Hazardous Duty Pay

[LinemanVA]

First off, I work for a Municipality in VA and we basically have the whole city's utilities and public services under one roof. We have a water/sewer department, fire department, police department, public works dept. and all of the other depts. "uptown" that keep the city running. Our police officers and firemen both get hazardous duty pay on top of their salary not to mention full retirement benefits with 25 years of service and 50 yrs. of age. I've seen what our cops and firemen do and, although I wouldn't want their jobs, I think our jobs as linemen are way more dangerous on a day to day basis. Just wondering if anyone is getting or has looked into what would have to be done to get hazardous duty pay for linemen.

[lineman-up]

thats a real good point but right now i would settle for prevailing wage. with my luck it would end up on a percentage of pay( lets do the math half of nothing is still nothing) yup I'm still screwed oh well!!:D

[chavez]

First off, I work for a Municipality in VA and we basically have the whole city's utilities and public services under one roof. We have a water/sewer department, fire department, police department, public works dept. and all of the other depts. "uptown" that keep the city running. Our police officers and firemen both get hazardous duty pay on top of their salary not to mention full retirement benefits with 25 years of service and 50 yrs. of age. I've seen what our cops and firemen do and, although I wouldn't want their jobs, I think our jobs as linemen are way more dangerous on a day to day basis. Just wondering if anyone is getting or has looked into what would have to be done to get hazardous duty pay for linemen.

I would have to say that they do have a more hazardous job. They have to deal with the unknown, is he going to shoot or not? Is their exposive material in that building or not? Not to mention a lot of others.

We deal with, is that line energized , then we use the proper safety equipment we have. Same with if it is dead.. Our biggest problem is our selves or our partner.


Cheers

[BigClive]

So statistically which is more dangerous then? Lineman or fireman?

I used to get "Danger money" when I worked at the steelworks.

[LinemanVA]

This is a few years old but the rankings and numbers haven't changed a whole lot from what I have found. I agree that Policemen and Firemen are exposed to very dangerous situations at times, but how often is that. As linemen, we are exposed to a potentially deadly situation every day and often times it's all day long. That's before you even figure in the hazards associated with working long hours at night, ice storms, hurricanes, wind, heat, etc... The only nod that I can see cops and firemen getting is the fact that their jobs are associated with public safety, but that's a big part of our jobs at times as well. Again, not trying to downplay the jobs of cops and firemen, just pleading our case!


The 10 most dangerous jobs
Occupation Fatalities per 100,000

Timber cutters 117.8
Fishers 71.1
Pilots and navigators 69.8
Structural metal workers 58.2
Drivers-sales workers 37.9
Roofers 37
Electrical power installers 32.5
Farm occupations 28
Construction laborers 27.7
Truck drivers 25


On-the-job killers

Type of incident 2002 deaths

Aircraft accidents 192
Caught in running equipment 110
Drowning 60
Electrocution 289
Exposure to substances 98
Falls from ladder 126
Falls from roof 143
Fires/explosions 165
Highway collisions 635
Assaults/violence 840
Jackknifed or overturned truck 312
Overturned farm/industrial equipment 164
Struck by falling/flying object 506
Struck by vehicle 356
Suicides 199



Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; survey of occupations with minimum 30 fatalities and 45,000 workers in 2002

[LinemanVA]

Here's another from August '06.

Rank Occupation Death rate/100,000 Total deaths
1 Fishers and fishing workers 118.4 48
2 Logging workers 92.9 80
3 Aircraft pilots 66.9 81
4 Structural iron and steel workers 55.6 35
5 Refuse and recyclable material collectors 43.8 32
6 Farmers and ranchers 41.1 341
7 Electrical power line installers/repairers 32.7 36
8 Driver/sales workers and truck drivers 29.1 993
9 Miscelleneous agricultural workers 23.2 176
10 Construction laborers 22.7 339

Assaults and other violent acts contributed to danger in the workplace: 14 percent of all fatalities were due to these. Fifty policemen and sheriff's patrol officers were murdered on the job, and another 81 died in traffic accidents and other incidents. The tragic toll added up to 18.2 fatalities per 100,000 workers.

[ready2go]

well said i think cops and firefighter are over rated. yes they do save people but without the lights on they can't save any one

[Stinger]

Hell, the time bomb of chemicals under your sink puts you in a hazzard area and ya'll have not left the house yet. But to get to the point, every job has its hazzard, some more than others. Fire and police have some hazzards that they can not refuse to deal with when they get the 911 call for help. In our trade, we can, after an evaluation of the job, refuse to do it until it has been made safe to our satisfation to proced further. We get paid good money to compensate to the exposed hazzards of our job. It is up to us as a crew to recognize these hazzards and deal with with accordingly. LinemanVA, where ya'll from Manassas? Used to live in Stafford County and Virginia Beach.

[LinemanVA]

I'm in Martinsville, VA. If I was in Manassas, I wouldn't have to worry about hazzard pay. I'd be making enough already! We're southwest VA. About 4 hrs. from Manassas and 4.5 from VA Beach. All of this was brought up at a recent safety meeting and I just wanted to get some opinions on the matter and see what others were doing in different places.

[Little]

It seems the statistics posted here make a good case for you all getting hazard pay. A few more citations, some fancy legal talk thrown in, and I think you have a case for hazard pay next time the contract's up.

I noticed electrocution was highlighted in fatality causes..we can't forget how many lineman have died under the equipment fatality category too.

I'm surprised to see refuse workers so high on the list. Are your waste collectors getting hazard pay too???? It's never popped into my mind as one of the most dangerous jobs in America!