# Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds at Southwestern Electric Power Company
> OSHA SIR `2017099022` · 9/20/2017 · DELTONA, FLORIDA
## Severity
- **1 hospitalization**
- **Body part:** Neck, except internal location of diseases or disorders
- **Nature of injury:** Puncture wounds, except gunshot wounds
## Cause
- **Event:** Fall or jump curtailed by personal fall arrest system
- **Source:** Utility and telephone poles
## Employer
- **Name:** Southwestern Electric Power Company
- **Location:** 1436 Farmington Rd., DELTONA, FLORIDA, 32725
- **NAICS:** 221122
- **Jurisdiction:** 1
## Narrative

An employee was ascending a pole to make electrical repairs after a hurricane when his climbing gaff (the nail of the climbing hooks that go into the pole) struck a metal washer in the wooden pole, causing him to hit his jaw on the wooden pole. The back of his neck was then punctured by a wooden splinter on the pole. He hung about 25 feet in the air with his fall arrest system. He was hospitalized.

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*Source: [OSHA Severe Injury Reports](https://www.osha.gov/severe-injury-reports) · MORVS · CC0 1.0*