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Posted: 7/3/2015 1:06:17 AM EDT
[#1]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
It's the same sort of deal in the machining industry. I work at a non union shop. The #1 rule is don't get hurt, but get the job done as fast as possible. The focus is not on safety, but rather, not getting hurt. Safety and not getting hurt are two drastically different concepts. Several of my classmates from technical school work at union shops. Safety is their #1 priority. If safety slows the job down, then so be it. They can't leave work with blood on their fingers with out filling out a report. We don't have that. It's a night and day difference from what I am used to. I'm used to non union management. If you say the job was done right, then it was done right. If you get caught spinning up a web of bullshit, or wasting time, you are gone. No questions asked. The manager comes out with a red sheet of paper, and you pack up your shit and go. I can't even imagine an evironment where safety is everything. Safety is an abstract concept for us. People rarely get hurt at work. It's usually the shop idiots and wild men that slice themselves. Their behavior begged for it at some point. My union buddies look at me like I'm crazy when I say this. Quote HistoryQuoted:
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On the topic of safety... I can get on my soapbox about unions with the best of them. I've worked with linemen all over the country - some IBEW, some not. The IBEW crews are overwhelming more skilled and safer in their work practices than the non-union guys. It's the same sort of deal in the machining industry. I work at a non union shop. The #1 rule is don't get hurt, but get the job done as fast as possible. The focus is not on safety, but rather, not getting hurt. Safety and not getting hurt are two drastically different concepts. Several of my classmates from technical school work at union shops. Safety is their #1 priority. If safety slows the job down, then so be it. They can't leave work with blood on their fingers with out filling out a report. We don't have that. It's a night and day difference from what I am used to. I'm used to non union management. If you say the job was done right, then it was done right. If you get caught spinning up a web of bullshit, or wasting time, you are gone. No questions asked. The manager comes out with a red sheet of paper, and you pack up your shit and go. I can't even imagine an evironment where safety is everything. Safety is an abstract concept for us. People rarely get hurt at work. It's usually the shop idiots and wild men that slice themselves. Their behavior begged for it at some point. My union buddies look at me like I'm crazy when I say this. Yeah. It's not what I'm talking about. The union guys are more skilled and disciplined so I am more safe. High-voltage work is not a job performed by individuals. It takes a team. Each guy relies on his brother for safety. The non-union guys took unnecessary risks and their skill level for basic tasks (I was field support for a manufacturer) was much lower. I had to pay much closer attention to the other guys when I was working. Back in the shop, we were non-union where productivity was #1 and safety was an expectation. Totally different environment. And I much prefer it for a manufacturing/machine shop. |
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Posted: 7/3/2015 6:19:44 PM EDT
[#2]
One thing I notice about linemen is that even in non disaster situations and even on easy, straightforward jobs like changing a fuse on a cutout, they come in force. Rarely do I see just one dude in a bucket and that's it, it's usually him and at least 2-3 other dudes on the ground, even if they're not needed. I always assumes this was mainly for safety...multiple sets of eyes watching.
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Posted: 7/3/2015 6:58:18 PM EDT
[#3]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
One thing I notice about linemen is that even in non disaster situations and even on easy, straightforward jobs like changing a fuse on a cutout, they come in force. Rarely do I see just one dude in a bucket and that's it, it's usually him and at least 2-3 other dudes on the ground, even if they're not needed. I always assumes this was mainly for safety...multiple sets of eyes watching. We generally try to have a second person for most stuff we do. A lot of the stuff we might be called to check out for trouble is remote, it's good to have someone to watch your back, pick you up if you have to patrol or to render aid. I usually call another guy if I have to go outside of town limits after hours for those reasons. You never know what you are going to run into. During the day, a crew may be assigned to a "simple" call or job to get on the way out. We usually all go cause it is unlikely that we could do anything at the job we are going to without everyone on the crew. We run minimal people, so one guy absent severely limits the scope of work we can do. Once again you never know what is going on, and having the crew go along allows repairs to be made if needed. |
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Posted: 7/3/2015 7:35:50 PM EDT
[#4]
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Thank you. Those ripped through my hometown. Quote HistoryQuoted:
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Last one I went on was about 3 years ago. Went to Alabama when they had a bunch of tornados. Good money too. 16 hours a day for 2 weeks. All at double time. And for the most part is not hard work. Thank you. Those ripped through my hometown. Amen. 
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Posted: 7/3/2015 9:06:17 PM EDT
[#5]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
Let's say you have a crew from PA working on a break in the line. They're up there fixing it, but unbeknownst to them, a crew from NJ is half a mile away fixing another break. The NJ goes to close switches and blows the PA guy right off the fucking pole. That's the part I don't get... Circuits aren't energized without calling in first. |
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Posted: 7/3/2015 9:20:17 PM EDT
[#6]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
One thing I notice about linemen is that even in non disaster situations and even on easy, straightforward jobs like changing a fuse on a cutout, they come in force. Rarely do I see just one dude in a bucket and that's it, it's usually him and at least 2-3 other dudes on the ground, even if they're not needed. I always assumes this was mainly for safety...multiple sets of eyes watching. So you don't know the nature of their work but can tell when people aren't needed.  Alrighty then.
