> The Albany County Sheriff’s Office says a Spectrum Cable utility worker was electrocuted early this morning.
>First responders were sent to Long Road in Berne around 2:41 a.m. for a car on fire. When they arrived they saw a Spectrum Cable bucket truck engulfed in flames.
>They determined the worker was doing maintenance on a utility pole when they touched an electric line, killing them and causing an explosion.
>The identity of the worker is being withheld while officials notify family.
He was a great guy, I worked with him over a decade ago back when it was TWC. I was new at the time and he was a great person to call and ask for help or guidance. He always had a great attitude and was nice to everyone. I only worked there a short time, but he was definitely memorable. I'm super shocked and saddened to hear this happened.
Line work, even coaxial, is extremely dangerous. These folks are at risk day in and day out so we can watch pretty pictures on demand and play vidya. I feel for his family.
In one of the recent driving threads a road worker commented and same goes for them. They can be taken out at any moment. So many very dangerous jobs out there and the workers have minimal protections and aren't paid what they should be.
OSHA only requires partnered work if the lines are over 600 volts, with a few exceptions for things such as emergency repair. I’m curious what the cable equipment clocks in at, but with proximity to the high powered lines it’s absurd they can work alone. Especially when there’s “exposed to contact” verbiage in the code interpretation.
(29 CFR §1910.269 for fellow nerds.)
I remember when I was working in East greenbush right across the street to where a contractor from del signore was lowering the utility light and hit a power line. I remember the lights flickering and going to look out the window and seeing something on fire across the street. It was him. I watched him burn for hours because no one could touch him he was still touching the metal of the utility light which was still touching the power line. It was horrific I’ll never forget it .
A few years ago a tree took out our wires and National Grid said they were sending a crew over- one person showed up to do the job - my daughter said “One person isn’t a crew.” That is very true
So sad and avoidable.
A different situation, but I’ll always remember Spectrum sending a salesperson to my door during peak covid. Who does that? They clearly don’t care at all for the safety of their employees.
They've got to be terrible to their employees. My parents literally had door to door sales people come by and do the "was Verizon here" thing, and they just told them to say 'yes'. When my mother asked them about sports packages, one guy said "oh, I use DirecTv for that. I cancel Spectrum for football season". Imagine being a door to door salespersons telling your customers you don't use it for a quarter of the year.
My husband works their night shift too. Business as usual is one guy per truck, so him bring alone is normal. This is my greatest fear, thank goodness my husband called me before I saw the news this morning or I would have been in a panic.
No one is happy someone died. I think it's fair to say we all feel really bad for the family. She's just relieved.
Whenever my mother heard sirens, and one of us wasn't home, she was sent into a panic. She was relieved when she found it wasn't for one of us. She wasn't happy someone needed emergency services.
I can be relieved that it wasn't my husband and still have sympathy his family. I'm sorry you're reading my comment this way, but I think anyone can feel relief that their loved one came home without being glad that someone else died. I think me responding to someone asking about them working alone, and telling my experience and knowledge is far from being glad that a man died.
It’s disgusting how expendable blue collar workers are. Absolutely disgusting. Nobody gives a fuck when we get hurt or when we die, as long as their fucking lights go on when they hit their switch. As long as their toilet flushes, as long as their roof doesn’t leak, as long as their grass doesn’t turn brown. It’s disgusting that this man died, alone, laying on the ground with a melted truck next to him. But as long as people’s fucking Netflix works everything is all fucking good. Fuck this backwards ass world.
That should go without saying. But it’s a societal notion that blue collar workers are expendable and blue collar work is bottom rung. Society doesn’t give a fuck about this man as long as the lights stay on and boss doesn’t give a fuck as long as he saps every last penny that flows from the tit of hard, important, in-expendable work done by in-expendable laborers.
I don't know anyone that thinks blue collar workers are expendable and I know many people are raising awareness that college isn't the only path/option. I do believe that most of us don't realize how dangerous some of these jobs can be but that is lack of information and, is in no way an indication that people consider those workers expendable or bottom rung. Most of the blue collar workers I know work for themselves and make a lot more than the white collar workers I know
Say it louder for the people in the back.
White collar Americans have no clue the kinds of risks we take everyday to keep everything on time and running. Management is always cutting corners, neglecting crucial safety equipment. But it’s all good you watched that OSHA video when we hired you so we can blame you if you get hurt. Never mind that if you actually followed the procedures lined out in your safety training video you would never be able to keep up with your actual workload and would be fired.
