Contractor suffers electrical burns in accident at LIPA substation

A painting subcontractor sealing a LIPA substation in Glen Head for PSEG Long Island on Tuesday suffered a severe electrical shock and burns and is in “very serious condition,” according to Nassau County police.

The man, 47, whose name was not released, was sealing the roof of the substation near the Long Island Rail Road tracks on Glen Head Road when he “brushed up against roof bushings” and suffered a “severe electric shock,” said a Nassau police spokeswoman. Substations convert higher-voltage energy from power plants to lower voltages distributed to homes and businesses. The worker encountered a 13,000-volt line.

Third Precinct officers, Emergency Service Unit officers, Ambulance Bureau AMTs and the Glenwood Fire Company responded to the scene, Nassau police said. Glenwood Fire Company responders used their ladder truck to assist emergency service officers to remove the victim from the roof and place him into a county ambulance, police said.

The man has severe electrical burns and remains at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow, according to the spokeswoman.

PSEG in a statement said, “Earlier today a contractor performing work at one of our facilities in Glen Head was injured in an accident.” The utility said the worker is “currently receiving treatment,” and the cause of the accident is “under investigation.”

By Mark Harrington

mark.harrington@newsday.comMHarringtonNews

Mark Harrington, a Newsday reporter since 1999, covers energy, wineries, Indian affairs and fisheries.