busman
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern Virginia
- Occupation
- Master Electrician / Electrical Engineer
Now lets not miss quote I said " You cant ever let your guard down working with electricity be it primary or secondary, cause one false step or getting to comfrotable around these voltages can cause injury or death, or as I stated "Letting your guard down" Yes lineman are human and are subject to making mistakes and injuries and DEATH! And training on the use of PPE (and its not just about putting on an FR shirt and hot gloves) and working on energized equipment is also one of the keys to working safe, I would venture to say all lineman have such certification, but still the chance of accidents happening each and everyday is still there.
Sorry. Didn't mean to misconstrue what you said. My point was that lineman get better training than most electricians on safe practices for working hot, but because they work with such high primary voltages, they tend to downplay the risks of secondary voltages (despite their training). On the other hand, when you are an electrician and the highest voltage you've worked is 480V, everything higher than a doorbell transformer seems to demand care. It really comes down to psychology. The more often you do something dangerous, the more you are likely to lose the innate fear and become complacent.