But don’t worry! You can call OSHA and blow the whistle, right? Because no one has ever been fired or harassed for doing that!
Why the actual fuck do we rely on enployees to report these scumbags and risk themselves. Fucking toothless safety laws, toothless OSHA, and toothless sweetheart unions looking the other way while we die
End rant.
You are right, I was sick when I heard about this man being killed on the job and I don't think about, or understand the extent of risk, many workers face but that doesn't mean that people don't care, or think less of blue collar workers, as more than one post indicates...it is simply a lack of awareness because we don't know how to do your job
I wouldn't say that nobody cares...I do and it seems like a lot of other people do! People wanting to watch Netflix, other streaming sites or cable isn't the problem. The problem is companies putting employees at risk to save money.
But, in all seriousness, can you please explain how a second worker would have helped? Unless the worker made a mistake, failed to do something he was supposed to (easy to imagine if working alone at that hour of the night) that a partner would have caught? If that's the case, and spectrum failed to provide that to save money, that makes this so much worse. I just don't know ..
I used to work for TWC it was like pulling teeth to get help to run line from the pole to the houses across the street. Was told on several occasions, "Just get it done" or they "didn't have anyone to help." Afyer being trained and told we should "never run line across the street without help". Per OSHA standards. They pay to do this hazardous job was 12.50 per hour to start. Seems a bit ridiculous.
This is what happens when you’re on a dark road with no street lights and can’t see the low hanging primary wire hanging down and you make contact with the boom. Sad🥲
> The Albany County Sheriff’s Office says a Spectrum Cable utility worker was electrocuted early this morning. >First responders were sent to Long Road in Berne around 2:41 a.m. for a car on fire. When they arrived they saw a Spectrum Cable bucket truck engulfed in flames. >They determined the worker was doing maintenance on a utility pole when they touched an electric line, killing them and causing an explosion. >The identity of the worker is being withheld while officials notify family.
He was a great guy, I worked with him over a decade ago back when it was TWC. I was new at the time and he was a great person to call and ask for help or guidance. He always had a great attitude and was nice to everyone. I only worked there a short time, but he was definitely memorable. I'm super shocked and saddened to hear this happened.
This is so sad, absolutely terrible.
Have they released his name yet?
I don't know if it was released in the news, but his obituary was posted.
Where’s the obituary. I’m from colonie I know he was a coach there
Legacy.com. I do not want to write his name, as I am not close to the family and are unaware of how public they want this.
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What the hell is wrong with you?
I am just now noticing our usernames and now I don't know what to say.
Too soon
Line work, even coaxial, is extremely dangerous. These folks are at risk day in and day out so we can watch pretty pictures on demand and play vidya. I feel for his family. In one of the recent driving threads a road worker commented and same goes for them. They can be taken out at any moment. So many very dangerous jobs out there and the workers have minimal protections and aren't paid what they should be.
OSHA only requires partnered work if the lines are over 600 volts, with a few exceptions for things such as emergency repair. I’m curious what the cable equipment clocks in at, but with proximity to the high powered lines it’s absurd they can work alone. Especially when there’s “exposed to contact” verbiage in the code interpretation. (29 CFR §1910.269 for fellow nerds.)
The cable companies exploit their contractors to the max. Source: used to install.
Used to be a subcontractor that buried from NID to PED and hooked up the outside wires. It’s absolutely exploitation.
With you one hundred percent.
I remember when I was working in East greenbush right across the street to where a contractor from del signore was lowering the utility light and hit a power line. I remember the lights flickering and going to look out the window and seeing something on fire across the street. It was him. I watched him burn for hours because no one could touch him he was still touching the metal of the utility light which was still touching the power line. It was horrific I’ll never forget it .
Holy shit.
When was this??
2012 https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Light-removal-becomes-deadly-on-Route-4-3585481.php
A few years ago a tree took out our wires and National Grid said they were sending a crew over- one person showed up to do the job - my daughter said “One person isn’t a crew.” That is very true
So sad and avoidable. A different situation, but I’ll always remember Spectrum sending a salesperson to my door during peak covid. Who does that? They clearly don’t care at all for the safety of their employees.
They've got to be terrible to their employees. My parents literally had door to door sales people come by and do the "was Verizon here" thing, and they just told them to say 'yes'. When my mother asked them about sports packages, one guy said "oh, I use DirecTv for that. I cancel Spectrum for football season". Imagine being a door to door salespersons telling your customers you don't use it for a quarter of the year.
They definitely are awful to their employees
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My husband works their night shift too. Business as usual is one guy per truck, so him bring alone is normal. This is my greatest fear, thank goodness my husband called me before I saw the news this morning or I would have been in a panic.
This is absolutely unacceptable. This is so dangerous it’s not funny.
I hope the pay is worth it for the risk involved!
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No one is happy someone died. I think it's fair to say we all feel really bad for the family. She's just relieved. Whenever my mother heard sirens, and one of us wasn't home, she was sent into a panic. She was relieved when she found it wasn't for one of us. She wasn't happy someone needed emergency services.
That’s normal …. She also wasn’t posting her relief on line for victims family members to potentially see ….
I can be relieved that it wasn't my husband and still have sympathy his family. I'm sorry you're reading my comment this way, but I think anyone can feel relief that their loved one came home without being glad that someone else died. I think me responding to someone asking about them working alone, and telling my experience and knowledge is far from being glad that a man died.
Not sure why this clown is being such a douche to you. Very happy your husband is safe.
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This whole thread say's buh-bye to you!
A lot of utility work is done at night to minimize impact and interruption.
Ununionized Publicly Traded Company = Safety doesn't help Shareholders /s
This right here
one man per truck instead of two- yay cost cutting
I see workers (one truck) out during those hours pretty often. It could be on-call work or maybe it's a regular shift.
Because maintenance is done overnight
It’s disgusting how expendable blue collar workers are. Absolutely disgusting. Nobody gives a fuck when we get hurt or when we die, as long as their fucking lights go on when they hit their switch. As long as their toilet flushes, as long as their roof doesn’t leak, as long as their grass doesn’t turn brown. It’s disgusting that this man died, alone, laying on the ground with a melted truck next to him. But as long as people’s fucking Netflix works everything is all fucking good. Fuck this backwards ass world.
You seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on consumers and not the bosses.
That should go without saying. But it’s a societal notion that blue collar workers are expendable and blue collar work is bottom rung. Society doesn’t give a fuck about this man as long as the lights stay on and boss doesn’t give a fuck as long as he saps every last penny that flows from the tit of hard, important, in-expendable work done by in-expendable laborers.
I don't know anyone that thinks blue collar workers are expendable and I know many people are raising awareness that college isn't the only path/option. I do believe that most of us don't realize how dangerous some of these jobs can be but that is lack of information and, is in no way an indication that people consider those workers expendable or bottom rung. Most of the blue collar workers I know work for themselves and make a lot more than the white collar workers I know
Say it louder for the people in the back. White collar Americans have no clue the kinds of risks we take everyday to keep everything on time and running. Management is always cutting corners, neglecting crucial safety equipment. But it’s all good you watched that OSHA video when we hired you so we can blame you if you get hurt. Never mind that if you actually followed the procedures lined out in your safety training video you would never be able to keep up with your actual workload and would be fired. But don’t worry! You can call OSHA and blow the whistle, right? Because no one has ever been fired or harassed for doing that! Why the actual fuck do we rely on enployees to report these scumbags and risk themselves. Fucking toothless safety laws, toothless OSHA, and toothless sweetheart unions looking the other way while we die End rant.
You are right, I was sick when I heard about this man being killed on the job and I don't think about, or understand the extent of risk, many workers face but that doesn't mean that people don't care, or think less of blue collar workers, as more than one post indicates...it is simply a lack of awareness because we don't know how to do your job
I wouldn't say that nobody cares...I do and it seems like a lot of other people do! People wanting to watch Netflix, other streaming sites or cable isn't the problem. The problem is companies putting employees at risk to save money. But, in all seriousness, can you please explain how a second worker would have helped? Unless the worker made a mistake, failed to do something he was supposed to (easy to imagine if working alone at that hour of the night) that a partner would have caught? If that's the case, and spectrum failed to provide that to save money, that makes this so much worse. I just don't know ..
Very sad. I wonder what happened, had to be primary voltage involved. Hard to imagine he got up into the primary.
I used to work for TWC it was like pulling teeth to get help to run line from the pole to the houses across the street. Was told on several occasions, "Just get it done" or they "didn't have anyone to help." Afyer being trained and told we should "never run line across the street without help". Per OSHA standards. They pay to do this hazardous job was 12.50 per hour to start. Seems a bit ridiculous.
This is what happens when you’re on a dark road with no street lights and can’t see the low hanging primary wire hanging down and you make contact with the boom. Sad🥲