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Koga
07-21-2006, 02:54 PM
One of our service guys was hookin up parallel 4/0 urd services in a 167 KVA pad mount to serve some new condos.I havent spoken with him directly yetso I dont know all the details as to what happend, but I did see the 167 with the secondary side burnt up,hard hat,face shield, safety glasses,low voltage rubbergloves he had on. I can tell ya the face shield and glasses saved his eyesight.And his gloves and firewear saved a lot of pain. This is not a guy who just started hes been here 25 years .It aint his first rodeo, but it is his first flash. I can't ever remember him having one before. I,m not gonna debate about who, what, when ,or how. The point is he had his shit on and it saved him and his family a lot of heart ache. Wear your PP&E it works !
Koga


P.S. Just as side point, in Louisiana ,Entergy linemen have worked over 5 million man hours with no lost time accidents !

loodvig
07-21-2006, 03:01 PM
I'm glad he's going to be Ok.

graybeard
07-30-2006, 08:12 AM
Glad the guy was OK and that he used his PPE. We had sort of a similar comtact with a serviceman working alone but this rummie didn't use his PPE. So what what I would like to know is what kind of tools your man was using. We,ve been working on the company to spend the money for insulated tools as one more way to prevent contact. Our man had his contact with his hand tools. You can't bet cover up and PPE but insulated hand tools is just more step to make the job safer.
Just like to know what everyone else is doing?

old lineman
07-30-2006, 10:36 AM
Generally insulated hand tools are judged as giving a false sense of security.
I don't necessarily agree if the worker is very careful with them.
What I am refering to is, that if the tools are misused the non-conductive material can be comprimised by using the tools to pry with. The material is soft and can be cut on the sharp edge of anything.
For a truly non-conductive tool the best ones I've seen are manufactured in France. The non-working part of the tool is dipped into ceramic which when cured is hard as rocks.
The second process is to re-dip it again with a highly visible orange coating that aids in gripping.
The dual color acts the same as dual colored rubber gloves. If the first layer is comprimised then it is clearly detectable.
I don't know the name of the company who produces them but perhaps Big Clive can assist.
These tools are far superior to anything made in north America.
The Old Lineman

BigClive
07-30-2006, 11:00 PM
Hmm, I've not come across the ceramic bit, but the two colour insulation is pretty standard here in the UK to show when the insulation has been compromised. It's not infallible, since a hairline split or crack can occur which allows slight leakage of current when grasped with a sweaty hand. :) That said, a zap is infinitely preferable to a full-on in yer face explosion. UK tools tend to be rated to 1kV for 240/415 work.

Any layer of insulation is a bonus on tools used for live work. I'm afraid that spanners falling across bus-bars or slipping round across the terminals of adjacent phases are not rare occurences.

An unfortunate incident in the past that had me within a second of probable electrocution would have been averted with an insulated ratchet drive.

Viperexaf
07-31-2006, 03:26 PM
You know guys it's actually nice to hear some news of something happening and the guy walking away from it without any injuries except maybe empting his drawers after the incident. As koga says, glad he was wearing his PPE cause he lived to tell about it

topgroove
07-31-2006, 06:31 PM
Reminds me about one day as an apprentice. Me and a chief were hooking up double 4/O parrallel service in a 75KVA padmount. I was shaping up the leads and hooked up the nuetrals and one conducter of a hotleg. He didn't like the way it looked ( neatness counts) and grabbed the other leg of that paralleled conducter and said "Do it like this". He shapped it up real nice with the natural lay of the wire but proceeded to stick it in the wrong secondary block. The flash and fireball was unbelievable. We both had all are shit on but the flash blew both of us on our backs. I remember looking up at the blue sky lying on my back and said, " are you sure you want me to do it that way"?