OSHA/ANSI rule on steel core lanyards in line clearance operations?

[quabinclimber]

Does anyone know if there is a OSHA or ANSI rule that says yay or nay on steel core lanyards while working near power lines?

looking for the specific standard ID if there is one

Thanks!

 

[sotc]

I just looked and couldn't find it. May be part of the EHAP training

 

[quabinclimber]

Couldn't find it in the EHAP manual either...

 

[sotc]

Interesting, that is so ingrained in me I figured it would be easy to find. Good to make me pick up the standards again, haven't looked at them in ages

 

[quabinclimber]

I am surprised I cannot find anything on the subject, OSHA, ANSI or EHAP

 

[Raj]

I do some splicing for a company that supplies electric utilities. CSA up here requires a tag that indicates the dielectric properties and retirement age of items used in conjunction with repair/replacement/service of high voltage systems, but that are items that are in direct contact or immediately close to live wires. I guess that would be the other end of the spectrum.

 

[quabinclimber]

OSHA Standard: 1926.502(d)(14)
"Ropes and straps (webbing) used in lanyards, lifelines, and strength components of body belts and body harnesses shall be made from synthetic fibers."

 

[stig]

With the 400 KW lines that we work along , I don't think it matters much.
If you screw up, you are toast ( Literally) steel lanyard or not.

 

[gf beranek]

Steel core and power-lines just has a bad connotation to it.

 

[stig]

Yup.
One guy here actually was saved by his steel core lanyard.
He tipped a beech top into the 380 KW powerline and got fried.
When the top burned through, and fell to the ground, the crew were getting ready to go up and collect the remains.
Then he called down that he was ok and was coming down.
He was horribly burned ( His ear muffs had melted!!!!) but the power had passed through his lanyard and spurs, bypassing the vital organs, but burning his legs badly.
He'll never work again ( Or look in a mirror without wincing) but he is alive.

It happened a few years ago, but I just ran into his climbing partner on a line clearing job last week and got the story freshed up.

 

[Mick!]

Yup.
One guy here actually was saved by his steel core lanyard.
He tipped a beech top into the 380 KW powerline and got fried.
When the top burned through, and fell to the ground, the crew were getting ready to go up and collect the remains.
Then he called down that he was ok and was coming down.
He was horribly burned ( His ear muffs had melted!!!!) but the power had passed through his lanyard and spurs, bypassing the vital organs, but burning his legs badly.
He'll never work again ( Or look in a mirror without wincing) but he is alive.

It happened a few years ago, but I just ran into his climbing partner on a line clearing job last week and got the story freshed up.

That's a hell of a story. I've taken a few chances in the old days with power lines. Not any more, and stories like that reinforce my new found common sense.

 

[Chris E]

I'll echo that sentiment, I don't mess around near wires after taking a light shock a few months ago. I feel like a lucky fool.

 

[BOTS]

powerlines are not my cup of tea!

 

[stig]

Not mine either, but after some months of line clearing, one gets used to working next to them.
Collateral damage around high voltage lines will almost certainly involve one self, so one must be careful.
But that goes for most of what we here in the House do for a living.

 

[Limbrat]

With the 400 KW lines that we work along , I don't think it matters much.
If you screw up, you are toast ( Literally) steel lanyard or not.

I believe you mean kV, which means kilovolt, or one thousand volts. Kw is the abbreviation for kilowatt, which is a measure of amperage, or current flow. Of course our lanyards with the power company are nonconductive. In fact, we have to climb with a rig called a bucksqueeze and only use the lanyard when transitioning over cable tv, telephone and other obstacles.

 

[stig]

Of course I do. Got my V's and W's mixed up.
Thanks.