Longtime Utility Worker Dies In 'Freak Accident'

After a utility employee died in a power-saw emergency at a water plant in Georgia on Friday, the employer dubbed the event a “freak accident,” The Telegraph reported.

Longtime utility worker James Kip Evans, 52, was “in a 7-foot deep ditch trying to saw some pipes at the wastewater treatment plant on Town Creek Road off Ga. 83 about 11 a.m. when he was gashed in his neck with the chop saw,” the report said, citing Monroe County sheriff’s Sgt. Lawson Bittick.

Evans was an employee of Utility Partners, a company contracted to manage city water and wastewater. He began working for Utility Partners in 2006.

“The accident is still under investigation. Investigators for the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration have been called to the scene,” 13 MWAZ reported.

Utility Partners President Bob Monette said, per The Telegraph: “He was just cutting a piece of pipe — something he’s done a thousand times, frankly.” The blade was between two sections of pipe. “When he was pulling it out, it hit him on his neck. He immediately dropped to his feet, dropped the saw,” Monette said. “He just lost so much blood. It’s just a freak accident.”

Hall, the city manager, released this statement, according to WXIA: “City government is a family and Kip was a vital part of that family and he will be greatly missed.”

Mayor Eric Wilson added in a statement: “As a community, we mourn the loss of Kip and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and with Utility Partners at this very difficult time.”

To read more about utility worker accidents visit Water Online’s Labor Solutions Center.