Homeless in Arizona

Year and year out being an electrical worker usually is one of the top 3 most dangerous jobs along with fishermen, loggers and other construction workers.

I thought this article was interesting because even a hole the size of a pin can kill an electrician working on a 40,000 volt power line.

The article is wrong about volts being dangerous.

The real danger is the current or amps which will stop your heart with just a few milliamps.

A 1.5 volt D cell battery has enough current or amps to kill you. But the 1.5 volts of pressure it has isn't powerful enough to allow the current to get thru you skin.

On the other hand the 40,000 volts in a power line is easily enough to penetrate your skin and kill you.

Source

Safety equipment testers are the only thing coming between SRP linemen, 40,000 volts of electricity

Ryan Randazzo, The Republic | azcentral.com 5:04 a.m. MST May 22, 2016

Safety-equipment testing is a full-time job at SRP.

The utility's test lab has three employees testing thousands of rubber gloves and other equipment.

The lab has operated since 1975.

Purple bolts of electricity crackle inside the Salt River Project Safety Test Lab as technician Bruce Redford runs a batch of rubber gloves through a routine test for holes.

The gloves, standard equipment for about 2,200 SRP employees who work on the electrical system, must be tested every six months to ensure they have no cuts or punctures. A single pinhole could be deadly, sending thousands of volts into a lineman's hands.

Gloves are tested by submerging them in electrically charged water to see if the voltage can penetrate any part of the gloves. If so, the glove is taken out of service.

"I have 2,000 employees and their lives are right here," Redford said. "We do take pride in what we do."

Keeping workers safe from 40,000 volts

The laboratory, which has a budget of about $550,000 a year, also tests the "hot sticks" linemen use to open switches and de-energize power lines, rubber blankets used to insulate live power lines in the vicinity of where linemen are working, and other SRP equipment, such as equipment to prevent falls. Three employees work full time in the lab.

SRP has maintained the lab since 1975 to meet requirements set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Safety gets lots of attention at electric utilities because while mistakes happen in every industry, they often are fatal when they occur on the electrical system.

By the numbers

6,000: Pairs of gloves tested annually at SRP.

40,000: Volts of electricity used to test some gloves.

2,200: SRP workers required to use rubber safety equipment on the job.

$45-$440: Cost of a pair of rubber safety gloves, depending on thickness.

1,600: Rubber blankets tested a year. Source: SRP

OSHA uses a standard incident rate to compare injury statistics across industries, and it is the rate of accidents per 100 full-time workers. In 2014, the U.S. average across all industries was 3.4. The 2015 figures are not yet published.

Arizona's two biggest utilities have accident rates lower than the national average for all industries. SRP boasts a rate of 1.56 accidents per 100 workers for 2015. Neighboring utility Arizona Public Service Co. had an even lower rate of 0.67 in 2015.

In 2014, the most current information available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 25 electric utility workers were killed nationwide. None were from SRP or APS.

Each SRP worker is assigned as many as three sets of gloves of various thickness, depending on the type of work they do, Redford said. The gloves all are bar coded and tracked in a computer system, so SRP knows how long they have been used, and who has worn them.

The thinnest gloves are red, and feel a bit thicker than those worn washing dishes, though they are form fitting with no creases. The thickest gloves make it difficult to make a closed fist, and are colored yellow on the inside and black on the outside to help identify any penetrations.

'Half of their work is peace of mind out there'

Maintaining the gloves is critical for electrical workers. They are required to wear leather gloves over the top to prevent nicks, and are advised to not wear jewelry under the gloves. Lotions and sunblocks can contain chemicals that degrade rubber, too, so workers are advised to limit their use to the products that SRP supplies to linemen.

Redford demonstrates the tracking system by scanning a glove. The computer indicates it has been in service for about three years and most recently was assigned to an employee working at the Navajo Generating Station near Page.

Some gloves are used for a decade, while others are taken out of service after six months.

"Their safety is our No. 1 concern," he said. "If they don't like the look of them, we will replace them. Half of their work is peace of mind out there."

A demonstration of the electrical test on the gloves shows why peace of mind is important. Thick gloves are submersed in water and 40,000 volts of electricity surges through the water. The electricity snaps, pops and arcs in an attempt to ground on a metal probe inside the glove. Even behind a protective shield, the power is frightening.

The square rubber "blankets" used to drape over power lines and offer protection to workers undergo a similar test. They are placed on a metal conductor and tested to ensure electricity can't pass through them at any weak spots or holes.

During the testing, electricity buzzes around the edges of the rubber blankets, seeking a failure point.

Apprentice linemen at SRP are given tours of the test lab to show them the rigors with which their safety equipment is tested, and to show them the power of the electrical systems they work to maintain, Redford said.

"When you see 40,000 volts of electricity jumping around on a blanket looking for a failure, it is eye opening," Redford said. "And it allows us to explain the reality of electricity and what it can do to them."

When the gloves come in for electrical testing, they also are given a visual inspection and filled with air to check for leaks.

"We are looking for cuts," Redford said. "We are looking for creases."

The gloves also are washed and sanitized before being sent back out into service.

"We tell them to take care of these like their life depends on it, because it does."