Pulling service meter

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c_picard

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I've finally landed with a company that has a legit safety program, and I am very thankful.

But just to clarify on something I just read in another post...Is it not acceptable to pull meters to de-energize the main service panel? This must be done by the utility?

I have worked in different areas with different utility req's, some make EC's be on an approved list, some only allow overhead service meters to be pulled, etc. Do I understand correctly that regardless of the utility, OSHA considers pulling a meter live work, and this is not allowed?

Currently, company policy is that we suit up in PPE to pull the meter, but is this actually wrong?

Thanks for the input, I have learned a lot on this forum, and maybe the most about safe work practices.
 
Here is the relvent OSHA section, you will have to decide.

1910.333(a)(1)

"Deenergized parts." Live parts to which an employee may be exposed shall be deenergized before the employee works on or near them, unless the employer can demonstrate that deenergizing introduces additional or increased hazards or is infeasible due to equipment design or operational limitations. Live parts that operate at less than 50 volts to ground need not be deenergized if there will be no increased exposure to electrical burns or to explosion due to electric arcs.

Note 1: Examples of increased or additional hazards include interruption of life support equipment, deactivation of emergency alarm systems, shutdown of hazardous location ventilation equipment, or removal of illumination for an area.

Note 2: Examples of work that may be performed on or near energized circuit parts because of infeasibility due to equipment design or operational limitations include testing of electric circuits that can only be performed with the circuit energized and work on circuits that form an integral part of a continuous industrial process in a chemical plant that would otherwise need to be completely shut down in order to permit work on one circuit or piece of equipment.

Note 3: Work on or near deenergized parts is covered by paragraph (b) of this section.
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http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9910
 
And my question concerning this matter has always been why can POCO employees perform this task but others can not. They are not immune to the hazards.

Same with connecting a live service drop, as well as a lot of other hot work they perform. I am not questioning their work on meduim and high voltages I'm talking about below 600 volt. There is more arc flash hazard on everything they do then there is inside the buildings being served because they are working closer to the power source and impedance will be less allowing for higher fault current in the points of the circuit that they are working on.

They are employees and fall under OSHA just like any other employee.
 
OSHA has a funny way of writing their standards. I guess technically they are violating the standard if they are not de-energizing, but they probably are getting away with it using the "infeasible" clause. Wouldn't they have to knock power out to any home or company that is on that same transformer in order to de-energize it?
 
I think that the utility companies are not goverened by OSHA and they have their own safety standarts. (I may be wrong on this).

Somewhere along the line there has to be a live connection unless you start shuting down substations ar powerplants.
 
tkb said:
I think that the utility companies are not goverened by OSHA and they have their own safety standarts. (I may be wrong on this).

Somewhere along the line there has to be a live connection unless you start shuting down substations ar powerplants.
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Why? Wasn't OSHA formed for safety in the workplace? Do POCO personel do what they do just because they are really great guys or do they bring home a paycheck? If they bring home a paycheck they are an employee and their employer is subject to OSHA. This is one job that is a little hard to send to China but I'm sure somewhere someone is trying to figure out how.

I have seen them open large transformer enclosures many times with no PPE except for safty glasses, gloves, hard hat, and FR clothing that they wear all the time. If an EC employee were to open same enclosure he would need a full suit because he is vulnerable to arc flash.
 
The OSHA section I posted above does not apply at all to linemen or electrical contractors doing line work. (NESC stuff)

It does apply to ECs doing NEC wiring.
 
kwired said:
I have seen them open large transformer enclosures many times with no PPE except for safty glasses, gloves, hard hat, and FR clothing that they wear all the time. If an EC employee were to open same enclosure he would need a full suit because he is vulnerable to arc flash.
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Exactly the difference between linemen and ECs, linemen always wear the PPE they are supposed to while ECs rarely wear any PPE.

Linemen are killed more often than ECs, that is too bad, perhaps things will be tightened up to protect them better. But pointing out that they get to do stuff we should not as reason to put us in more danger is counter productive.
 
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iwire said:
The OSHA section I posted above does not apply at all to linemen or electrical contractors doing line work. (NESC stuff)

It does apply to ECs doing NEC wiring.
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I am not up on OSHA much at all. I am not condoning unsafe practices. But I don't understand why if OSHA existance is for safe environments for employees, why it shouldn't cover all employees no matter what industry or trade is involved. The hazard is there and does not care who you are, or what training you have.

POCO employees will practice OSHA recommended procedures for all other aspects of their work. Fall protection, Safety glasses, machinery operation practices, but live voltage at any level is not an OSHA issue?

A lot of their work is different than what most EC employees do but some of it is pretty much the same.
 
The NESC is in the process of implementing more detailed arc flash protection regulations, the arc flash hazards they deal with are different animals in many cases, arcs in open air versus arc in cubic boxes. Perhaps the biggest arc flash hazard they ever get exposed to is the LV side of pad mount transformers. The challange will be to educate a workforce that is used to dealing with very high voltages that the LV pad mounts are perhaps the most dangerous thing they deal with (From an arc flash perscective). People have a hard time wrapping thier minds around lower voltages being a greater hazard.
 
The purpose of the NESC is the practical safeguarding of persons during the installation, operation, or maintenance of electrical supply and communication lines, equipment, and associated work practices employed by a public or private electric supply, communications, railway, or similar utility in the exercise of its function as a utility.
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The NEC, NFPA-70, addresses proper electrical systems and equipment installation to protect people and property from hazards arising from the use of electricity in buildings and structures.
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I think those explain it. I believe OSHA has accepted the NESC for the purpose of governing Utilities. without the NESC the utilities would basically have to shut down entire generation plants top complete line work.
 
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BryKey said:
I think those explain it. I believe OSHA has accepted the NESC for the purpose of governing Utilities. without the NESC the utilities would basically have to shut down entire generation plants top complete line work.
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OSHA investigates POCO work related fatalities so they do have some role in it. Interesting topic which I would like to learn more about. Completely out of my realm of expertise.
 
iwire said:
Exactly the difference between linemen and ECs, linemen always wear the PPE they are supposed to while ECs rarely wear any PPE.

Linemen are killed more often than ECs, that is too bad, perhaps things will be tightened up to protect them better. But pointing out that they get to do stuff we should not as reason to put us in more danger is counter productive.
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I would agree with that.
 
ABOUT THE NESC
Published exclusively by IEEE, the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) sets the ground rules for practical safeguarding of persons during the installation, operation, or maintenance of electric supply and communication lines and associated equipment. The NESC contains the basic provisions that are considered necessary for the safety of employees and the public under the specified conditions.

In 1972, IEEE was designated as the secretariat for the NESC. The NESC continues to be a stronghold in the U.S. electrical industry and communications utility field, and serves as the authority on safety requirements for power, telephone, cable TV, and railroad signal systems.

http://standards.ieee.org/about/nesc/
 
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