Ordinarily a flagman's job is to warn workers when a train is about to show up. It's not his job to tell the workers which wires are hot. There were also a couple of electric traction guys there whose job was to tell the contractor which wires were hot, and which wires to work on. At least that is my impression. The article doesn't say what rules the conductor violated that got him the year off. If an electric train goes from a live section to a dead one, it livens up the dead one. i'm wondering if the conductor was supposed to keep electric trains clear of the out of service track. it's the job of the operator or dispatcher, who ever is controlling signals and switches there, to keep electric trains and engines clear of de-energized tracks. There are supposed to be grounds on the de-energized wires to keep them that way in case of accident. I wonder who the conductor reported illegal activity to, in order to gain "whistle blower" status. The company can't have tried to cover up the fatality.
Of course I feel sympathy for the man who was electrocuted.