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DRV Construction
2/12/2000
continued from post below------- WHAMMMMM YOUR DEAD!!!!!!!! Never run strand across a road, attach to telco or catv with preforms. You are asking for trouble if you dont. I have seen it get caught up in many a wheel well, lucky for us no one was hurt.
Gerald Whitfield
2/12/2000
Power the silent killer,yes it really is.I
have a friend ,Greg Morton,he works telephone
construction,he lost his dad to power.His dad
had almost 30years with the power company,he
went from lineman to line supervisor,you know
the man that just rides around in the truck
with the radio.One day they had a primary line
down in the road ,he had stopped to keep people
off of it,he called in a line truck to shut
down power on it. They called back and said it
was off.In walking back across he stepped on
it,it was still hot,it blew his leg off and
killed him.With his experience and training
should he probably have known better? Hind
sight is always 20/20.
To address highway crossings in my book the
only safe way to handle them is to stop traffic
in all directions.If you properly plan your
day they will be done when traffic is lite.
If you have a major road/highway crossing to
do,make sure you have out the proper signs,
cones ,and flagmen.In addition you should
contact the D.O.T.,Highway patrol,Sherrifs
dept.,and local Police.Make sure all of these.
Don't speak to just anyone who answers the
phone ask to speak to a supervisor,write down
their name,make sure they have yours.in the
event of a mishap,someone gets sued,and
someones head usally rolls,make sure its not
yours.Most accidents could have been
avoided.If you don't take enough precautions
you are just an accident waiting to happen.
Its better to work for a company that observes
safety,than that mom and pop for a few more
cents a ft.,you might live another day.
If you have ever been through a situation
that you wondered,how did I live through that
or say to yourself that should killed me.Let
me answer it for you,it was not your time,a
Guaridan Angle was looking after you!!!
Only God the father ,the Alpha and the Omega
knows the Beginning and the End.If you live
your life for God,you will not fear death
because you know when you die your going to
Heaven to be with him,and I trust its a much
better place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KenM
2/13/2000
Don't forget power in all forms. I've heard of some strand related induction while pulling near high power lines, kind of like a wire through a magnetic field ala generators.
And speaking of God, don't forget the lightning threats we encounter so often, how many times do you suppose it was "just one last connector and I'm outa here" and ZAP. Some people say "when it's your time..." but for me, I say don't make it so easy, and at least if it is, make it something the insurance company can't protest as your own fault, so your kid's will have college money at least!
A friend of mine had a partner killed because the general he worked for forced him to continue working during a lightning storm. (despite his protest)He was stuck while in an attic, doing a wall fish. So, yes, live to play another day. Besides, look at all the fun you'd miss out on! ;)
KenM
2/13/2000
That's STRUCK not STUCK. (an exercise program could fix the getting stuck in an attic problem)....
nick
2/13/2000
Top dollar for a ms 1000 / 1200 near Chicago.
Mark A. Pickrell
2/13/2000
Been working around the Aerial contruction, buckets, gaffs, span ladders etc. NEVER had a safety issue "ESPECIALLY" around power!
No LUCK involved.........=P
Doug
2/13/2000
Iv'e been nailed off cable thats been up there a while(cold splicing)Iv'e had it blow a hole in my cutters,a capasiter affect I guess,hot gloves are a pain in the ass but there are too many situations out there when they are needed, anyone know of a more form fitting glove on the market? let me know, my biggest danger with the damned things is dropping tools.but youv'e got to love em work on one of those sticks out behind Walmart where the 3 phase is drip looped 5" from strand, you can feel the hair on your face stand up, thank god for hot gloves.
SplicerLife4me
2/13/2000
Mark, Dont jinx yourself dude...Doug, what are you doing up in the primarys for? Granted, hot gloves are a necessary evil, however, you should be staying the hell away from power period...Sorry, but if the hair on my face stands out from the electricity, when I am no higher than cable, I call the electric company and the mso and go do something else till they rectify the problem...Cable (construction,splicers) have no buisness messing up or with power.
Gerald Whitfield
2/13/2000
Lets change the subject matter for awhile,I wonder how many people have been bitten or stung on the job? I have killed many fire ants and Black widow spiders,wasp,etc.doing underground upgrade.I usally get stung by the underground hornets ,every year, you know the kind ,you see them on fallen apples,pears,fruit of any kind,some call them yellow jackets,but they live in the ground,I'm sure,I was on a backhoe setting manhole junctions and dug a nest up,the whole hive comes after you ,when they sting it feels like you've been stabbed with a hot rod.I ended up at the hospital getting a shot,then there is paper wasp it builds a gaint nest in a tree,they are black and almost 1&1/2 inches long,you know the kind you've seen then in cartoons on tv .If you run across these don't take any chances,the whole hive will chase you and possibly kill you.In my book ,you need a special suit to remove them.
Lets go to spiders, the is alot of what I call strand clamp spiders,you usally find them
in the strap and spacer,doing retro,then there is tree spiders the kind you never see when your pulling strand or cable through trees,they
just bite you and you get that funny nerological feeling on your face or neck that swells you up,for a couple hours to a couple days.I've worked in Florida a number of times over the years they have spiders called banana
spiders they look like the northern garden
spider except the adomen looks like a reddish banana shape with spots let me tell you this is one thuff spider,garden spiders run to the side of
their webb if you mess with them,but the banana spider doesn't,if your splicing your can put the torch on him and he will buck up
and stay ridged in the middle of his webb until he drops out dead,they get to be rather large and I hear they have a nasty bite,but the really don't compare to a spider I ran across this year.I was changing out some old plastic riser guards,to metal,for extra money,when I got to this one pole there was a
Large banana spiders webb,and his shell left in
the middle,it was like a perfect banana spider
with no abdomem,but it was just a shell it looked like something had sucked out all of insides and left the hull.I wondered what in the world did this? I was soon to find out. I
removed the top piece guard and there it was
it,a spider the size of a small transhla,silver gray in color,and harry like a transhla.Let me tell you I'm not afarid of most spiders,but this one scared me so bad I
screamed (loud),my screem must of scared the spider also,it jumped from the pole and ran in the woods.Has anyone else ever encountered one of these? The only other thing other other than mosquitoes,and snakes is those little brown scorpians that live in old poles in Florida,they will sting and bite you.Has any one else run in to any thing similar to my
encounters?????????????????????????
Doug
2/13/2000
well the way I saw it was if those construction guys were crazy enough to build it,the least I could do was splice it, and then I took pictures of it and turned it into the MSO, Media One Dracut, Mass.
