GRAINGER COUNTY, Tenn. — Appalachian Electric will have to pay a fine to the state after an employee died while on the job.
Nathan Potter died in July while installing a transformer near Cherokee Dam in Grainger County. The Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the 39-year-old was in a bucket truck to get to the top part of a pole and touched an energized switch.
Crew members immediately provided life-saving measures. The lineman was taken to Morristown-Hamblen Hospital but did not survive, according to AEC.
Potter worked as a lineman for over six years and leaves behind three young children and a wife who is a stay-at-home mom.
TOSHA said he was not wearing insulated gloves and sleeves and did not insulate the switch. State officials fined the company $8,000.
