Electrical Training--not just for clearance guys!

[Ross Turner]

If in doubt get it shut out,Thats the way we look at it.
If we feel its unsafe to do live we will request an outage for us to get the job done safely,stuff the customer minutes lossed as a persons life is worth more.

 

[clearance]

Ross, thats nice, you must be talking about private primaries. The line kills for us are very rare, only given when a tree is to close to the line to climb (eg. uprooting), other wise its a single shot reclose. If you work safely and with the proper equipment and training you can do tree work with just that.

 

[juststumps]

you really don't want to mess with freddie kilovolt!!!!!!! he doesn't care if you live or die......kilo=kill!!! coworkers maimed or killed...same with trespassers... he don't care..!!! we get piegeons under bridges,,, wings touch the bridge and wire,,,vaporized...raccoons get on top of circut breakers,,get past the varmit guards,,blow up three times there size...well done, fur gone,, cooked...we usually get there after the fault, fix it....never see most of this stuff... one day some furry tailed tree rats, got into a circut breaker,, crossed both legs...heard an explosion,,,all we saw was a bright light ...fault was so bad,,, it blew the protective relays off the control board... so the thing never tripped....manually dumped the circut....had 400 gallons of burning oil...it melted two inch thick cast iron,, melted porcelein insulators,,vaporized 30 feet of 500 mcm copper wire...... you really really really,, want to careful around this stuff

 

[Ross Turner]

I am talking about the main primarys/feeders,All we have that are allowed to be used in the live zone is a pole set consisting of 1.2m fibreglass rods that have a silky saw head & a prunner attachment,other than using these to prune the tree to outside the live/vincity zone,if not possible we are required to request a shut down/power outage.
This is all down to our HSE

 

[a_lopa]

i once had a power co audit by some college dood,he honestly thought my old frayed saw strop was my prussic cord.i got a good laugh outa that off the job WITH pay thankyou very much i get what guy and others are getting at but theres just too many people getting about with all sorts of qualifications spreading what THEY interpret the tree industry as,dogs bollocks

 

[a_lopa]

and dont forget, one flash and your ash

 

[tam]

Over here we are allowed to use spikes only on take downs,If not you can always use a long endless loop sling by placing around stem threading one end through the loop so you have a foot support.

As for getting your climbing rope into the canopy we use poles that are tested to be used next to the lines to place our ropes in the trees.
As safety zones are concerned we are not alloud to enter the Vincinity zone which varries depending on what voltage you are working.But you have to be certified with the NPTC Arboricultural Electrical qualifications,then get authorised by the network company.

i hate ALL trees. so i use spikes every single climb. and i spike the gits as much as i can! hahahahaha!
:greenchainsaw:

 

[Big A]

Just done, as a refresher, Utility Arb AE1. Jeez have they upped the ante in the last few years. When I did it in 96 it was a one day instruction in the field, now it seems that its a separate ticket to use long sticks, carry a ladder, fart, use a saw blah blah blah. BUT I was shocked how much I'd forgotten, safety-wise. I honestly couldn't remember half the IMPORTANT details, like proximity distances. So, if you work near the power and think you know it all, think again. As for shut-downs, in 96 the company I worked for would not hear of them, except in extreme circumstances, now its the accepted way. As I said it was only meant as a refresher, as I carry out mainly domestic work nowadays, but every house has an in-feed, and every street has power overhead to watch out for.

 

[SteveBullman]

i too sat the course with big A

sadly i had a dream about a log nearly puncturing an underground cable last night

other than that, i can barely remember anything we were told yesterday

 

[mattmann1972]

It only takes 1/10 of an amp to defib the heart!

Just remember that when you say "Oh it's only a service drop"

10 feet is for your saftey, but enough dum a***s decided that they were ok to cross the line so they had to make it a law. At least where I work you call PGE and we'll come out and do the work for FREE! and you still get to go home to your loved ones.

I had a customer that got 5 quotes for tree removals and only one said that he had to call the PUD to come out and remove the limbs next to the power lines. Guess who got the job?

 

[tam]

i've got ae1 on monday.. tomorrow actually.

 

[Ross Turner]

Buy the lockjack yourself as the company wont,If you read the paperwork i gave all of you`s you should have no problem passing,if you dont they will dock the fee out your wages or get you to pay for the next one yoursef.lol

 

[sawn_penn]

Training on electrical hazards is important. Training is important, period.

I'n not pretending to be familiar with the power distribution systems in the US, but there is a lot to learn about the ones in Australia.

Without the training, how can you expect guys to have any understanding of the real hazards? Without training (from someone) how is a guy of the street going to tell the difference between a power cable and a telephone cable? I know it's obvious, but until you teach someone it isn't so obvious.

A good course will teach not just electrical safety, but how to efficiently contact the utility and get the power turned off. It will teach the scheduling implications of this too - if you need two weeks notice to cut the power to a street, it's best to know in advance. (Even if you use this knowledge to "no bid" the work)

 

[clearance]

Training on electrical hazards is important. Training is important, period.

