Snowflake Man Is Killed In Power Plant Accident

By Tammy Gray-Searles
   Larry Hall, 35, of Snowflake died at about 1:35 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, in an industrial accident at the Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) Cholla Power Plant.
   Hall was an employee of Zachary Construction, the company responsible for much of the construction currently under way at the plant.
   According to the Navajo County Sheriff’s Office, the agency investigating the accident, Hall was work-ing on cables that held counterweights for a conveyor belt at the time of the accident. The conveyor belt was mistakenly turned on and he was pulled into a machine.
   “We’re still trying to find out how the conveyor belt got turned on,” Deputy Commander Bob Sutton said.
   Sutton explained that the proper safety procedure is for the switches that operate the conveyor belt to be “locked out” or disabled prior to any repair work. At this point in the investigation, Sutton noted that it ap-pears the switches were not properly disabled.
   “They’re supposed to lock out the switches,” Sutton said.
   Detectives at the sheriff’s office have taken over the investigation, and it is expected to be at least a week before any more information becomes available.
   Investigators from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) are also investigating the accident, and arrived at the power plant on Tuesday.
   Sutton noted that the sheriff’s office investigation is being conducted separately from the OSHA investigation, and APS is also conducting its own investigation. APS officials were not available for comment prior to press time.