OSHA probes death of worker for LI company

A federal safety agency is investigating a Monday accident in which a Maine man working for a Hauppauge-based company fell nearly 50 feet to his death.

John Plante, 44, was working as a lineman for Hawkeye Llc in Saco, Maine, when he fell as he descended a utility pole, Don Rassiger, chief counsel for the Hauppauge company, said Thursday.

Ted Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said the government probe covers safety standards and procedures for Hawkeye, which at the time of the incident was providing services to the Central Maine Power Co.

Plante, who is from Oakland, Maine, died shortly after 4 p.m., en route to the hospital, according to news reports.

Hawkeye is a utility construction contractor that works for power companies throughout the Northeast, Rassiger said.

Plante was wearing a personal-protection safety harness during his work on a 95-foot utility pole and was about halfway down when he fell, Rassiger said.

Rassiger said the company is working with OSHA on the investigation and "takes the safety of its workers very seriously."

He also said the company has been in contact with Plante's family and "is keeping the family in our thoughts and prayers."