I'n not pretending to be familiar with the power distribution systems in the US, but there is a lot to learn about the ones in Australia.

Without the training, how can you expect guys to have any understanding of the real hazards? Without training (from someone) how is a guy of the street going to tell the difference between a power cable and a telephone cable? I know it's obvious, but until you teach someone it isn't so obvious.

A good course will teach not just electrical safety, but how to efficiently contact the utility and get the power turned off. It will teach the scheduling implications of this too - if you need two weeks notice to cut the power to a street, it's best to know in advance. (Even if you use this knowledge to "no bid" the work)

Getting the power turned off is an emergency only option in a well run system, that is why training is so important, if the vegetation is so close that the power needs to be shut off (unless it is emergency, like storm work) then someone isn't doing their job, simple. It is unreasonable to expect the power to be shutoff all the time treework needs to be done, trained crews and an aggressive line clearance program are the answer to a safe and reliable system. The utility has an obligation to make sure that minimun clearances are kept up, the line must come first, controversial as it sometimes can be, this is just common sense.

 

[046]

when in doubt, insulated Jamison pole pruner with insulated lineman gloves comes out.

 

[clearance]

when in doubt, insulated Jamison pole pruner with insulated lineman gloves comes out.

The Jamieson with a valid dielectric test sticker is insulated, no need for gloves. If in doubt, there should never be doubt in utility work. If you have doubts about what you are doing, call the utility co, or get someone who knows.

 

[046]

The Jamieson with a valid dielectric test sticker is insulated, no need for gloves. If in doubt, there should never be doubt in utility work. If you have doubts about what you are doing, call the utility co, or get someone who knows.

basically agree with what you are saying.

using insulated lineman gloves in combination with a hotstick is how our local lineman operate. there is no doubt what so ever that I'm safe with this combination.

by the way "when in doubt" is an american slang

 

[clearance]

basically agree with what you are saying.

using insulated lineman gloves in combination with a hotstick is how our local lineman operate. there is no doubt what so ever that I'm safe with this combination.

by the way "when in doubt" is an american slang

Yeah, thats how utility guys here talk about trees by the line, "when in doubt-take it out"

 

[kmoose]

basically agree with what you are saying.

using insulated lineman gloves in combination with a hotstick is how our local lineman operate. there is no doubt what so ever that I'm safe with this combination.

by the way "when in doubt" is an american slang

The use of insulated gloves is mostly pointless with the use of a "hot stick" tool. The tried to get us to do that but after some research they canned the rule. I worked as a journeyman for over 18 years, gloving up to 30kv and bare handing up to 500 kv.........yes, 500,000 volts. I've been reading this thread for a while now and am happy that someone thought enough to bring up the fact that any and all glass sticks need to be in current test date. But not only the sticks, the booms of the buckets, the liners, and the stick saws need to be current with testing and inspected every day. Do you also know that ansi does not qualify ANY rope to make contact with primary conductors! If a rope is to make contact with an energized primary conductor it must be isolated by the use of an approved fiberglass link....that is also tested regularly. From experience, some ropes are pretty safe right out of the box. But as soon as they hit the dirt or lay in the back of a pickup, it is anyone’s guess.

Qualified personal can approach as close as 2'4" to primary lines if ALL of the above equipment has been tested and is current, BUT......any non-approved object like a limb or rope can not breach or close this distance. You must stay out of reaching and falling distance, so working above is a no no. Basically the restrictions are so endless, if something was to go bad, osha will have a field day regardless.

Over the last 20 years I have been involved with line work the rules have changed many times for many reasons........Most of the reasons where written in blood. After 9 year on my company’s joint safety committee, I investigated some of the gruesome injuries and fatalities one could imagine. All where experienced people that had become complacent and allowed themselves too much room for error. Remember, It is not one mistake or event that gets you, it is several that occur in a short time frame that overcomes our ability to recover and prevent an accident.

Any training is good training, but it take years of training and actual working in the vicinity of power lines to really be safe in the many dangerous situations out there. I you are a private tree guy and you bid a job on a tree near our lines; I expect to get a phone call from you. I can save everyone allot of grief and have my trimmers get it to where it will pose little or no hazard to you. Be safe, you and your family come first.

 

[clearance]

Awesome post Moose, I like what you said about no rope being allowed to sit on a primary, very good. In the past during some fights here about spurless climbing an ISA cert. guy went of about how you could use a bigshot to put a line up 60', way above the primary. My buddy was almost killed when he was working for a non utility tree service, his boss didn't tell him anything, he was used to working in the bush. Somehow he came into indirect contact with one phase of a 25kv. three phase, it blew him right out of the tree, skull fracture, shattered shoulder, severe burns to where his spurs strapped to his calves, in a coma for weeks. They don't call it power for nothing. What is your take on steel core fliplines/lanyards?, as long as you observe the proper limits of approach to energized conductors they are ok here. This has come up here as well.