wearing rubber gloves to change out transformer

[reppy007]

There might be some of you that are required to wear your rubbers while changing out transformers,I would assume that its a part of the ground to ground rules some companies use.....I was watching a vid on youtube and for me it just looks strange and very unconfortable......personally I cant see it,just my opinion.....another step thats taken too far....when the highside is removed,the switch is opened,and you have secondary grounds below what is the logic behind this?.......it may be one of those steps that its normal if you were brought up that way....but handling transformer bolts,washers,case ground connections,highside connections with rubbers seems unconfy as hell.......or is it a rule that is just a rule that nobody follows......

[duckhunter]

I guess when you start doing it as an ape, you don't know any different and you get comfortable using them. At our line schools, one of the events in competition involves removing and reinstalling a split-bolt with your gloves on. Everyone does it, that's a lot tougher than changing a transformer.

[kooman]

once the secondarys are disconected to get rid of possible backfeed and the boom and gut line are not in the primary zone i see no reason to wear gloves but on our system usually the diggers boom and gut line are in the min. aproach distance therefore its glove time

[Lineman North Florida]

There might be some of you that are required to wear your rubbers while changing out transformers,I would assume that its a part of the ground to ground rules some companies use.....I was watching a vid on youtube and for me it just looks strange and very unconfortable......personally I cant see it,just my opinion.....another step thats taken too far....when the highside is removed,the switch is opened,and you have secondary grounds below what is the logic behind this?.......it may be one of those steps that its normal if you were brought up that way....but handling transformer bolts,washers,case ground connections,highside connections with rubbers seems unconfy as hell.......or is it a rule that is just a rule that nobody follows...... It seems that common sense is not allowed anymore, I'm thankful that I have never had to work for an outfit that did that much of my thinking for me, not knocking any of the young guys who don't have a choice but I bet they will have a lot of trouble with their hands before they ever get a chance to get old, and the first thing most company's say today is..................you know this isn't going to be work related...............:rolleyes:

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmm Having worked under the ground to ground rule for 30 yrs It occurs to me that while initally a little uncomfortable it makes a feller more proficient with em on . It could also save someone a world of hurt.My company touted the ground to ground rule as the very best rule in our safety book yet they backed off of it after it didnt comply with the safety rules at other utilities they owned and they wanted EVERYTHING standardized.
There will also always be a few that loose focus and grab sumpin they shouldnt oughta and thats gonna spell disaster for someone. I hated working low voltage secondary in class 3 gloves and always thought it to be foolish, But If it keeps even one guy from being seriously injured then its prolly a good rule.Bleve I would rather be inconvienenced with the gloves on for a lil while than to wake up in the burn ward with a missin arm

[jerry]

I became a Journeyman Lineman in (IBEW) with a large Invester own utility in 1971 and worked Hot Primary off the pole with Hot sticks for many years. We never wore Rubber gloves and had very few if any Lineman injured. The company used to promote lineman to Management positions and the Safetyman was always an Ex-Lineman,now they want someone with a degree.That is the problem,decisions are being made on how a lineman works by people who have never done the work and have no clue how it affects our work methods.I told managament once,why not just give me a rubber suit with feet like kiddie pajamas to wear.LOL! The key to doing linework is Training and a culture of Safety. The management at these Utilities are a lot like the Goverment they think we can't think for ourselves. Old Retired Lineman

[reppy007]

Back when I worked for the local utility there was a guy that brought up the facesheild issue while in urd transformers,I knew that it was coming cause the guy did have some say so in the company,it never did happen and the guys setting meters were grateful......it also seemed strange to me that some utilities dont require sleeves, but the contractors working for them almost always do.........nothing like a rubber jacket in 100 plus degree heat,but Id rather do that then be on a 3 phase urd crew and wear them in a manhole......usually total protection is required in vaults here.

[gumbo]

I became a Journeyman Lineman in (IBEW) with a large Invester own utility in 1971 and worked Hot Primary off the pole with Hot sticks for many years. We never wore Rubber gloves and had very few if any Lineman injured. The company used to promote lineman to Management positions and the Safetyman was always an Ex-Lineman,now they want someone with a degree.That is the problem,decisions are being made on how a lineman works by people who have never done the work and have no clue how it affects our work methods.I told managament once,why not just give me a rubber suit with feet like kiddie pajamas to wear.LOL! The key to doing linework is Training and a culture of Safety. The management at these Utilities are a lot like the Goverment they think we can't think for ourselves. Old Retired LinemanI went thru my apprenticeship in 1245, California in the early 80s. We were a hotstick local as well. At one time, there were over 3000 linemen in the state from all over the country. Every time I hear one of these college educated safety pukes preaching about how dangerous rubber gloving is--I always mention the safety record of that era. Then the back up beepers start going off. It's going to be the same thing with fall restraint--the falling injuries are getting ready to rise......bet it!! You hit the nail right on the head my friend__"non linemen making the rules that aren't qualified to carry my tools from pole to pole"__Gumbo said that!! What are we going to do about it?? That is a very good question. I am just glad that I am a couple of six years from retirement. I just hope I can hold on that long.

[Lineman North Florida]

I became a Journeyman Lineman in (IBEW) with a large Invester own utility in 1971 and worked Hot Primary off the pole with Hot sticks for many years. We never wore Rubber gloves and had very few if any Lineman injured. The company used to promote lineman to Management positions and the Safetyman was always an Ex-Lineman,now they want someone with a degree.That is the problem,decisions are being made on how a lineman works by people who have never done the work and have no clue how it affects our work methods.I told managament once,why not just give me a rubber suit with feet like kiddie pajamas to wear.LOL! The key to doing linework is Training and a culture of Safety. The management at these Utilities are a lot like the Goverment they think we can't think for ourselves. Old Retired Lineman Thanks' Jerry, I could not agree more, we just seem to have a hard time selling our way of thinking anymore, great post.

[rob8210]

I have worked in companies that followed the ground to ground rule and I have worked at companies that follow the safe limits of approach plus the length of your arm. I have to agree that the people making the rules don't know enough about the type of work that we do and are scared to try it, so now we have to follow a set of rules to covered the scared arses. No more thinking about what you are doing and where you are is allowed. It is my opinion that the thinking lineman is a dying breed. The younger fellas are all being taught there is only one way to do things. When they are confronted with a job that requires a bit of thinking they are ******. I worked with an old retired travelling crew foreman that said to me " I like the way you think- outside the box". My response " There is a box?"

[lewy]

We are a ground to ground utility as is most of the province. The only ones who are not are the Hydro One boys they have a 4 foot rule or something close to that. For us we have to wear gloves rated for the voltage to be worked on & as we cannot work on anything above 5 kv that's means class 2 when climbing. The only time we have to wear a higher class glove in the air is when we are hands on a higher voltage. If we are doing live line tool work & we are outside our restricted zone we can wear leathers. Back to our ground to ground rule, once we get to the work position & the area is made safe we can remove our rubbers when performing tasks deemed to difficult, with permission from the person in charge, but before we move from that work position we must put our rubbers back on. What I find strange is someone wearing rubber gloves when everything on the pole is grounded & they say they are just following the ground to ground rule as we don't need rubbers once everything is grounded.

[Capt Bly]

Your last line"every thing is grounded" ,is the secondary addressed? If not think about this,number one killer of lineman BACK FEED

[lewy]

Your last line"every thing is grounded" ,is the secondary addressed? If not think about this,number one killer of lineman BACK FEED

Once everything is grounded