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Thread: Face Shields

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
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    Virginia, USA
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    Question Face Shields

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    I had a Salisbury salesman try to convince me that OSHA requires the use of face shields as part of Arc Flash protection on overhead distribution line work. So far as I know gloves, sleeves, line cover-up, hardhat, FR clothes and glasses are all that's needed. And in some companies no sleeves because they do a more extensive coverup. I know of companies that use face shields when working Metal Clad Switchgear, also we use Face Shields when we are required to do commercial work past the meter.
    However, does anyone out there use face shields for Distribution line work?

  2. #2

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    Thrasher ,we used to carry one on all our trucks...sometimes they would be used while pulling an energized meter base...depending on the service center that a lineman worked at ,they sometimes had to wear them while opening an energized urd transformer.....but mostly the rule was if you were in a vault type of set-up,then it was required,that and the leather 480 volt jacket.....the jackets were a different story....yes Ive used one a couple of times and might have seen just a few guys use one......then there were those cold days with high winds.....thats when they were mostly used.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
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    South East Texas
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    Umm I hadda use em to werk on energized13.8 overhead it wuz a total pain inna hind end kaue they wud fog up n have ya werkin blind these ones wuz tinted green

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pootnaigle View Post
    Umm I hadda use em to werk on energized13.8 overhead it wuz a total pain inna hind end kaue they wud fog up n have ya werkin blind these ones wuz tinted green
    Poot was that with the utility or a contractor,and were you also wearing sleeves....in this heat the slightest amount of wind helps out when your in a bucket all day.Wearing a faceshield must suck if it has to be worn all day..

  5. #5

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    I think only NFPA requires it, not OSHA. Utility workers don't follow NFPA, only electricians have to follow both.

    He is wrong and those Salisbury face shields are garbage for our kind of work. They don't hold up to abuse. I'm sure they work good for an electrician who only works hot to test something and it goes back in the bag. They have way too many moving parts. Real good ideas put into that shield, but unfortunately you have to take really good care of it. Also, you have to wear ear buds with them. I baby my tools and I broke mine pretty quickly. Went back to the face shield with the rubber band that you can pop on and off of your regular hat with snap in ear muffs.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trouble1 View Post
    I think only NFPA requires it, not OSHA. Utility workers don't follow NFPA, only electricians have to follow both.
    That's exactly right, Wecare exempt from that aspect of the regs
    "It is not the critic who counts:The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena" Teddy Roosevelt

  7. #7
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    South East Texas
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    Quote Originally Posted by reppy007 View Post
    Poot was that with the utility or a contractor,and were you also wearing sleeves....in this heat the slightest amount of wind helps out when your in a bucket all day.Wearing a faceshield must suck if it has to be worn all day..
    Umm it wuz with a contractor n now thaT I think back onnit we hadda wearem werkin 2300 too . It wuznt the contractors rule it blonged to the plant we wuz werkin in. Umm n oh they wuz built like a space helment n the lenses scratched quick fast n inna hurry
    Last edited by Pootnaigle; 07-01-2013 at 11:00 PM.

  8. #8

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    Ohhhh a plant....I wont cross my heart,but I will never work inside a plant again...too many rules...no shade....boring....and the work is totally different......me dont like it.....working with underground wire that aint underground.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    Queensland Australia
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    Not here, not on distribution anyway. Saw a traffic controller wearing one on the highway yesterday not sure what that was all about, maybe had a face like a smashed crab !!

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
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    Virginia, USA
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    Default Thanks for the feedback

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    About what I figured. We will continue to use them only when we work past the meter and the NEC and NFPA apply. We don't have any confined space on our system, so we will not be using them on distribution.

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