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View Full Version : Rules to Live By, finally...



saftgeek
04-04-2007, 02:39 PM
A few months ago I posted on here looking for help with putting a set of lifesaving rules together. Many of you made comments and gave me encouragement to continue with the path I was following. Unfortunately, I could not get the linemen on board and seven months passed with very little progress. I have now been instructed that since the men don't want to take ownership of the rules, it is up to the Op Mgr and myself to put the list together.

I have sided with statistics and want to try to put our efforts in that general direction. I don't want a huge list, just a very relevant one that may actually keep someone alive someday.

Here it is:

1) If an employee is within reaching distance of an energized line, the employee shall wear the appropriate class glove / sleeves. Reaching distance shall include any item being handled, i.e. ties, tools.

2) No circuit shall be worked as de-energized until it has been isolated, tested, grounded and LO/TO applied.

3) A harness shall be worn from cradle to cradle.

4) All trucks shall be grounded if work takes place within 10' of a conductor energized at more than 300 volts.

I'm not quite sure how to handle #4 when a backhoe is digging by a pad-mount. Any suggestions/comments...

First violation is 3 days off w/o pay, second w/in 18 months and you have to leave the dance forever. If a job-site supervisor knowingly allows any of the rules to occur, the same punishment. If a supervisor (Op Mgr or myself) doesn't immediately document and report a violation, discipline from the GM.

Let er' rip...

Saftgeek[/SIZE][/FONT]

old lineman
04-04-2007, 03:33 PM
A few months ago I posted on here looking for help with putting a set of lifesaving rules together. Many of you made comments and gave me encouragement to continue with the path I was following. Unfortunately, I could not get the linemen on board and seven months passed with very little progress. I have now been instructed that since the men don't want to take ownership of the rules, it is up to the Op Mgr and myself to put the list together.

I have sided with statistics and want to try to put our efforts in that general direction. I don't want a huge list, just a very relevant one that may actually keep someone alive someday.

Here it is:

1) If an employee is within reaching distance of an energized line, the employee shall wear the appropriate class glove / sleeves. Reaching distance shall include any item being handled, i.e. ties, tools.

2) No circuit shall be worked as de-energized until it has been isolated, tested, grounded and LO/TO applied.

3) A harness shall be worn from cradle to cradle.

4) All trucks shall be grounded if work takes place within 10' of a conductor energized at more than 300 volts.

I'm not quite sure how to handle #4 when a backhoe is digging by a pad-mount. Any suggestions/comments...

First violation is 3 days off w/o pay, second w/in 18 months and you have to leave the dance forever. If a job-site supervisor knowingly allows any of the rules to occur, the same punishment. If a supervisor (Op Mgr or myself) doesn't immediately document and report a violation, discipline from the GM.

Let er' rip...

Saftgeek[/SIZE][/FONT]

#1. Add 'reaching or falling distance' to cover URD.
#3. Add and 'shall be connected to an approved attachment point with a shock absorbing lanyard'.
#4. I believe that blanket rules sometimes look like an unknowledgeable person wrote them. If you tell linemen that they have to ground aerial devices with LOWER BOOM inserts it tends to make a mockery of the rule.
Suggest the rule reads, All trucks shall be grounded to the system neutral if work takes place within 10' of primary voltage system. The only vehicles excempt from this rule are aerail devices equipped with lower boom inserts.
As for any mechanical excavating device's. They should not be used to excavate around buried electrical cables. The cables have to be 'daylighted' by hand digging before using a mechanical device.
The general rule for proximity is 1 yard (3 feet). In Ontario it's 1 meter (39 inches).
Primary cables generally are shielded, however, some exosting electrical cables are not.
It would always be the responsibility of the layout planning dept. to notify the crew what type cable they will be working near.
The Old Lineman

TRAMPLINEMAN
04-08-2007, 10:27 PM
Get rid of the word "SHALL" and replace it with "MUST".

saftgeek
04-09-2007, 10:09 AM
Well, the rules have been distributed and I'm still alive, that in itself is a plus. The distribution was in the form of an open meeting where the guys could ask questions or discuss the list with the supervisors that conduct the crew visits. Almost all the questions pertained to grounding the trucks. The Op. Mgr. kept plugging away that this list will be used with common sense, and it is not the intention of Mgmt. to get rid of anyone.

We'll see where we go from here, but for now we have made some steps toward making sure the guys get home safely to their loved ones.

The word "shall" means the same as must, so we are on the same page... thanks for all your support in the past and your comments about the process going on here.

Stay safe and don't assume your co-workers are looking out for you, make sure you look out for you...

Saftgeek