(split off) Climbing around power

[tophopper]

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

John, you've got to cut the guy some slack, all he's done is ROW work for a hack & slash company. Not having seen anything else, he finds it hard to believe that anyway else works.

On top of that, he's it seems he's in big PNW coniffers for the most part. Not multistemmed spreading things like we have out in the wide open places.

I think he's catching on a bit though

 

[tophopper]

 

[clearance]

tophopper-no offence taken, thanks for the concern. J.P.S. and others, guys here who are i.s.a. certified do line clearance work too, and they always use spurs. Anyways J.P.S. thanks for cutting me some slack, but at least I am learning from this site. Before I would mock and laugh with my coworkers about spurless climbing, I still kind of do but you guys are right about there being more than one way to skin a cat. If I turned in the names of the i.s.a. guys who climb with spurs, would they get kicked out of the i.s.a.? Joking of course, but can you get culled from the i.s.a. if you wear spurs?

 

[tophopper]

 

[clearance]

Tophopper- I wear spurs because I work around powerlines, this has come up before here but you cannot use a throwline to set your climbing rope because it could hit the line. Our rules state that you have too be tyed in with two lines unless you are using a steelcore lanyard, which I use.

 

[alanarbor]

Tophopper- I wear spurs because I work around powerlines, this has come up before here but you cannot use a throwline to set your climbing rope because it could hit the line. Our rules state that you have too be tyed in with two lines unless you are using a steelcore lanyard, which I use.

Is that a gov. regulation against throwlines? Or just co. policy? Kinda curious.

 

[VTMechEng]

If I remember correctly from my EHAP training steelcore lanyards around power lines were a big no no. Steel conducts electricity way to well for use around power lines.

 

[alanarbor]

If I remember correctly from my EHAP training steelcore lanyards around power lines were a big no no. Steel conducts electricity way to well for use around power lines.

Yeah but clearance is from Canada eh? The regs must be different.

 

[rb_in_va]

Yeah but clearance is from Canada eh? The regs must be different.

Yeah, that and the fact that the electricity in Canada is only 70% as hazardous as electricity in the US.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Yeah but clearance is from Canada eh? The regs must be different.

The reg's I've seen from Canada are stricter then ANSI, though those may have been Provicial standards.

Someone get ahold of Craig and ask him to chim in

 

[clearance]

In regards to the questions about steel core lanyards and throwlines around energized conductors. Certified utility arborist are the only people in this province other than linemen permitted to work in close proximity to energized conductors. It doesnt matter if you are the i.s.a. world champion, if you are not certified you will be dragging brush. There are limits of approach (l.a.o.) that have, and I repeat, have to be followed. There are two limits for certified climbers/bucket slugs, one is the limit for your body and any non dielectrically tested equipment. The other is for dielectrically tested equipment (polepruner, boom, trimsaw). So as long as you don't violate your limits, steelcore lanyards are o.k.. About throwlines, it is impossible to throw the line above the level of the conductors without ever hitting them or wrapping the throwline around them. I guess you could possibly set it there sometimes, somehow with a polepruner but line clearance work is about production. The limits are written in stone and under no circumstance can you ever violate them. Even dielectrically tested equipment is never to touch the line, so I hope this answers your questions

 

[alanarbor]

Dielectrically tested equipment is never to touch the line.....I realize that. It's tested so if an accidental contact occurs, there is a measure of protection. That's why I question the steel core lanyard. Because humans aren't perfect, and accidents happen. Know what I mean Vern?

 

[clearance]

Like I said limits are in stone. This thing about steelcore lanyards not being safe because they transmit electricity very well is where education pays off. Steel is a good conductor, gold is even better, but everything is conductive unless it is dielectrically tested. Everything, false security thinking otherwise. When I took the training to work around power, a retired lineman dispelled all the "common sense" and wives tales about power. Like dry wood is not conductive, dry rope is not conductive, trees won't conduct in the hot summer and so on. If you are holding a branch and it touches the line, if your saw touches the line, you touch the line, you are energized, maybe fatally. My lanyard is 12ft long, by the time it goes from my left side around the tree to my right side there is'nt enough left to hit the line, or even violate my conductive limit. Accidents do happen Al, all kinds of crazy sh%t, but I have never heard of any lanyard contacting the line.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I split this off from the new climber thread, since it's completly off that topic.

Now i'm just bumping it up to the top.

-Mr Moderator.

 

[alanarbor]

Good Call. This digression deserved it's own thread.

 

[Crazy Canuck]

The reg's I've seen from Canada are stricter then ANSI, though those may have been Provicial standards.

Someone get ahold of Craig and ask him to chim in

I don't know about BC but here in Alberta you can not use steelcore when working around energized lines. I think that's an OHS reg and I believe they are federal.

 

[UNBforester]

The steelcore flipline rule must be a BC thing because it doesn't fly anywhere else in Canada as far as I know.

The spur issue on ROW's- there's a big difference between someone's tree in their backyard and a 115KV circuit running 50 miles from anything in the middle of bug infested, hot as hell Boreal forest where you have to get the job done. We've got the big shot, throwlines, ascenders at work when we need them but that doesn't help you on the ROW when you have to trim a White spruce that has not easy place to launch a throwball into and your TIP is 55 ft in the air. You wanna shinny that? Good luck.

 

[VTMechEng]

I fully understand and agree with you that nothing is perfect against electric shock but why would you want something more prone to conduction. The Steel core will have much less resistance to electricity as opposed to non-steel. If the flipline did touch the powerline a non-steel will (not may but will) result in less of a shock. Does this mean you wont die or get hurt, no, but it does mean there is less a chance and that is good in my eyes. I know you have to follow the regs for your area and hope you continue to follow them. Regardless what you use up there be safe for you all those around.

 

[JJackson]

The guys that climb here use throw lines on all tree unsless they are removing it and are wearing spikes. As JPS pointed out Clearance works in the PNW with there types of trees here we still work with pines but spikes are not allowed by the utility unless performing a removal. They also do not allow steel core lanyards, though I would prefer to see tehm used when the trees are far enough from the conductors, they do have to be tied in twice to run a saw.