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Posted: 7/3/2015 9:21:07 PM EDT
[#7]
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So you don't know the nature of their work but can tell when people aren't needed. Alrighty then.Quote HistoryQuoted:
Quoted:
One thing I notice about linemen is that even in non disaster situations and even on easy, straightforward jobs like changing a fuse on a cutout, they come in force. Rarely do I see just one dude in a bucket and that's it, it's usually him and at least 2-3 other dudes on the ground, even if they're not needed. I always assumes this was mainly for safety...multiple sets of eyes watching. So you don't know the nature of their work but can tell when people aren't needed. Alrighty then.??? WTF? |
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Posted: 7/3/2015 9:48:48 PM EDT
[#8]
After the 2004 hurricanes Pike Electric came in to repair the lines. They stayed and now do most all new
construction for electric company FPL. Non union vs FPL union guys. Radio today had add IBEW saying what a good job FPL crews do. |
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Posted: 7/3/2015 10:50:31 PM EDT
[#9]
In this video, the dude takes two leads off at the end, I assume they are grounds, for the purpose of safety, so if something unexpectedly goes live while he's working, the hope is that the grounds immediately blow the next fuse in the line?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIEAE4zsE_U |
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Posted: 7/4/2015 5:56:31 AM EDT
[#10]
He was doing it hot. The orange and yellow device he installed and removed was an insulated mechanical jumper to by-pass the switch he was changing out so there would not be an outage.
Nothing wrong with doing it hot, but some of his work practices seem sketchy from what I can see in the video.
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Posted: 7/4/2015 6:33:53 AM EDT
[#11]
... to you guys who get the power back on. Nothing like the sound of a house coming back to life after being without power for a couple of days, because some lineman climbed out of a warm bed and went up a pole at 2 A.M. in godawful weather. |
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Posted: 7/4/2015 12:04:33 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
... to you guys who get the power back on. Nothing like the sound of a house coming back to life after being without power for a couple of days, because some lineman climbed out of a warm bed and went up a pole at 2 A.M. in godawful weather. +1 |
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Posted: 7/4/2015 12:14:57 PM EDT
[#13]
In this video, the commentator is holding a switch the whole time What's that for?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xmptyiW_60 |
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Posted: 7/4/2015 2:09:19 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
In this video, the commentator is holding a switch the whole time What's that for? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xmptyiW_60 That was a pretty good demo. The switch was just to energize the demo. It controlled the voltage they were backfeeding to the transformer on the right. They only had it hot when they were actively demonstrating something. |
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Posted: 7/4/2015 3:31:10 PM EDT
[#15]
It's not free.
The money comes from the rate payers and is banked...some funds are from insurance as well. Make no mistake. It ain't free and you are paying for it. Top dollar too, since its is usually all overtime. Now, utilities do have agreements in place to help one another out. Another mechanism is: Utilities have house crews (their own people) and contractors on the system at all times. The local utility here....watching storms coming from the west...will ramp up "we need more contractors on the system to get the regular projects done" When the storm hits...we already have the contractors on our system and just allocate them to the damage areas with our house crews and restoration is quicker...since there are more resources to allocate. |
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Posted: 7/4/2015 3:37:40 PM EDT
[#16]
Quote HistoryQuoted: The consensus of everyone I know who went to NJ for NG repair/restoration was that the utilities on the coast are run by idiots and tards of the highest order. They literally had no emergency plans in place for anything and entire crews of men stood around waiting to work because management didn't know shit. [The majority of management at many utilities are no longer people who worked their way up and are familiar with operations and when large scale emergencies happen, it shows.] Quote HistoryQuoted: The consensus of everyone I know who went to NJ for NG repair/restoration was that the utilities on the coast are run by idiots and tards of the highest order. They literally had no emergency plans in place for anything and entire crews of men stood around waiting to work because management didn't know shit. [The majority of management at many utilities are no longer people who worked their way up and are familiar with operations and when large scale emergencies happen, it shows.] |
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Posted: 7/4/2015 3:45:33 PM EDT
[#17]
those travelling linemen must get paid really well. We had a few hanging around my hometown doing some upgrading and they all had lifted late model diesel trucks that were not company vehicles(if they were I need to change jobs
 ).
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Posted: 7/4/2015 9:01:56 PM EDT
[#18]
Quote HistoryQuoted:
those travelling linemen must get paid really well. We had a few hanging around my hometown doing some upgrading and they all had lifted late model diesel trucks that were not company vehicles(if they were I need to change jobs ).I was talking to a local lineman he said that a first year guy working no O.T. can expect to make about $140,000 / year. Some of the more senior guys can exceed $250,000 / year with O.T. |
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