Funeral services held for fallen NIPSCO lineman
BY KEITH BENMANFuneral services for a NIPSCO lineman who died Friday while working to repair electric power lines were held Monday at Jackson Funeral Chapel in Rensselaer.
Michael Nesius, 43, of Rensselaer, was pronounced dead at 4:01 a.m. Friday at Pulaski Memorial Hospital in Winamac, according to Pulaski County Coroner Lisa Salzer. The cause of death was electrocution, according to the coroner's preliminary finding.
About 100 employees of Northern Indiana Public Service Co. showed for the 10:30 a.m. funeral services on Monday, according to USW Local 12775 President Jim Blythe. The funeral was also heavily attended by family and community members.
"Here was a guy that was full of life and loved his job," Blythe said. "It's really a very sad time for our members."
NIPSCO on Friday announced it was establishing a fund to help the Nesius family. He is survived by his wife and two children. He had worked for NIPSCO for three years.
"Today was all about paying tribute to a fine human being who we lost," said NIPSCO spokeswoman Colleen Reilly, shortly after attending the funeral services.
NIPSCO is cooperating with the Indiana Occupational Health and Safety Administration in its investigation, Reilly said. The company also conducts its own investigation. The union takes part in both investigations, Blythe said.
The last NIPSCO employee to die in the line of duty died of injuries sustained when he was shocked in an accident five years ago near Angola, a northeast Indiana city, according to union records. NIPSCO has 445,000 electric customers in northern Indiana.
Indiana OSHA investigators were at the site of Friday's accident on U.S. 421 south of Medaryville in Pulaski County on both Friday and Monday.
The investigation could take up to a month or more and will determine if any violations of state or federal standards occurred, according to Tim Grogg, special assistant commissioner for the Indiana Department of Labor.
In the past five years, NIPSCO has been cited by OSHA only once for a safety violation, which occurred at its Schahfer Generating Station, in Wheatfield. It was assessed a fine of $1,875. That finding is being contested by NIPSCO, according to OSHA's on-line database.
Nationwide in 2005, 36 electric line installers/repairers died as a result of injuries sustained while on the job, according to OSHA data. An electric line worker is about eight times as likely to be killed on the job as the average American worker.