Residential Service Drops

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opposablethumb

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Seeking your collective advice/wisdom on working around service drops at homes.

Yesterday I was clearing two limbs of a sugar maple away from a service drop at a home. I was able to keep my body outside of the 10 ft. MAD, but the limbs I was working on and standing on were not...they were almost touching the service drop and communication lines. Because I thought I should, I was working very carefully, slowly, and nibbling off little pieces of the limbs with my zubat so as to maintain clearance. The foreman came over and told me that I did not need to be so careful because the energized lines were wrapped in enough insulation that I could grab them with my bare hands and be fine.

He very well may be right, but I thought I'd ask for second opinions so I can be clearer about standard practices going forward.

I'm only 3 weeks into working full time as a climber for a local commercial company. Prior to that, I was employed by a small college, and did a lot of other grounds related work in addition to climbing, so I've still got a lot of experience yet to gain. I'm still very much the new guy at the company, so I'm not sure how to go about asking my boss for EHAP training just yet...still just trying to keep my head down, my mouth shut, and my feet in the air...

Thanks for help...
 
EHAP training allows you to work within the 10' MAD yet still "avoid contact" with conductors such as a service drop. You are still not allowed to "grab them with my bare hands". The coating on the lines only protects them from weather. Like anything else that coating can degrade through UV light, abrasion and others. Every time that branch rubs on that line it abrades that coating, potentially leaving an uncoated line.

You should never feel as though you need to "shut your mouth" when it comes to safety. If your boss does not want to hear your safety concerns then it might be the time to look for another job. Also, if he wants you to work around energized conductors he should provide you with EHAP training.

I used to work for a guy that "just get it done" was his favorite phrase. Best thing I ever did was get away from his business. I'm in the business of going home at the end of the day. I just happen to have a lot of fun climbing trees during the day.
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Hey, congrats on your new job Robert!

House service drops are often unavoidable. I'm not quite sure the 10 feet rule applies here. We are often in trees that these lines run right through. Just be super cautious and inspect the line for frays where trees may have rubbed off the coating. Frayed lines could give you a buzz!
I wouldn't recommend grabbing them but its nearly impossible not to touch them on some climbs. Just be real careful where you cut and drop.
 
That foreman <u>does not</u> care about your safety. It's not insulation, it's a coating to help protect it from weather. If you don't understand electricity and how it works, don't go near it. Always go with your gut.
Do your crews have pole clips? You can pole clip the limb in small pieces.
 
Great question Rob. According to ANSI, a non line clearance certified arborist may not approach within 10 feet of any conductor, period. That includes communication and cable lines. For a line clearance certified arborist, the minimum approach distance for conductors up to 750 volts is "Avoid direct contact". In your case, you were correct in your work decision and your foreman was wrong. On triplex house drops, the black coating on two of the conductors is in fact insulation, otherwise they could and would short circuit. Under some circumstances where that coating/insulation gets rubbed off as with contact with a tree limb, the third bare neutral conductor can and does become energized. One time many years ago, I was shocked by just such a conductor. As far as EHAP training goes, I'm not certain that the EHAP training would qualify one as a Line Clearance Certified Arborist. Also a few confusing things to remember are Line Clearance Certified Arborists are not strictly line clearance only, and the line clearance certification is in no way associated with ISA Certification. The line clearance cert is easy to get but most small companies are not aware that they should have that training. Hope this helps, and when in doubt, don't touch it.
 
Just re-read your post and another thought came to mind. We have ANSI Z-133 because a 17 year old kid got a summer job with a tree company and was killed because he came into contact with a house drop. Ethel Hugg is an honerary member of the Z committee because it was her son.
 
Without EHAP certification no one is supposed to wrk within 10' of any electrically charged line including cable, phone etc.

With certification the MAD up to 1,000 volts is 'avoid contact'.

Since EHAP is certified by the company ther are ways to customize the training.

Yup, in triplex the coating is insulation like Rich sayS. But wenlike to teach and mentally imprint what Norm says. Do NOT trust the insulation, it only tales a small break for a deadly amount of energy to escape.
 
Most lines have a thick coating about nickel thickness.
Here is my personal experience. Take it for what it is worth. Life or Death!

I dropped the top out of large oak into the yard and then had to lift the line over the spar to fell the rest.

I had a couple poles with the hook. I got under the line with the poles and the hook met the wire where the squirrels chewed thru.
I was showered with molten metal.Hurt like a bugger and the hook had a quarter size hole burned into it.

Hate to imagine what would have happened if I grabbed the line to lift it over while spurred into the spar.

