# Fractures at Appalachian Power Company North Charleston Service Center
> OSHA SIR `20241110749` · 11/18/2024 · ELKVIEW, WEST VIRGINIA
## Severity
- **1 hospitalization**
- **Body part:** Multiple trunk locations
- **Nature of injury:** Fractures
## Cause
- **Event:** Fall to lower level from collapsing structure or equipment  unspecified
- **Source:** Utility poles
- **Secondary source:** Ground, travel, and support surfaces  unspecified
## Employer
- **Name:** Appalachian Power Company North Charleston Service Center
- **Location:** 1107 Canterbury Drive, ELKVIEW, WEST VIRGINIA, 25071
- **NAICS:** 926130
- **Jurisdiction:** 1
## Narrative

An employee and two crewmembers were dispatched to repair downed utility conductors after a tree fell onto the facilities and caused a power outage. The injured employee climbed the utility pole to untie the conductor so the team could pull the conductor up into position from the ground. The  employee attached a web hoist to the conductor and needed to reposition the hoist to continue removing slack. As he resumed pulling slack with the web hoist, the pole made a cracking sound and subsequently fell in the direction he was working. The pole then fell to the ground with the injured employee still attached, resulting in fractured ribs, a compression fracture of their vertebrae, and a laceration to the chin.

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