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Safety Technologies


Electrical Safety for First Responders

 How Smart Grid technologies can become an electrical hazard to rescue workers Smart Grid technologies have risen to prominence in North America. Media outlets, industry experts, vendors, and utilities all echo the same positive sentiments regarding a digitized power grid. However, new...

Safe Work Verified Through Data Logging Technology

On Distribution, Transmission or Substation equipment, testing for presence or absence of nominal voltage is mandated specifically by OSHA rule 1910.269(n)(5) which states “Testing. The employer shall ensure that, unless a previously installed ground is present, employees test lines and...

Grounding & Protection


What Is Step and Touch Potential and Reducing Resistance To Ground?

Step PotentialStep potential is the step voltage between the feet of a person standing near an energized grounded object. It is equal to the difference in voltage, given by the voltage distribution curve, between two points at different distances from the electrode. A person could be at risk of...

Proper Inspection of Grounds and Jumpers is a Well Grounded Practice

Taking care of your grounds and jumpers A lineman’s ground and jumper cables look and feel like they’re built to last forever, but looks can be deceiving. They get tossed in the truck, dropped in the mud, left hanging in the rain, and generally overlooked. With everyday use, we start...

Utility Safety Standards


Safety Reports for Utility Workers

Protecting utility workers with documented reporting BY MIKE DOHERTY, PowerTel Utilities Contractors Limited Within the lineman trade, accountabilities for the documentation of various inspections, job safety analyses (JSAs), audits, safe work practices (SPGs), qualifications, safety meetings,...

5 Ways to Improve Bucket-to-Ground Communication

Cranes, aerials and bucket trucks are common sights in construction zones and among maintenance crews around our cities. What better way to hoist materials to high places or to move workers closer to the task?When your crew includes an above-ground operator in a bucket or cab, they’re linked...

Lineman Safety

Safe Grounding in Substations

How to guard utility personnel from shock hazards

BY JEFF JOWETT, Megger

In the power industry, safety is just as important a function as performance. Safety considerations, parameters, and methods of implementation are an integral part of any electrical system. A most important element is the grounding system. This system performs several functions, not the least of which is safety. Substations are active in fault clearance, and personnel working in and around them, as well...

Lineman Safety Articles