Federal investigators were in Oak Forest on Monday examining the scene where a 38-year-old Commonwealth Edison Co. lineman was electrocuted Saturday while working on a transmission line on the village’s east side.
A safety specialist in the Calumet City office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the investigation into the electrocution of David Garcia of Frankfort was routine in such cases.
“Any time there is a fatality or a catastrophe, we go out,” said safety specialist Kathy O’Connell, noting that the agency has up to six months to investigate “whether the company is in violation of any OSHA standards.”
Commonwealth Edison also was conducting an internal investigation into what the Cook County medical examiner’s office has judged to be an accident.
Garcia was pronounced dead Saturday morning at South Suburban Hospital in Hazel Crest.
A 12-year employee of the utility company, Garcia reportedly was making repairs on a high-mounted power line in the 4800 block of Kimberly Court in Oak Forest when he was electrocuted just before 10 a.m. Saturday.
