A tragic accident on Tuesday at the Great Bend Municipal Airport in Barton County, Kan., claimed the life of a 16-year-old who was working on a roof with a second man when the aerial boom bucket they were using made contact with a high-voltage power line.

According to the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel were dispatched to the main airport hangar around 8:15 a.m. on August 13 following a flurry of 911 calls reporting an accidental electrocution in the area. Great Bend, a city of just under 15,000 residents, is about two hours northwest of Wichita.

Barton County Sheriff Brian Bellendir said the second person, 24-year-old Allistar Jose Sanchez, was able to climb onto the hangar's roof and then descend to the ground. Rescue crews saw the teen, identified as Ivan Joel Mollins, unresponsive in the bucket. 

Midwest Energy, the area power company, turned off power to the lines by 8:48 a.m., allowing rescue crews to reach the boy. Both victims were transported to Great Bend Regional Hospital, where Mollins was pronounced dead. 

Sanchez, who received severe burns in the accident, was subsequently airlifted to a Wichita area hospital. His condition remains unknown. 

Bellendir said representatives of the Kansas Department of Labor and the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration had contacted his office Wednesday morning to speak with his investigators. He added that he was unaware of the statutes dictating whether a minor should have been allowed on the aerial boom.

“I looked it up online last night … and, you know, I don't know when you get into aerial work like that … if there [are] restrictions, but 16-year-olds can work up to 40 hours a week in Kansas when school is not in session,” he said.

“I did have a phone message from the Kansas Department of Labor wanting to talk to my investigators this morning,” he continued. “So, I don't know what has developed from that, but we've also had OSHA contact us this morning.”

Bellindir said the the contractor for the repair work on the main hanger was Roofmasters Roofing & Sheet Metal, which has offices in Great Bend, Hays and Colby, Kan. The two victims, however, were subcontractors for a Wichita-area roofing company, and his investigators were in the process of tracking down that employer’s name.

A person answering phones at Roofmasters’ Great Bend location declined to provide Roofing Contractor magazine with the subcontractor’s name or comment on the incident.

An employee with the Kansas Department of Labor, who was not authorized to speak on the record, said a 16-year-old “absolutely cannot leave the ground.” A call placed to Becky Shaffer, communications director at the Kansas Department of Labor, was not returned.

An online obituary for the teen said Mollins lost his life “…while working for a roofing company …performing his duties on a hangar near the terminal building when he came into contact with high-voltage power lines.”

Described as a “bright and hardworking young man,” Mollins was known for his work ethic, kind heart and respect for everyone around him. 

“Ivan’s sudden passing has left his family and community in profound grief,” the obituary said. “He will be remembered for his bright spirit, his willingness to help others, and the love he had for his family and friends.”

How is This Legal?

The short answer is that it most likely isn’t.

Kansas law allows children 16 and older to work up to 40 hours per week during the summer, as the Barton County Sherriff stated. However, the state’s labor laws must comport with those at the federal level.

The federal Fair Labor Standards Act, first enacted in 1938 to curb the worst excesses of the Industrial Revolution, created a category of jobs deemed too hazardous for anyone under 18 to perform. These jobs are referred to as “hazardous occupations,” or HO; minors are all but prohibited from working in them. 

Hazardous occupations, including mining, manufacturing, construction, roofing, logging and agriculture, are among the categories. Kansas labor law, like its federal counterpart, outlines specific prohibitions against hiring minors for HO-categorized jobs, which are characterized by the following: 

• Dangerous or physically demanding jobs: This includes roles like roofing, construction, mining, and manufacturing.
• Jobs involving hazardous equipment: Operating heavy machinery or power-driven equipment is typically prohibited for minors.
• Jobs with exposure to harmful substances: Working with chemicals or other hazardous materials is often restricted. 

The FLSA’s restriction on minors working in roofing is worded by statute as “roofing operations and all work on or about a roof.” The term "on or about a roof" includes working on the roof, on a ladder or scaffold near the roof, installing roof trusses or joists, and using mechanical devices like hoists to access the roof. This section of the FLSA was last updated in 2005. Roofing is referenced as HO 16. 

“Minors under 18 are prohibited from using a roof as a point of access, egress, or a platform from which to access or perform other work,” according to the FLSA.

The FLSA provides limited carve-outs for some hazardous occupational “apprenticeships,” including roofing. Still, the exemptions expressly prohibit the type of activity Mollins was involved with. 

The exemption states, “[A] minor is [exempt] working in proximity to a roof of a one-story building as long as the minor’s feet are never more than three feet off the ground level.”  

According to data from the Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries and OSHA, about 68% of contractors who were the victims of fatal electrocution worked in the construction and extraction industries.