Recent Falls from Towers

[bobbo]

Been in this biz too long. 99% of this trade is psychological and intellect. People think the A type personality succeeds but they dont. They do a good ten years. Burn out. Get divorced three times. Find solace with either a bottle or a bag of dope. Then you have good people that want to make a living. And you mix these people together and bad things are going to happen.
What is an A TYPE? AN A TYPE is a personality that was brought from scientists who study gorilla culture. Its the dominant ape that sits in his own tree above all the other apes. And when he is challenged in any way he sodomizes the males and rapesthe females. In this industry, the A type lineman are celebrated. And the quiet guys that need to feed their familes have to sit quiet and watch these A types make so much drama in the yards that its unbearable. Drama on the job site that its unsafe.
i am going on my twenty five year pin. Everyone I have known who thought they were Gods gift to this trade is either dead or in prison. And its not just accidents on the right of way. But suicide. Dui. Drugs. Assault. Just whacked out and seving time.

And tieing ropes to yourself, fall protection, and all these inventions to keep the industry from numbers in categories is not going to change a thing. When a man can go to work and not be in a pressure cooker of real bad personalities from all sides: union hall, management, bird dogging utility leadership, get er done a types that sell their souls for a pick up truck. Nothing is going to happen.
If I hear that pyramid explanation for accidents again, I am going to yack. All I know is karma is a *****. And Darwinism is true in this trade.

[STLmo1986]

Lot of good info in here, sounds prettt spot on. And not just line work almost any trade really

Been in this biz too long. 99% of this trade is psychological and intellect. People think the A type personality succeeds but they dont. They do a good ten years. Burn out. Get divorced three times. Find solace with either a bottle or a bag of dope. Then you have good people that want to make a living. And you mix these people together and bad things are going to happen.
What is an A TYPE? AN A TYPE is a personality that was brought from scientists who study gorilla culture. Its the dominant ape that sits in his own tree above all the other apes. And when he is challenged in any way he sodomizes the males and rapesthe females. In this industry, the A type lineman are celebrated. And the quiet guys that need to feed their familes have to sit quiet and watch these A types make so much drama in the yards that its unbearable. Drama on the job site that its unsafe.
i am going on my twenty five year pin. Everyone I have known who thought they were Gods gift to this trade is either dead or in prison. And its not just accidents on the right of way. But suicide. Dui. Drugs. Assault. Just whacked out and seving time.

And tieing ropes to yourself, fall protection, and all these inventions to keep the industry from numbers in categories is not going to change a thing. When a man can go to work and not be in a pressure cooker of real bad personalities from all sides: union hall, management, bird dogging utility leadership, get er done a types that sell their souls for a pick up truck. Nothing is going to happen.
If I hear that pyramid explanation for accidents again, I am going to yack. All I know is karma is a *****. And Darwinism is true in this trade.

[lineman2010]

Been in this biz too long. 99% of this trade is psychological and intellect. People think the A type personality succeeds but they dont. They do a good ten years. Burn out. Get divorced three times. Find solace with either a bottle or a bag of dope. Then you have good people that want to make a living. And you mix these people together and bad things are going to happen.
What is an A TYPE? AN A TYPE is a personality that was brought from scientists who study gorilla culture. Its the dominant ape that sits in his own tree above all the other apes. And when he is challenged in any way he sodomizes the males and rapesthe females. In this industry, the A type lineman are celebrated. And the quiet guys that need to feed their familes have to sit quiet and watch these A types make so much drama in the yards that its unbearable. Drama on the job site that its unsafe.
i am going on my twenty five year pin. Everyone I have known who thought they were Gods gift to this trade is either dead or in prison. And its not just accidents on the right of way. But suicide. Dui. Drugs. Assault. Just whacked out and seving time.

And tieing ropes to yourself, fall protection, and all these inventions to keep the industry from numbers in categories is not going to change a thing. When a man can go to work and not be in a pressure cooker of real bad personalities from all sides: union hall, management, bird dogging utility leadership, get er done a types that sell their souls for a pick up truck. Nothing is going to happen.
If I hear that pyramid explanation for accidents again, I am going to yack. All I know is karma is a *****. And Darwinism is true in this trade.

This is one of the best posts I have ever read on this forum.

[lineman2010]

Where do you guy's read about Accidents ?

I would go out on a limb and guess that the trap union hands ( been on the road 6 years and worked in 10 states with 6 different companies, and many many different guys) have a larger network of friends coast to coast and hear about different accidents. If you only ever work at one place your network does not change or grow exponentially like it does on the union contractor side. For me I will go out on a limb and guess when I leave CA/NV to goto the east coast next summer atleast one person on my next job will know me and probably 5 will know someone that knows me. Word travels fast in the Ibew grapevine...

[BookII]

Not trying to be the Monday morning QB...but with these accidents that have occured, was ANYBODY paying attention?

Obvisiouly the men that fell were not alone? There had to have been others on the crew(s). What were their responsibilities, or roles with the crew make up?

It seems as of lately 2012 has been the worst year I can ever recall for accidents and fatalities.

Guys need to stop being so cavalier, and start taking their jobs more seriously. Put down the iPhone and watch your brothers back! It only takes a few more minutes to do the right thing. And so what if it takes a little bit longer to get a job done? We're all getting paid by the hour.

Part of being a good lineman is being a safe one. Nobody cares how fast you can climb, or how many poles you set in a day. The only people that care what you do on the job are the ones that are expecting you to come home in piece. Your wife and kids!

[old lineman]

Not trying to be the Monday morning QB...but with these accidents that have occured, was ANYBODY paying attention?

Obvisiouly the men that fell were not alone? There had to have been others on the crew(s). What were their responsibilities, or roles with the crew make up?

It seems as of lately 2012 has been the worst year I can ever recall for accidents and fatalities.

Guys need to stop being so cavalier, and start taking their jobs more seriously. Put down the iPhone and watch your brothers back! It only takes a few more minutes to do the right thing. And so what if it takes a little bit longer to get a job done? We're all getting paid by the hour.

Part of being a good lineman is being a safe one. Nobody cares how fast you can climb, or how many poles you set in a day. The only people that care what you do on the job are the ones that are expecting you to come home in piece. Your wife and kids!

If you can truly think that time isn't an issue because your getting paid by the hour you haven't been working under the pressure of a supervisor for a contactor, (and some utilities).
Regardless of the skills a supervisor has when employed by a contactor, time is money and he is under the gun.
The more pressure management exerts the faster he wants his charges to go. That's when we see short cuts coming into focus.
Unfortunately even some tradesmen will take short cuts on their own without regard for wives and kids.
That's just a fact of life.
There isn't a supervisor around or management that will stand behind a worker who gets injured taking a short cut. So to do so leaves you standing alone if something goes wrong. Every individual that had responsibility for the victims well being will run for the hills and point fingers at the victim.
It's often called. "human error". An escape clause for pushers.
The Old Lineman

[BookII]

Here's what I've learned after 25 years in the IBEW...

1) Gettin' in a hurry will get ya killed
2) There is no hall of fame in Blue Bell or Kansas City. They're not gonna retire your jersey and put your name up in the ring of fame.
3) And every super or GF always thinks that they can do bigger, better of faster. But then everything is easier when you're sitting in the cab of a pick-up polishing your ass!
4) It's our responsibilty as older lineman to encourage the younger guys to "do the right thing". When we took the oath to the IBEW, we made a promise. A promise to be smart, pay attention, work hard, BE SAFE, and do the right thing!