A 26-year-old Annapolis man repairing an air-conditioning unit at the Annapolis coffee house 49 West was electrocuted Monday night, police said.
Coffee shop employees found Paul Butcher, who worked as a repairman for Annapolis-based Beck Environmental Services, on top of a walk-in cooler, unresponsive and not breathing, said Officer Kevin Freeman, a city police spokesman.
At about 6 p.m., the employees called police and attempted to give Butcher cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Freeman said. When paramedics arrived, they attempted to revive Butcher, but he was already dead.
Repairing air-conditioning units can be a dangerous occupation, according to Charlie McDrudden, director of government relations for the Air Conditioning Contractors of America.
“Certainly there are safety issues that all technicians have to deal with, specifically electrical ones,”McDrudden said.
According to the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation?s most recent data, in 2004 there were 81 work-related deaths reported in the state. Five of those deaths were installation and repair incidents.
McDrudden said workers are at high risk for electrocution if the electrical power to an air-conditioning unit is not disabled or if the unit was not properly installed.
Freeman said police and Maryland Occupational Safety and Health are continuing to investigate the incident.
Calls to Beck Environmental Services were not returned Tuesday.
Rachel Seeman contributed to this story.
Work-related deaths in 2004
23 » construction occupation
22 » transportation and moving occupations
6 » police/protection
6 » maintenance
5 » installation and repair
Source: Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation
