone services. Such work requires familiarity with various types of cable, including fiber-optic, coaxial, and telephone lines. Workers in both occupations are required to inspect and test the lines they install or repair and to follow established safety standards and procedures.¹¹

The hazards encountered in the two occupations exhibit both similarities and differences. Although telecommunications line installers and repairers do not work with high-voltage cables, they must be able, just like electrical power-line installers and repairers, to reach and work with wiring and equipment attached to utility poles. In both occupations, this work is performed with vehicles such as pole and bucket trucks.

During the 2011–15 period, line installers and repairers suffered 201 fatal occupational injuries, about 40 per year, with little year-to-year variation. (See table 1.) The number of fatal injuries for electrical power-line installers and repairers (131) was approximately twice that for telecommunications line installers and repairers (70). The fatal injuries of workers in the latter occupation showed greater year-to-year variation, ranging from 10 in 2012 to 19 in 2014.

Each year, BLS lists 10 civilian occupations with high fatal-work-injury rates.¹² Electrical power-line installers and repairers were included in this list for all years between 2011 and 2015. Their rates of fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers were 19.5 in 2011, 23.9 in 2012, 21.5 in 2013, 19.2 in 2014, and 20.5 in 2015. Although not listed among the 10 civilian occupations with high fatal-work-injury rates during 2011–15, telecommunications line installers and repairers had published rates of 7.9 in 2013 and 10.0 in 2014. In comparison, the rates for all workers in 2011–15 ranged from 3.3 to 3.5.

During the same period, the rates of nonfatal occupational injuries (per 10,000 full-time equivalent workers) for electrical power-line installers and repairers were considerably higher than the rates for all occupations. In addition, the nonfatal rates for telecommunications line installers and repairers were higher than both the rates for all occupations and the rates for electrical power-line installers and repairers. (See table 2.)

The fatal and nonfatal injury and illness cases for line installers and repairers were concentrated in a few industries that employ these workers. (See table 3.) Three industries—electric power generation, transmission, and distribution; power and communication line and related structures construction; and electrical contractors—accounted for over 95 percent of fatal injuries for electrical power-line installers and repairers. Four industries—electrical contractors, power and communication line and related structures construction, wired telecommunications carriers, and broadcasting (except Internet)—accounted for 87 percent of fatal injuries for telecommunications line installers and repairers.

There are two notable differences between the injury and illness experiences of workers in the two occupations of line installers and repairers. Between 2011 and 2015, electrical power-line installers and repairers suffered a higher number of fatal work injuries than did telecommunication line installers and repairers. However, telecommunication line installers and repairers suffered a higher number of nonfatal injuries and illnesses than did electrical power-line installers and repairers, although employment was similar for both occupations.¹³

The number of days away from work can be used to compare the severity of occupational injuries between line installers and repairers and all occupations combined. (See table 4.) For both electrical power-line installers and repairers and telecommunications line installers and repairers, the largest fraction of nonfatal injury and illness cases involved 31 or more days away from work: 44.3 percent for electrical power-line installers and repairers and 55.3 percent for telecommunications line installers and repairers. These percentages are higher than the 28.6 percent for all occupations.

In 2015, the median days away from work for electrical power-line installers and repairers (20 days) and telecommunications line installers and repairers (42 days) were considerably higher than the median for all occupations (8 days). (See table 4.) This suggests that line installers and repairers sustained injuries and illnesses that were more severe than those for all occupations.

Demographics of the workers affected

The CFOI collects detailed data on the demographics of fatally injured workers. Of the 201 line installers and repairers who were fatally injured between 2011 and 2015, all but 3 were wage-and-salary workers, all but 2 were men, and 175 were non-Hispanic Whites. (See table 5.)

Among line installers and repairers whose race and ethnicity were reported, non-Hispanic Whites had the highest number of injuries and illnesses requiring at least 1 day away from work.¹⁴ (See table 6.)

Injury characteristics of the workers affected

The principal physical characteristics of the injuries suffered by line installers and repairers differ considerably between fatal and nonfatal cases.

