Face Shields

[thrasher]

I had a Salisbury salesman try to convince me that OSHA requires the use of face shields as part of Arc Flash protection on overhead distribution line work. So far as I know gloves, sleeves, line cover-up, hardhat, FR clothes and glasses are all that's needed. And in some companies no sleeves because they do a more extensive coverup. I know of companies that use face shields when working Metal Clad Switchgear, also we use Face Shields when we are required to do commercial work past the meter.
However, does anyone out there use face shields for Distribution line work?

[reppy007]

Thrasher ,we used to carry one on all our trucks...sometimes they would be used while pulling an energized meter base...depending on the service center that a lineman worked at ,they sometimes had to wear them while opening an energized urd transformer.....but mostly the rule was if you were in a vault type of set-up,then it was required,that and the leather 480 volt jacket.....the jackets were a different story....yes Ive used one a couple of times and might have seen just a few guys use one......then there were those cold days with high winds.....thats when they were mostly used.

[Pootnaigle]

Umm I hadda use em to werk on energized13.8 overhead it wuz a total pain inna hind end kaue they wud fog up n have ya werkin blind these ones wuz tinted green

[reppy007]

Umm I hadda use em to werk on energized13.8 overhead it wuz a total pain inna hind end kaue they wud fog up n have ya werkin blind these ones wuz tinted green

Poot was that with the utility or a contractor,and were you also wearing sleeves....in this heat the slightest amount of wind helps out when your in a bucket all day.Wearing a faceshield must suck if it has to be worn all day..

[Trouble1]

I think only NFPA requires it, not OSHA. Utility workers don't follow NFPA, only electricians have to follow both.

He is wrong and those Salisbury face shields are garbage for our kind of work. They don't hold up to abuse. I'm sure they work good for an electrician who only works hot to test something and it goes back in the bag. They have way too many moving parts. Real good ideas put into that shield, but unfortunately you have to take really good care of it. Also, you have to wear ear buds with them. I baby my tools and I broke mine pretty quickly. Went back to the face shield with the rubber band that you can pop on and off of your regular hat with snap in ear muffs.

[Orgnizdlbr]

I think only NFPA requires it, not OSHA. Utility workers don't follow NFPA, only electricians have to follow both.


That's exactly right, Wecare exempt from that aspect of the regs

[Pootnaigle]

Poot was that with the utility or a contractor,and were you also wearing sleeves....in this heat the slightest amount of wind helps out when your in a bucket all day.Wearing a faceshield must suck if it has to be worn all day..

Umm it wuz with a contractor n now thaT I think back onnit we hadda wearem werkin 2300 too . It wuznt the contractors rule it blonged to the plant we wuz werkin in. Umm n oh they wuz built like a space helment n the lenses scratched quick fast n inna hurry

[reppy007]

Ohhhh a plant....I wont cross my heart,but I will never work inside a plant again...too many rules...no shade....boring....and the work is totally different......me dont like it.....working with underground wire that aint underground.

[BillyMac]

Not here, not on distribution anyway. Saw a traffic controller wearing one on the highway yesterday :confused: not sure what that was all about, maybe had a face like a smashed crab !!

[thrasher]

About what I figured. We will continue to use them only when we work past the meter and the NEC and NFPA apply. We don't have any confined space on our system, so we will not be using them on distribution.

[rob8210]

One utility here had a situation they wanted fellas to wear a face shield, or use 10 foot sticks. They had a mess of defective 46kv, EPAC insulators. When mounted on back to back standoff brackets, the pecking order to change them was, kill it ,if you can, or if you have to do it live use a face shield and 6 foot sticks , or get 10 foot sticks. They even had an engineer , with too much time on his hamds, figure out the intensity of the flash from 10 feet away on 44kv.

