ComEd Worker Killed in Crystal Lake Accident

A 53-year-old Lyons, Wis., man was killed in Crystal Lake Tuesday when a crossbar of an electrical pole struck him in the head.

Kelly Skiles, a Commonwealth Edison employee, was with a crew at the intersection of Crystal Lake Avenue and East Street when the accident happened, according to ComEd spokeswoman Alicia Zatkowski. 

Zatkowski declined to comment further, saying only that the incident was under investigation. 

Crystal Lake Fire Rescue responded to the scene at 1:42 p.m. and requested Flight for Life to transport Skiles to Centegra Hospital in McHenry. 

McHenry County Coroner Marlene Lantz said the medical staff worked on his injuries until 2:22 p.m., when he was pronounced dead. 

The preliminary findings indicated cause of death as head injury with depressed skull fracture, Lantz said. 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also investigating the death.

OSHA Spokesperson Kathy Webb said its immediate response upon learning of the accident was to get to the scene and ensure the safety of those remaining.

"An unfortunate accident had occurred and we want to find out, as does ComEd, what the cause of the accident was so we can prevent this from happening in the future."

An investigation started at the time of the accident will take up to six months to complete. Investigators will look for the cause of the accident and if there were any OSHA violations. ComEd employees and managers will be interviewed as will Crystal Lake Police and Fire Rescue and Crystal Lake officials who held the contract with the electric company.

"We're going to look at the entire process of what they’re doing at the time," Webb said. "We have to differentiate between construction or maintenance and repair first of all, and then we’ll direct that to the correct standards that we’re addressing."