Hydrovac operator electrocuted
By STAFF REPORT
Construction Equipment Equipment Technology Health & Safety Infrastructure Skills DevelopmentA 24-year-old Ontario construction worker has died after being electrocuted while on a jobsite in Vaughan.
Police said the man was operating a hydrovac excavating machine when the boom came in contact with overhead high voltage electrical distribution lines. He was rushed to hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.
In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, the local power authority, PowerStream, identified the man as an employee of contractor, PGC Services.
“PowerStream and its employees are deeply saddened by this loss of life. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, co-workers and friends at this most difficult time,” Vaughan Mayor and PowerStream chair Maurizio Bevilacqua said in a joint release with PowerStream CEO Brian Bentz.
The company said at the time of the accident equipment was being used to dig holes for new electrical poles.
Police said the unidentified man was from Keswick, Ontario, about 90 minutes north of Toronto. The Ontario Ministry of Labour has been called in to investigate the fatal incident and PowerStream has also opened its own internal investigation.
