KANSAS CITY, Mo. — While working on a contracted project for the Kansas City International Airport (MCI) on Thursday, April 16, IBEW Local 124 members — including Journeyman Wireman Chuck Bryant — assisted an electrician with Sunshine Lighting Company after he was shocked and stuck while changing a 277-volt light.
While IBEW Local 124 is contracted to work on projects for MCI, Enterprise Rent-A-Car leases its space from the airport, which leaves the company responsible for its own building maintenance and upgrades. This agreement, Bryant shared, is what allowed Enterprise to hire Sunshine Lighting Company — a non-union electric and equipment business — to repair and work on its lighting on the same jobsite as IBEW Local 124, who was completing similar work for MCI.
“It was an untenable, dangerous situation caused by the guy who hurt himself, which falls back on the company,” Bryant said in an interview. “There are dangers of 277 and dangers of working on it alone; when you’re working with that voltage, you’re not supposed to work live.”
Bryant paused his work on April 16 to use the restroom facilities when he noticed a group gathered around the Enterprise rental area. Upon closer observation, he located a man who, his fellow IBEW members shared, had fallen off a ladder.
During this time, IBEW Local 124 shared that Derek Swaggerty — an electrician for Sunshine Lighting Company for the past two years — had not received any assistance from Enterprise employees nor had his company showed up to the jobsite, which spurred Bryant to speak with him.
Swaggerty, who had pulled himself up into a chair, shared with IBEW Local 124 that he was shocked and stuck while working to change out a 277-volt light — requiring the electrician to throw himself off the ladder.
“He got burned on his pinky; he had a big burn gouge — it was the worst I had ever seen [in-person] from an electrical shock,” Bryant said in an interview. “277 is dangerous. There’s no reason to ever work on anything live; that’s the stuff that kills people.”
While Swaggerty had contacted his supervisor, an available company employee was an hour away from the jobsite. Brant knew he should be assessed by a medical professional, however, Sunshine Lighting Company recommended Swaggerty to call 911 as he waited for a company representative to arrive.
As Bryant spoke with him, he shared that Swaggerty was in a state of disorientation and was unable to move from his chair. IBEW Local 124 helped to pull him and the chair off to the side, away from the pedestrian walkway as they waited for Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to arrive, while an IBEW Local 124 apprentice checked the hanging wire for voltage.
“It was a massive failure on the employee and the company,” Bryant said. “It was a lack of training and a lack of safety. Being part of a union prevents stuff like this. I told him that 277 is a very dangerous voltage; none of us do the type of work you were doing live.”
In addition to working alone, Swaggerty did not turn off the breaker nor did he communicate with IBEW Local 124 that he was working on the jobsite.
“The first guy, we had no idea he was even there; all the stuff you have to verify when working on a system — he didn’t do any of that,” Bryant said in an interview.
Sunshine Lighting Company arrived at the jobsite, IBEW Local 124 shared, two hours following the incident to retrieve equipment, after which Swaggerty was picked up by the Kansas City Fire Department (KCFD) for medical professional assessment. Succeeding April 16’s incident, Bryant shared that Sunshine Lighting Company sent a different employee to the Enterprise airport location to finish the lighting job that Swaggerty had started.
And while Bryant shared that the second electrician did communicate with IBEW Local 124, it was unclear that proper worksite procedures were followed as the second Sunshine Lightning Company employee turned the light’s power off at the junction box — leaving the wire live. These lights in particular, Bryant said, were emergency lights, which had a battery backup.
“We’re working on the same thing [for MCI] in a different area; you have to turn it off,” he said. “He was working on it hot; he just went in and started disconnecting the lights. If he had been properly trained, he would have known you’re supposed to turn off the breakers and proceed with work.”
The second Sunshine Lighting Company electrician shared with IBEW Local 124 that Swaggerty did have a broken hip from falling off the ladder. However, additional injuries are unknown at this time.
Though Sunshine Lighting Company did complete this work and it will not require IBEW Local 124 to assist on this project, Bryant believes there is something IBEW Local 124 members can learn from this experience.
“Our purpose is to organize everyone in the trade — not just who we think deserves it and who we like,” he said. “Someone being injured is not the case of a non-responsibility; it is how can we help? I think those things are really important.”
Julia Williams — a Kansas City native — is a reporter and digital producer for The Labor Beacon. A University of Missouri School of Journalism alumna, she previously served as the editor-in-chief of The Northeast News before joining The Labor Beacon staff.
Williams’s grandfather was a Claycomo Ford Motor Company retiree and avid UAW Local 249 supporter, allowing her to understand the union difference from a young age.
In her free time, Williams enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to see her friends and hanging out at home with her cat, Greta. She loves a good cup of coffee, seeing local, live music and shopping secondhand. With a passion for storytelling, she hopes to bring her knowledge of journalistic integrity to the Kansas City union community — giving union and labor workers a voice, while holding people in powerful positions accountable.
