Federal Government Fines Painting Firm

$3,000 For Meeting House Electrocution

By Andrew Gorosko

A federal agency that regulates worker safety has fined a painting firm $3,000 for an industrial accident last summer at Newtown Meeting House at 31 Main Street. In that accident one painter was killed by electrocution and another was seriously burned when an aluminum ladder that they were handling became electrified after it made contact with a high-voltage electric line.

The fine is the result of a legal settlement reached between the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Peter Campbell, the head of Campbell Quality Painting, LLC, of Weston. Mr Campbell could not be reached for comment.

In the July 26 accident, in which an aluminum ladder made contact with an 8,000-volt power line on the south side of the meeting house, Ivan Patricio Tenecela-Velez, 25, of Port Chester, N.Y., died due to accidental electrocution. Victor Saquisela, 21, also of Port Chester, was seriously burned. Both Mr Tenecela-Velez and Mr Saquisela were originally from Ecuador.

The two men were among a work crew that was completing a repainting project on the eastern side of the meeting house, a town-owned structure which formerly served as Newtown Congregational Church. The landmark white-steepled building stands at the intersection of Main Street and West Street, adjacent to the Main Street flagpole.

OSHA spokesman Ted Fitzgerald said Campbell Quality Painting, LLC, was cited for three serious violations of the US Occupational Safety and Health Act, resulting in $3,000 in fines.

The firm was cited for failing to provide appropriate ladders to employees working close to overhead power lines, or providing an equivalent means of protection, such as maintaining a safe minimum distance from those power lines, or wearing appropriate personal protective equipment, and/or shielding the power lines.

Also, the firm failed to train its employees in procedures to minimize hazards associated with ladder use, and also failed to instruct employees in the recognition and avoidance of unsafe conditions.

OSHA also cited Campbell Quality Painting for lashing together two aluminum extension ladders to provide additional reach for painting work.

Following OSHA’s investigation into the industrial accident, the company met with OSHA and reached a settlement under which the firm accepted the citations and also agreed to correct the violations. The firm also must develop a written worker safety and health program, according to Mr Fitzgerald.

In reaching the settlement with OSHA, Campbell Quality Painting gives up any rights to contest the citations and the fine. Each of the three citations resulted in $1,000 of the $3,000 overall fine.

Through negotiations, the firm and OSHA reduced the initially proposed fine from $4,500 to $3,000. OSHA specifies an incremental payment plan, under which the company must pay the $3,000 fine by next December.

Following the accident, town police also pursued an investigation, the results of which they turned over to OSHA for use in its investigation.

Mr Campbell was not at the meeting house when the accident occurred, but arrived soon thereafter.

The two painters were taking down an aluminum extension ladder on the south side of the meeting house about 3:55 pm on July 26, when the ladder made contact with the 8,000-volt primary power line that is positioned 32 feet above the ground alongside West Street.

After the two stricken men were transported to Danbury Hospital, police interviewed several other painters who were on the job at the time of the incident. Police had difficulty communicating because the workmen spoke Spanish. Police also had initial difficulty in establishing the identities of the two injured men because they did not carry typical identification.

The Connecticut Light & Power Company provides electrical safety aid to contractors, including the free placement of protective electrical insulators over power lines, and the free shutdown of power lines, when requested.

The Historic Preservation Trust of Newtown, Inc, a nonprofit organization leases, Newtown Meeting House from the town at a nominal cost. The trust operates and maintains the building.