[birdog37]

Hope the day this does not come in as a standard PPE.We have to use it only on live URD switching,along with gloves and sleeves.When I mean live this includes deadfront equipment.This came about when some lineman were switching using a 6 ft. stick and an insulator broke while closing in an SMU fuse.The flash caused face burns of course.Why not just use a longer stick to be out of harms way.I know sometimes its not practical because of obstacles in your way or the weight of the fuse but then it may warrant wearing this type of protection.Just not all the time!

[bobbo]

When we opened old ass load breaks or that old ass open front switch gear you can a blast shield that goes on your stick. Some of the open fronts are harry. Opened PE gear it was nasty, dead animals, cobwebs and the roots of a nearby tree trapped everything. And I believe messing with 277/480 or 48o panels or meters, they are bombs if squirrels at the insulation.

[bobbo]

Lets get 16 foot sticks and kevlar bomb suits. I think sooner will be the day we will make it so safe where nothing gets accomplished. It gets to to a point where I am trying to figure out something so simple to do and you spend two hours trying to accomplish it. Its so much easier to look around for the bird dogs, ccms, inspectors and if they are not there go do it real quick.

[Trouble1]

The reason electricians need bomb suits is because of the concussion effect that happens from the blast in an enclosed space. It doesn't mean that you are in an enclosed space, it comes from the terminals being in an enclosed space and cascading. You can take a huge blast and not have a mark on you and die from the concussion.

I'll bang a fuse into a fault any day up in the air, but I don't think the equipment on the ground in enough. As it is now, we can stick test leads into a 480v side of a pad mount with nothing but glasses and gloves on while electricians need bomb suits. Get something across 480v inside the pad or switchgear and you'll see why.

[US & CA Tramp]

Lets get 16 foot sticks and kevlar bomb suits. I think sooner will be the day we will make it so safe where nothing gets accomplished. It gets to to a point where I am trying to figure out something so simple to do and you spend two hours trying to accomplish it. Its so much easier to look around for the bird dogs, ccms, inspectors and if they are not there go do it real quick.

The simple take on the question as I have been told and learned is this: Inside electricians in close quarters such as vaults etc have no place to run for protection, so they have a higher burden for arc flash and how they are calculated. Out side electricians and Lineman have a lower burden and how the arc flash is calculated to determine what PPE is required. That being said the utilities and contractors take the approach of cover them with everything to protect management in case of an accident. IF we perform our tasks as we always have and know to be safe, (but always have some risk) and an accident does happen, then management can get out of responsibility by saying," we bough all the PPD and trained them to wear it so it is not our fault". If I sound cynical it is because I have seen this happen. Common sense has been taken away from US.

[bobbo]

What O was kind of getting at. I hope we are nt wearing suits like they wear in the movie footlocker. One big shot or management type can cover us in non dielextric bubblewrap, where we will have 2 inch finger tips trying to put on #8 kearneys. I just want to work with the least BS as possible.

[T-Man]

All this cumbersome safety gear is a product of someone trying to make the things you do every day safer. Just like the Buck squeeze. It's not fun to use and yet once it shows up in the market the "Ties" and their lawyers make it mandatory for you to use them, because heaven forbid you fall off a pole without one. Same for these suits don't get burned without one. So if you want to get on the right side of the problem be part of the solution and come up with better ideas for equipment that is safer to operate. Think outside the box, come up with new ideas. Then you may not have to wear the suits, face shields or squeeze. Hell you'll get so rich you wont need a job!:cool:

[rob8210]

Hey T-man , that is a great idea , problem is the suits won't listen to the lineman, they think we are know nothngs.

[T-Man]

There wasn't too much of a push back for the bucksqueeze by the suits. That was developed by a lineman out east.

[in the bucket]

My area is loaded with hundreds of old enclosed porcelain fuse cutouts (brown bombs, grey bombs). First one I ever closed was on a bad 37 1/2 kva pot, blew shards of porcelain for 100's of feet. I've been wearing that Salisbury shield religiously now with these things. Other poster is correct, the face shield scratches just by looking at it. I keep mine in a canvas bag and it's still all scratched up.