Need some feedback on a question of safety...

Fulthrotl · Oct 30, 2008

here's the deal.... one of my commercial accounts is a roofing contractor
who calls me when they are doing a tilt up, and need protection around
a weatherhead or service drop so that nobody on the crew gets fried.

i got an email today that looks like this:

==============================
Hi Randy
I was wondering if I could get a price from you to wrap these
wires for us. I'm pretty sure that you could do everything from
the roof. There are 2 sets of 3 wires. Let me know if you can
give me a price from the photos or if you would have to see the
job. The job is near 110 fwy and Martin Luther King Blvd in LA.
=============================

here's a couple photos of the work....

now, i'm looking at the cans on the crossbar, and they look awfully
close to the edge of the building... close enough that a roof finisher
with a roller on a 12' aluminum paint pole is a huge risk of contacting
secondary or primary, which appears to be 5kv.

my solution that seems safe, is to put up 10' 2x8's on the outside of the
building, every 2', anchored with 1/2" readheads , with 6' above the
parapet, and 4' below the parapet, and put 1/2" 4x8 plywood vertically,
so there is an 8' tall barrier along the edge of the building where the
poles, crossbar, and transformers are at. and "PELIGRO, high voltage" signs.

one concern is wind load, and this needs to be secure so it doesn't
come loose if we get a good wind.

is an 8' barrier wall sufficient that unqualified personnel can be on
the other side of it?

any suggestons on this one that would be better, safer, or given
that california has lawyers on 16" centers thruout the state, should
i just let this one go?

thanks for any insight you may have.

randy

Buck Parrish · Oct 30, 2008

I WAS THINKING A PLYWOOD WALL AS SOON AS I SEEN IT.

I would call the poco and have them do some thing. Unless you need the work.
That looks like a dangerous situation

Lcdrwalker · Oct 30, 2008

I think that the wall would be good for the secondary...but. I will agree with you that the primary that close to roofers is an accident waiting to happen.

wireguru · Oct 30, 2008

i would definitely call the poco (LADWP?) have have them sleeve the primary lines. Ive also seen them with these big blanket things. Bottom line is poco needs to be involved. I wouldnt want the liability of an electrocuted roofer.

frizbeedog · Oct 30, 2008

wireguru said:
i would definitely call the poco (LADWP?) have have them sleeve the primary lines....... Bottom line is poco needs to be involved.

Agree.....unless you like dealing with their equipment or area of responsibility.

....or are you allowed to?

zog · Oct 30, 2008

wireguru said:
i would definitely call the poco (LADWP?) have have them sleeve the primary lines. Ive also seen them with these big blanket things. Bottom line is poco needs to be involved. I wouldnt want the liability of an electrocuted roofer.

I agree also, this is the best way to go.

charlie · Oct 30, 2008

As bad as it looks, I don't see any NESC violations. Keep in mind that California doesn't use the NESC but have written their own. The primary does appear to be 5 kV and the services are either corner grounded or are ungrounded. Anything the utility does would be billed to the customer if they do meet the California version of the NESC.

cowboyjwc · Oct 30, 2008

I actually thought that was a pic of a store in our town. We have the same situation, but somebody, could have been the POCO, put up a chain link backstop (for lack of a better word) to keep people away.

Now I would suggest anyone who is not familier with working around high voltage shouldn't try to put up a chain link fence.

Fulthrotl · Oct 30, 2008

cowboyjwc said:
I actually thought that was a pic of a store in our town. We have the same situation, but somebody, could have been the POCO, put up a chain link backstop (for lack of a better word) to keep people away.

Now I would suggest anyone who is not familier with working around high voltage shouldn't try to put up a chain link fence.

thanks for all of your inputs.... it pretty much parallels my thoughts
on it... and as it's in LADWP service area.... i KNOW what their response
is... they will take out a clearance, shut down a line, or service drop,
place shorts and grounds, call it an outage. and bill accordingly.

they will NOT blanket service entrances or 5kv peddlers for outside
contractors and leave them energized.

the chain link barrier is a good permanent solution.... and that close to
a 5kv peddler, they are gonna make every fence pole be cadwelded to
a 4/0 ground cable, and that goes to a 500 mcm ground cable 2' down
in the dirt... just like a switchrack...
(i got stuck once cadwelding chain link fencing going around a switch rack)

DWP's position in their own areas, is that there MUST be an electrical
safety officer present when unqualified workers are near energized
equipment. he can perform no work, he is oversight only, and nobody
can work without him there.

all of you, thanks again for your help. time to go break the news to
my soon to be disappointed customer.

randy

peter d · Oct 30, 2008

Fulthrotl said:
DWP's position in their own areas, is that there MUST be an electrical
safety officer present when unqualified workers are near energized
equipment. he can perform no work, he is oversight only, and nobody
can work without him there.

all of you, thanks again for your help. time to go break the news to
my soon to be disappointed customer.

randy

Sounds ridiculous. Around here they will boot the HV and LV stuff and be done with it.

Fulthrotl · Oct 31, 2008

peter d said:
Sounds ridiculous. Around here they will boot the HV and LV stuff and be done with it.

regardless of how it sounds, that is how LADWP operates.
i worked there for two years. it was an amazing experience.
not always in a good way.

i watched them throw out. not salvage, throw out a crate
of 316 SS nuts, bolts, belville washers that was 4'x8'x2' deep,
because it was too much work to sort them. most of them
1/2" -13 by varying length, from 1" to 5".

sometime i'll have to post the story how i, armed with a
single sheet of paper, and a pencil, almost caused the
engineering department to spend $600,000 on testing a
transformer that was being bowsered.

DWP=Deep Wide Pockets

randy

wireguru · Oct 31, 2008

Fulthrotl said:
regardless of how it sounds, that is how LADWP operates.
i worked there for two years. it was an amazing experience.
not always in a good way.

i watched them throw out. not salvage, throw out a crate
of 316 SS nuts, bolts, belville washers that was 4'x8'x2' deep,
because it was too much work to sort them. most of them
1/2" -13 by varying length, from 1" to 5".

sometime i'll have to post the story how i, armed with a
single sheet of paper, and a pencil, almost caused the
engineering department to spend $600,000 on testing a
transformer that was being bowsered.

DWP=Deep Wide Pockets

randy

Need some feedback on a question of safety...

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~

Buck Parrish

Senior Member

Lcdrwalker

Senior Member

wireguru

Senior Member

frizbeedog

Senior Member

zog

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charlie

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cowboyjwc

Moderator

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~

peter d

Senior Member

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~

wireguru

Senior Member

peter d

Senior Member

Fulthrotl

~Autocorrect is My Worst Enema.~