Safety Bulletin: Hand Injury During Improper Jet Line Pulling
A teammate recently suffered a serious hand injury while preparing to pull branch wire, the crew was in the process of pulling a jet line through conduit. Instead of using approved tools, a battery-powered drill and a 3/8” piece of all-thread were used to wind the line. When the jet line began to slip, the teammate used his gloved hand to guide it back onto the all-thread. The line wrapped around his fingers as the drill continued spinning, causing a deep laceration to the right index finger and a fracture to the right middle finger.
This incident reflects several breakdowns in planning, supervision, and field execution. While the team may have believed this approach would save time, it introduced an uncontrolled hazard that resulted in a preventable injury. Additionally, the teammate was not present for the morning safety discussion and began working without a proper review of the task.
Key Contributing Factors:
- Improvised and unsafe tool use: The use of a power drill and threaded rod to pull a jet line introduced an entanglement hazard and is not an approved method.
- Lack of one-on-one task briefing: The teammate joined mid-task without receiving a targeted safety briefing on the specific hazards and methods being used.
- Failure to intervene: Neither supervision nor peers stopped or questioned the unsafe setup before the incident occurred.
- Inadequate task verification: There was no in-field check to ensure that the method being used matched what had been reviewed or approved in the pre-task planning.
Corrective Actions:
Immediately discontinue the use of makeshift or unapproved tools for line pulling.
- Do not use drills, all-thread, or similar materials for pulling in jet line, ropes, or branch wire under any circumstances.
- Use only industry-standard tools such as vacuum systems, or manufacturer-rated wire pullers designed for this purpose.
- If the right tools aren’t available on-site, stop the task and escalate the issue to supervision.
Strengthen pre-task planning and task-specific supervision.
- Wire pulls and similar activities must be fully planned out during the daily pre-task plan (PTP), including:
- Tool selection
- Specific hazards (entanglement, pinch points, tensioning, control zones)
- Roles and communication
- Foremen must verify that the actual setup being used matches the planned approach, especially when using rotating or powered tools.
Conduct catch-up safety briefings for any employee who misses the morning huddle.
- Any worker joining a crew late or being reassigned at midday must receive a brief, one-on-one review of current tasks and known hazards.
- These catch-ups should be led by a foreman or lead and include what’s being done, how it’s being done, and what risks are present.
Reinforce and support stop-work responsibility.
- Every teammate must feel empowered to speak up when something looks wrong, off-plan, or unsafe.
- Field leaders must actively back this up — when a worker stops a task, leadership should thank them and reassess the situation immediately.
- We can’t afford to treat improvisation as acceptable — it must be recognized and corrected in real-time.
Final Reminder:
If you’re fixing a setup problem by “getting creative” with power tools or materials that weren’t discussed in the plan, stop and ask: Is this method safe, approved, and in line with what we agreed on? If the answer isn’t yes — regroup, ask for help, and do it right. This injury is a reminder that speed without control leads to setbacks, not progress.