I heard you spend a day or two talking like Daffy Duck and your heart beat will never be regular again.
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Tom,
I stand corrected on the MAD. Used to be 750v. Guess I need to re-read the Z. Personally I don't want to be bitten by any amount of voltage. On the EHAP, When I was an instructor for let's say an unnamed training organization, there was a distinct difference between the EHAP training and the Line Clearance training/cert. Has this changed? If it has, I'm sure there may be others that may also be a little confused.

Ropeshield: I had a similiar event when I was pruning a Maple tree and I didn't even touch the line, just brush along side it. Burned 3 teeth off my polesaw.

You have to remember, voltage does not kill, ampereage kills. It only takes .01 amps to cause ventricular fibrilation. Normal residential electrical service is 200 amps.
 
[ QUOTE ]
where the squirrels chewed thru.

[/ QUOTE ]

That has been the rule rather than the exception here. you can see the chew marks and often sparks when twigs rub against it.

Tom, I thought the phrase was "Line Clearance Qualified" in order to work within the MAD and that EHAP was essentially for folks who would be working near but not within the MAD.

That is one of the things that makes me nuts cause there is no clear definition of "Line Clearance Qualified."
 
Thank you treebuzz.

What a breath of fresh air from the "get 'er done you greenhorn" vibe.

Thanks for helping me learn and stay safe. I'm just two years into this work, but I plan to stay at it for many years to come, so all your comments are a big help on that front.

Rick, as far as sparks when the twigs rub against spots where the squirrels chew through, what does a climber do about that? If that's happening, does the 10' MAD become 10' from the potentially energized tree limb? Because couldn't the current travel through the limb to the climber?
 
I don't like electricity. As a climber, I tell the salesmen that if it's at all a possibility of being in our way, call to have the line dropped for a few hours. It's a free service here, just takes a phone call to the local power company (and some planning). Our bucket truck operator feels more comfortable being able to avoid danger and rarely calls for a line drop. I figure, why risk it? I've seen sparks off the end of my silky pole saw from contact with a service line. I've also started a small (very small) fire when a small limb fell across a primary. I want nothing to do with electricity. telecommunication lines are a different story. They won't come do a line drop for them so often we have to take them down ourselves or just work around them. They seem not as dangerous though (this may or may not be factual). Lots of people (homeowners included) get shocked and/or killed from contact with service lines. The danger is real.
 
good eye opener, I seem to have been way too lax with service drops, but i have never touched metal to them, maybe that is why I'm still not sparked :)

good info.
 
That is one of the things that makes me nuts cause there is no clear definition of "Line Clearance Qualified."

I had a situation where I was working within 10 feet of a larger, primary line. Very rare for my company... but I had a few limbs to prune back (carefully with insulated gloves and hydraulic saw) from bucket truck. Well, some cowboy from Asphlundh drove by, came into my jobsite and yelled at me. Told me that only a "Journeyman" could do this.

So, I made some calls (and looked at ANSI again) and found out that the definition is "Line Clearance Qualified" and that Labor and Industries does not specify what "qualified" means. I spoke with Asphlundh's training guy (very nice) and he said that EHAP would be the training I would need to show L&amp;I. He also said that I could not be engaged in "Line Clearance" jobs, i.e. bidding big projects for Utility Companies. But for a small business (like mine) that occasionally works near house drops and phone/cable, EHAP would be the way to go.

p.s. - been zapped once - small shock, insulation worn off line.

thanks - Steve
 
Thanks, Tom. I think this is an important topic. Many tree climbers may think the 'insulated' line is danger-free. Many of us work within 10 ft. of the residential drop on a regular basis.

Tell us more!
 
just like with call before you dig below ground &lt; ANZI states you shall contact the owner of the electrical grid and let them know u are going to be working on a tree that is within 10 ft. of a power line .
10 ft is a minimum for small lines 700 volt or less(something)like that.
the distance increases for higher voltages.
even if u r working the far side of the tree and willn not be on thbe side of the tree which is encroached by the lead(s)

the power company has to send a crew to clear the lines past the 10 ft clearance for you, and or will drop a line or kill the juice for you .

and have had them offer to do the full removal of a large tree I was getting paid for.

I AM NOT EHAP CERTIFIED !!!but am studying

Also, if you were working on a tree that was inside the distance, u were supposed to stay away and hit or blow a line or transformer u will pay to fix it plus 2 trucks and 3-4 union men s wages to fix it all and be fined

if u r hesitant as to whether you can safely to the work walk away its not worth it
our health is our livelyhood
 
6 month wait for the "power company" i.e. Asphlundh to come and 'gut-out' the lines... If the even feel like doing it for me.
They (power company truck) will come out and drop the lines for free - and are very nice about it...
Cost $400 to become EHAP cert?
 
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