ladders and fall restraint

[reppy007]

Right now as I am typing there is an at&t lineman working next door,he cant be over 15 feet in the air,on a ladder working alone.The ladder is one of those with hooks on the top.Now that got me to thinking about fall restraints on them,do they make them for ladders in case a fall occurs?I mean a fall is a fall,and I would think there is more injuries due to falls from ladders than from poles.We have always carried four sections on each truck,but if you wanted to,you could go to the center and get the longer one with hooks at the end,great for mid-span taps.Speaking for myself,Ive always felt better on a pole than a ladder.So,are the companies providing something for ladders or does a jelco or bucksqueeze do the job on ladders also?

[reppy007]

went out to talk to the at&t lineman,he didnt know what a bucksqueeze was,he told me he doesnt use his hooks.Only in climbing school did he use his hooks,he carries the ladder all day long,its hard he says.Told me that he does that all day,I asked about where I could buy lineman equipment in Houston,he doesnt know,cause there isnt a place here anymore.He says he has been working as a lineman for 15 years and he is about to retire,he says the work is hard:D......wow the life as a telephone lineman....must be rough huh?

[stulittle]

We don't use them but I know several companies that do... It's basically a rope that runs down the centre of the ladder and a rope grab that goes on the harness. I'm told it works ok providing the ladder is tied in to the building properly otherwise it just pulls the ladder down on top of you.

If I need two hands free on the top of a ladder (against a wall) then I'll tie it off against a rawlbolt and use my pole rope round one of the rungs, but that doesn't provide protection when you've climbing the ladder. (mind you if you can't climb a ladder without falling off, should you be climbing it at all ??)

Stu

[T-Man]

For as long as I worked as a Lineman I used my climbing belt and scare strap to strap off to the ladded once I got to where I needed to work. The strap went around the outside of the ladder rail and overa and around the rung in front of me and back around the opposite ladder rail and snapped to my other D ring. Who didn't work from a ladder like that?

[Pootnaigle]

Ummmmmmmmmm I worked the same way but nowadays they require 100% fall protection from start to top. we hadda start usin a harness n tyin off above our heads til we reached our destination. Its just another really dumb rule to protect our employers.there is no doubt in my mind that there are a few that could manage to fall out of their shoes if it were possible. Safety is always geared to the weakest link in the chain but in my way of thinking when it gets that bad its time for a new chain instead of another rule.

[reppy007]

Ummmmmmmmmm I worked the same way but nowadays they require 100% fall protection from start to top. we hadda start usin a harness n tyin off above our heads til we reached our destination. Its just another really dumb rule to protect our employers.there is no doubt in my mind that there are a few that could manage to fall out of their shoes if it were possible. Safety is always geared to the weakest link in the chain but in my way of thinking when it gets that bad its time for a new chain instead of another rule.

Being a lineman might not be so bad if the guys on those antenna towers have to remain strapped at all times,some are well over a thousand feet up there,wonder how many times they strap and un-strap just climbing up?:nightmare:

[lewy]

We have had fall arrest for a long time, but when climbing a ladder it is only when we get to our work position that we belt in.

[STLmo1986]

Being a lineman might not be so bad if the guys on those antenna towers have to remain strapped at all times,some are well over a thousand feet up there,wonder how many times they strap and un-strap just climbing up?:nightmare:

There was a show "toughest fixes" where the host would go work on some dangerous and difficult repair jobs. My two favorite episodes are the one where PSE&G were replacing a stretch of high vootage cable and the other one they changed the antenna on the top of a TV antenna tower. Cant remember how far up in the air but over a 1000' up. Made me think of that. Thats some height

[reppy007]

There was a show "toughest fixes" where the host would go work on some dangerous and difficult repair jobs. My two favorite episodes are the one where PSE&G were replacing a stretch of high vootage cable and the other one they changed the antenna on the top of a TV antenna tower. Cant remember how far up in the air but over a 1000' up. Made me think of that. Thats some height

yea they are up there,I have about 7 of those towers about 3 or 4 miles away from my house,6 are closer to 2000 feet,I once mentioned a tower falling to the ground back in the 80s,where the operator got a line tangled up with guy wires,causing them to come down,I think there was 3 guys working on the last section when it fell,I knew a lineman that lived close by where they fell,and he said that they were B B Q-ING in there backyard watching the guys work when the accident happened.He and his wife say the workers were screaming all the way down as they fell.