As a Cub Scout and Boy Scout Leader it has been a tough week learning of the four leaders from Alaska who were killed when they made contact with an overhead distribution circuit.
My understanding of this accident was that a contractor was hired by the jamboree organizers to errect the tents in the area where this happened. They asked the four leaders for help when the tragedy accured.

Then on thursday of this week a leader and a scout were killed by a lightning strike down in the Fresno Area. I had met this troop personaly three weeks ago at a week long summer camp. My thoughts and prayers go out to these families.

This article came from SAFETYENG.COM news letter that was sent out recently that has a llot of good safety web links and contact information.


Power Line Hazard Awareness, Planning are Critical for Preventing Deaths: NIOSH Resources
Contact: Fred Blosser (202) 401-3749

Electrocutions from unintentional contact with overhead power lines can be prevented through awareness of the hazard and proper precautions. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) offers many resources to help employers, employees, volunteers, and others identify potential risks when working under and around power lines, and to help them work safely to avoid touching the lines with poles, ladders, or other objects that can conduct electricity. Electrocutions from contact with overhead power lines result in 128 work-related fatalities on average per year. On July 25, news outlets reported on the deaths of four adult Boy Scout leaders, and injuries to three other adults, when a tent pole apparently struck an overhead power line at the Boy Scouts’ national gathering, according to the press accounts. NIOSH resources for preventing electrocutions from contact with overhead power lines include:

NIOSH ALERT: Preventing Electrocutions of Crane Operators and Crew Members Working Near Overhead Power Lines, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 95-108

www.cdc.gov/niosh/crane.html.

NIOSH ALERT: Preventing Falls and Electrocutions During Tree Trimming, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 92-106

www.cdc.gov/niosh/92-106.html

NIOSH ALERT: Preventing Electrocutions During Work with Scaffolds Near Overhead Power Lines, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 91-110

www.cdc.gov/niosh/91-110.html

NIOSH ALERT: Preventing Electrocutions of Workers Using Portable Metal Ladders Near Overhead Power Lines, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 89-110

www.cdc.gov/niosh/89-110.html

NIOSH ALERT: Preventing Electrocutions from Contact Between Cranes and Power Lines DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 85-111

www.cdc.gov/niosh/85-111.html.

NIOSH ALERT: Preventing Electrocutions by Undetected Feedback Electrical Energy Present in Power Lines, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 88-104

www.cdc.gov/niosh/88-104.html
Additional resources from NIOSH include a web topic page on preventing traumatic occupational deaths and injuries from electrical hazards

www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/traumaelec.html

and case reports from occupational electrical fatalities; each report identifies risk factors in the given case, and recommendations for preventing similar fatalities in the future, including deaths from unintentional contact with overhead power lines

http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/injury/traumaelface.html.

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