Electrical Contacts
Human Performance
Safe Work Practices
Regulations and Agencies
S.A.F.E. Talks
Basic Electricity
Line-Clearance / ROW
100
An electrical contact occurred on this steel pole (see graphic) because the Mississippi co-op lineman did not have these on.
What are rubber sleeves?
100
This makes people feel smug, uncritical of themselves, and very satisfied with their own achievements without a process of due diligence; a feeling of quiet pleasure or security while danger unaware lurks.
What is complacency?
100
What ground workers should abstain from from any time a piece of equipment is operating in an energized zone.
What is touching the truck? (or equipment)
100
This mandate became effective November 5, 2021 for companies having 100 or more employees, requiring implementation by January 4, 2022, though temporarily blocked by a Federal appeals court. It has since been suspended by the issuing authority.
What is the OSHA COVID-19 vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard?
100
A lineman was called on an outage on a CSP transformer and discovered it was making a gargling noise. The worker was then unable to remove the clamp with an extendo stick, so he decided to go kill the line and was walking away from the pole when this happened.
What is the transformer exploded?
100
In this type of circuit, magnetic fields continually expand and collapse.
What is an alternating current circuit (AC)?
100
This path must be established prior to felling a tree.
What is an escape path?
200
The two linemen called to this broken cutout decided not to kill the line for this reason, but rather use a ladder so that they wouldn't shake the pole when climbing it, and a fatality resulted.
What is taking too many customers out of power?
200
This is the automatic, reactive, and habitual mode that tends to dominate our mind unless we intentionally and thoughtfully engage in a process.
What is fast brain?
200
This connection is required when setting up a digger derrick in an energized zone in order to lock out the device as quickly as possible to protect the public and ground workers if things go wrong.
What is grounding the digger derrick?
200
In 1994, OSHA released this first general industry standard for generation, transmission, and distribution.
What is 29 CFR 1910.269?
200
This type of INCIDENT is a recent trend (2020/2021) in co-op nation that is a direct result of the lineman failing to perform due diligence before climbing a wood pole.
What is the wood pole breaking and falling over?
200
This can produce up to 1 billion volts and 10,000 to 20,000 amps of current.
What is a lightning strike?
200
A tree trimmer is called this when he has been considered as qualified through training and experience in working around energized lines in addition to tree trimming and cutting.
What is a line-clearance tree trimmer?
300
A member died on an Ohio electric cooperative distribution system when he made electrical contact trying to do this on the pole shown in the photo.
What is reconnect themselves on the pole?
300
The "Sensation Seeking" personality trait
What is a risk-taker?
300
The lanyard in a fall restraint system shall be rigged such that an employee is unable to free fall no more than this distance.
What is 6'?
300
The standard that applies to all Ohio utility workers and companies through application of the Ohio revised code and is typically updated every five years.
What is the National Electric Safety Code (NESC)?
300
This happened when a crew was loading a 750kVA padmounted transformer with a digger derrick. No injuries occurred, but expensive property damage did.
What is the winch line broke?
300
This is an expression of difference of potential between two points and is often referred to as "electrical pressure".
What is voltage or EMF?
300
No employee is permitted to clear limbs from under this side of the tree during climbing operations.
What is the side where the climber is working (drop zone)?
400
A lineman went up to repair a street light in Roanoke, VA when he was thrust up into the air by the bucket and made contact with 7,200 volts when this happened.
What is getting caught on the telephone cable?
400
This bias occurs as a result of overestimation of our own skill and underestimation of the risk or hazard.
What is optimism bias?
400
When applying cover-up equipment, the worker shall apply it in such a way that he is protected while progressing up to the work zone in this manner.
What is up and in?
400
This is the federal agency within the Department of Transportation that enforces regulations upon those who operate commercial motor vehicles (CMVs) in interstate commerce.
What is the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration (FMCSA)?
400
This happened when a 27-year old Michigan co-op apprentice lineman was digging in a new primary underground cable with the vibratory plow. It resulted in a fatality.
What is dug into a gas line?
He hit a 24" high pressure gas main, resulting in an explosion that caused an 80' crater.
400
This invisible field surrounds a conductor when an electrical current passes through it.
What is a magnetic field?
400
At least two line-clearance tree trimmers must be present at the worksite if a line-clearance tree trimmer is required to approach an energized distribution line within this distance.
What is 10'?
500
What the lineman was effectively working to accomplish in this picture when he made contact with the energized jumper.
What is bypass the OCR?
500
This particular bias is the tendency to interpret and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior belief, whether true or not.
What is confirmation bias?
500
Exposed energized parts on which the employee is not working shall be covered with insulating cover-up equipment which shall extend this far.
What is beyond reach of the employee's anticipated work position or extended reach distance?
500
The process that is used for all federal regulations to allow those potentially impacted to express concerns or support to a proposed rule.
What is the comment period?
500
This injury occurred when a crew was removing a temporary service where they staked out a house, but never built it. It happened when a worker tripped over a string that had been used to line up the footers.
What is impalement into the chest by rebar?
500
George Simon Ohm discovered that these three things are all proportionate to one another in an electrical circuit.
What is voltage, current, and resistance?
500
If a line-clearance tree trimmer is required to clear trees or limbs in the vicinity of a de-energized grounded line, this classification (or title) of employee is required to arrange the worksite to a state which is safe for the tree trimmers to perform their work.
What is a qualified employee, or journeyman lineman?
600
An AEP lineman made electrical contact on this pole when he made contact between what two points?
What is the bottom portion of the cutout and the energized top portion of the cutout?
600
This trait has been found to be crucial to perform high risk jobs such as line work safely, especially workers with sensation-seeking tendencies.
What is conscientious?
600
This is the minimum approach distance phase to ground for 12.47kV (5.1kV to 15kV phase to phase) and the location it is measured from.
What is 2' 2" from reasonably likely movements?
600
This is the construction standard for our industry that pertains to all lineworkers that was updated in 2014 and is now consistent with the general industry standard.
What is 1926 Subpart V?
600
A 2-man Michigan co-op crew was "mid-spanning" a conductor on the ground in the aftermath of an ice storm when this happened, causing a serious brain injury to the worker through bleeding on the brain.
What is the conductor grip gave way?
600
This is the term used for the number of cycles (hertz) that are completed each second by a given AC voltage.
What is Frequency?
600
For a line-clearance tree trimmer to use rubber gloves to reach a limb within MAD, this would be considered as this type of practice.
What is improper or unsafe work practice?
700
A lineman working in his tools on a pole with energized 8A copperweld conductors performed this action which caused the line to break and make contact with his leg and exit out his feet.
What is the lineman removing a hot tap (hot line clamp)?
700
Unsafe attitude, non-routine, over-confidence, personality issues, and many other similar things are all considered as this.
What are error precursors or error traps?
700
The aggregate working load limit of tiedowns used to secure a load against movement on a CMV shall consist of at least this amount as compared to the weight of the load.
What is 50%?
Note: Some configurations will require the tiedown to be at least equal to the weight of the load.
700
ANSI, NFPA, IEEE and other such standards are all considered as this type of standard.
What is a consensus standard?
700
A crew was rebuilding a line using the pole leaning method and was unable to push the pole over. They decided to pull the pole up a bit to loosen it when this happened, causing the crossarm to split and the phase to fall.
What is the pole canted or twisted?
700
This is the opposition to alternating current through inductance or capacitance.
What is reactance?
700
The method used for this shall be established during the job briefing prior to the start of removal or rigging operations.
What is the method of communication? (e.g., verbal, audible, visual, or hands-free)