In 2011–15, electrocutions accounted for only 3 percent of fatal occupational injuries overall, but they caused nearly one-half of the fatal injuries to electrical power-line installers and repairers. This occupation typically involves working directly with high-voltage lines. Although telecommunications line installers and repairers usually work with low-voltage lines, they often work in proximity to high-voltage lines. While multiple injuries accounted for over two-fifths of the fatal cases among telecommunications line installers and repairers, electrocutions accounted for another one-sixth. The 72 fatal electrocutions suffered by the two occupations of line installers and repairers represented one-tenth of the overall fatal electrocutions for all workers.

As with all occupations during 2011–15, most nonfatal injury and illness cases for line installers and repairers were the result of sprains, strains, and tears. (See table 7.)

Circumstances associated with fatal incidents

Although exposure to electricity accounted for only 3 percent of overall fatal injuries from 2011 to 2015, it is the leading cause of fatal injuries among electrical power-line installers and repairers, accounting for nearly one-half of the fatalities in this occupation (62 of 131). Exposure to electricity was the main difference between the fatal injury experiences of the two kinds of line workers, accounting for just under one-fifth of the fatalities among telecommunications line installers and repairers (13 of 70).¹⁵

Line installation and repair involve travelling to and from worksites, climbing poles, and working out of bucket trucks. Although the number of fatal falls to a lower level was similar for the two line-worker occupations, such falls were more prevalent for telecommunications line installers and repairers (31 percent) than for electrical power-line installers and repairers (16 percent). Table 8 shows the objects from which these fatally injured workers fell.

Transportation incidents accounted for over one-quarter of line-worker fatalities (58), and falls to a lower level accounted for one-fifth of line-worker fatalities (43). (See tables 8 and 9.) Transportation incidents were about equally prevalent for both electrical power-line installers and repairers (30 percent) and telecommunications line installers and repairers (27 percent). These shares were smaller than the share of transportation incidents among the fatal cases for all workers (41 percent).

In all, at least 84 vehicles of various kinds were involved in the 58 transportation-incident fatalities among line installers and repairers. This is because a second vehicle was involved in almost half of the fatal transportation incidents, including 20 roadway collisions with another vehicle. In 33 fatal cases, the fatally injured worker was driving the vehicle, and in 9 cases he or she was a passenger. In 5 cases, the fatally injured worker was walking or standing in or near the roadway area. One-fifth of line workers killed in transportation incidents in 2011–15 perished in multiple-fatality incidents that led to the death of two or more workers. By comparison, one-eighth of all workers fatally injured in transportation incidents were involved in multiple-fatality incidents.

In 2011, when the CFOI began to capture the height of falls, about one-fifth of all fatal falls to a lower level for occupations overall were from heights of 30 feet (9¼ meters) or more. However, more than two-fifths of line-worker fatal falls to a lower level were from 30 feet or more.

Fatal injuries in both line-worker occupations were concentrated in the summer and autumn months during 2011–15. (See table 10.)

Circumstances associated with nonfatal incidents

The leading event or exposure resulting in nonfatal injuries among line workers in 2015 was overexertion and bodily reaction, accounting for 52 percent of cases with days away from work. (See table 11.) From 2011 to 2015, the number of cases in this category increased from 1,930 to 2,960. The number of cases was 2,110 in 2012, 2,470 in 2013, and 2,450 in 2014. Falls, slips, and trips accounted for 25 percent of days-away-from-work cases. While no fatalities resulted from falls on the same level, there were 630 such falls that resulted in days away from work in 2015.

Conclusion

The data presented in this article show that working with electrical power and telecommunications lines can be dangerous or even fatal. Line installers and repairers face a litany of workplace hazards—exposure to electricity, transportation incidents, falls, etc.—in ensuring that our lights stay on, that our appliances work, and that our landline telephone and Internet services are available when we need them.

The characteristics of the injuries and illnesses for this occupation differ between fatal and nonfatal cases. Exposure to electricity is the leading fatal event, whereas overexertion and bodily reaction is the leading nonfatal event. However, falls are near the top of the list for both fatal and nonfatal cases.

The increasing use of underground utility lines and the waning popularity of landlines may ultimately reduce the number of falls. However, since many line installers and repairers continue to work in conditions similar to those of the past, the data presented here can inform the measures employers and safety and health professionals might take to mitigate hazards and reduce injuries, illnesses, and fatalities in the occupation.