Utility Pole Touches a Live Transmission Line, Killing a Lineman — Primoris Cited by OSHA
PINELLAS, FLORIDA — A routine utility pole replacement turned deadly when the pole contacted an energized overhead transmission line, electrocuting a lineman and sending two of his co-workers to the hospital. On March 13, 2026, OSHA cited Primoris Services Corp. — operating as Primoris T&D Services LLC, a utility construction contractor for Duke Energy — over the August 2025 incident at a Seminole, Florida site.
The Incident
A Primoris work crew was replacing a utility pole when the pole made contact with an energized overhead transmission line. The contact fatally electrocuted one lineman and injured two other workers severely enough to require hospitalization. One moment of drift inside the danger zone around a live line was all it took to put three workers down.
The Investigation
OSHA cited the employer with three serious violations, and each one points to a missing layer of protection. First, the company failed to ensure employees maintained the required minimum approach distance from exposed energized parts — or, alternatively, to have the transmission line deenergized before the work began. Second, no designated observer was assigned to monitor approach distances and call out warnings as the pole moved. Third, the job briefing did not cover the special precautions required when working under energized transmission lines.
OSHA proposed $49,650 in penalties. Primoris has contested the citations before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, so penalties and citations may be adjusted as the case proceeds.
Lessons to Take Home
Notice what OSHA zeroed in on: not exotic equipment failures, but the basics of planning and communication. A proper job briefing that walks through line-of-fire and contact hazards, a spotter dedicated to watching clearances, and a hard rule about minimum approach distance — any one of those three could have broken the chain.
For supervisors, the takeaway is simple: when work happens near energized lines, someone’s only job should be watching the gap. And every briefing should end with the crew repeating back the critical precautions — the kind of three-way communication that catches misunderstandings before the boom swings.
Electricity kills quickly and without a second chance. Keep the hazard front-of-mind with our electrical safety toolbox talk.
