07.03.2025

Scissor lift electrocution

A man was killed last week after the platform of his scissor lift came too close to an overhead power line in North Lawndale, Chicago last week. His colleague was injured but survived.

The two men, Francisco Javier Ruiz 33, and Fernando Villalobos, 26, were working from a scissor lift at a height of around 12 metres on the morning or Tuesday, February 25th. The scissor was set up in close proximity to a couple of overhead power lines and when the lift swayed as it went up or came down, it clearly came too close to one of them and Reyes received a massive shock, which set the machines tyres alight and ended his life.

The two were working at on an affordable housing development and were attaching metal framing to the outside of a building, when the incident occurred. The two were employees of Interlayer which was subcontracted to main contractor Burling Builders. Inspectors from OSHA - the Occupational Safety and Health Administration - arrived on site and it now has six months to complete its investigation and issue a full report.