An on-the-job accident claimed the life of a young Russell County man Monday afternoon in Adair County.
Adair Sheriff Josh Brockman reports that 22-year-old Joseph Hayden Robertson was “deceased upon locating him and was pronounced by Adair County EMS.”
Brockman and other first responders were notified of a male being struck by a utility pole at 12:20 p.m. The caller said that the man was unresponsive but could not give an exact location, other than somewhere on state Route 768. Dispatchers at Adair 911 managed to ping the phone’s location to direct emergency responders to the scene., just more than 2.5 miles out 768 and near the Kentucky 92 intersection.
Robertson and a colleague were unloading a 30-foot long utility pole, weighing between 900 and 1200 pounds, when the accident occurred.
“During the attempt to unload the pole it got away from them,” according to the sheriff’s statement. “The pole struck Robertson in the head and chest area pinning him to the blacktop roadway.”
Brockman’s press release states that Robertson and the rest of the crew work for the Cumberland County-based A & C Communications Corp., which specializes in utilities work. They were in the process of moving poles to be installed later.
The sheriff’s office leads the investigation. Adair EMS, the Columbia-Adair Fire Dept., and Adair County Coroner Todd Akin also responded to the scene.
