could be my 19 year old son’s

He recently began working as a TV cable installer, and does not seem to be getting adequate pole safety training. It appears there are some shoe string operations in that industry, and that they are a bit lax on the safety training.
He is only on a pole maybe 5% of the time, (and we know that the cable lines are ‘usually’ the lowest ones..but then how long does it take to be wrong..and thus dead?

The question then is: what info is available on pole safety ...for cable TV installers? I spent a couple hours browsing the NIOSH website and found a few good items but did not see much on pole safety..mostly it just says..stay away. Not an option for him

General Safety for line work see OSHA 1910.269, Telecommunications 1910.268 and if your going to be involved in Electrical Transmission and Distribution Construction see 1926 Sub Part V.

Unfortunately.... this work evolved from the telecommunications companies which had good training programs... as they outsourced it to contractors that training fell by the wayside.

Hi Bob,
Welcome to ECN, mate!.
Having people working on poles without proper safety training sets a rather dangerous precedent.
It's usually the first thing you learn at the PoCo where I work.
I'll see what else I can dig up for you.....

Around here the cable guys put their extension ladders right on the wires and up they go.It seems to be standard practice day or night and quite dangerous if you ask me.I don't think they get safety training at all.I have to tie off when I'm above 10'so how do they(the cable company)get away with it?

frank,
More or less they are working on the strength of the messenger wire that supports the CATV wire.
Working on poles isn't just about working on poles, there are a lot of other things that come into the frey.
Having a pole snap while you are up the thing can really dent your confidence, not to mention broken bones, pole testing before you climb is essential!.
Same side of the coin, first person that climbs the ladder ties it off to the pole!.
Also ladders meant to be leaned against poles are required to have a strap at the head end (top).
One last thing is the need to know your pole rescue techniques, no matter who you are in the team.
Don't laugh, we had a guy here had a coronary once he climbed a pole.
Thank God for good pole belts.

As what Trumpy says, its that safety working around poles is of paramount importance.
Condition of the pole has to be known, warning label may be tagged on the pole, hammer test, visual check of the pole and overall hardware of all conductors and equipment installed on the pole.
Sometimes ground level was lowered hence less stability etc.

Voltage levels to be aware of on the POCO conductors. 400V 11kV 33 kV

All to often you see a telco worker with no hard hat , aluminium ladder, no safety harness and ladder not secured with a tie line working on the telco wires by himself.
that's a recepy for disaster.
At least in the POCO industry we have proper PPE to work at a higher level of safety for pole and general utility work.

You only need an aged POCO wire to snap and you can have a fried brain
Hardhat will at least protect you for that and other falling objects.

This is just the natural progression of the "contractor" phenomenon. The host company makes sure they are as isolated as possible from liability then they award the contract to the lowest bidder. That is usually a guy in a truck (or car) who has minimal training. Being a sole proprietor he doesn't have to abide by OSHA. I am surprised more people don't get killed. I see plenty of dumb things going on when I drive around watching these "no name" guys swinging from cable or telco wires. I would say the POCO should be policing this since they usually own the pole but they use their share of "contractors" too.

Thanks for the feedback. As I suspected the provisions for training are weak(ening)..and the consequences high. btw..what is a PoCo?

PoCo = Power Company


Bill

We have auditors who work for the line assett owner(POCO) checking our worksites at random.
Check if we comply with PPE, safe working pracitises, and tailgate meetings.
All POCO work in Auckland NZ is contracted out.

as gfretwell sais .

The problem is that the auditors don't know where everyone works on the system.
If it's a HV job, no problem. There are switching schedules issued and test and access permits which an auditor can uplift from the controlroom and he can visit the worksite.

A telco worker may be on site for ½ hour and is gone.
I will check with an auditor next time if they do pick up those telco guys too.

"Working on poles isn't just about working on poles, there are a lot of other things that come into the frey.
Having a pole snap while you are up the thing can really dent your confidence, not to mention broken bones, pole testing before you climb is essential!.
Same side of the coin, first person that climbs the ladder ties it off to the pole!.
Also ladders meant to be leaned against poles are required to have a strap at the head end (top).
One last thing is the need to know your pole rescue techniques, no matter who you are in the team.
Don't laugh, we had a guy here had a coronary once he climbed a pole.
Thank God for good pole belts."

Trumpy hit the nail on the head here. First time posting here, so please bear with me.
This made me think of a story that I ran across on a linemans website where I am a moderator at. There was a telephone lineman that mysteriously was fatally electrocuted while climbing a pole. Reports showed that he
never got up as high as power, but still got electrocuted. If I remember right, the investigations showed that there was a broken arm insulator or maybe a tie wire, whatever it was, as the lineman headed up the pole, all the shaking of the pole caused the phase wire to come off the insulator and "float" where it came down on top of him.
Just an example of how things can happen in a split second.
TLW

From renosteinke:



This guy doesn't look to happy where he is.

The insulator bindings on thier lines must be pretty good if you can stand on the wires!.
From this pic, I take it the guy is trying to wrap his pole belt strap around the pole.
Not my cup of tea to be honest.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 04-29-2006).]

TLW,
Welcome to ECN mate!.

Looking at that picture, it seems our aerial friend is not in the USA - didn't they outlaw double-d rings some time ago in favor of full body harness?

Celtic,
Judging by the size of the lines, this could very well be Japan with thier 100VAC supply system.
I could be wrong too.
But, check out the Safety footwear!.

Didn't someone post stuff in the last year about how long you stay alive hanging upside-down from a safety harness? If I remember, it's minutes not hours.

Alan

Alan,
Suspension trauma is a real problem.
After 30 minutes in suspension, the uric acid trapped in your lower legs, once released, will kill you.
It was George Corron that gave the original thread, that has been thrown up to the top.
We(the local Fire Brigade) had a guy trapped by a tree, once the trunk was released, the uric acid shock to the brain and the liver made them both fail.
Not a good way to go.

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 04-30-2006).]