TRAINING COURSE:
Safety in Underground Line Maintenance
Course Category: Transmission and Distribution
Course description: The purpose of this course is to teach the basic safety principles and practices applicable to underground line maintenance work. The principles covered are applicable to work area safety, to the use of test equipment to ensure respiratory and electrical safety, to ensure the structural integrity of underground work sites, to the use of respirators, and to emergency responses. At the conclusion of this course, participants should be able to identify some of the hazards found in and around underground work areas. They should be able to recognize and explain methods used to provide a safe work environment. They should also be able to describe the use of personal safety equipment and identify the safety considerations involved in a typical vault emergency.
Course syllabus:
- Describe personal safety equipment commonly used in underground and URD work areas
- Describe procedures for establishing and maintaining safe working conditions
- Describe procedures for safely identifying circuits
- Tools and Test Equipment
- Describe the use of a pocket statiscope
- Describe the use of a phasing tool
- Describe the use of a remote cable spear
- Describe the use of a remote cable cutter
- Identify excavation conditions that require shoring
- Describe the requirements for safely shoring trenches
- List some safe alternatives to shoring
- Identify atmospheric hazards that may be found in vaults and enclosed spaces
- Describe or demonstrate how to use an atmospheric test device to determine if the atmosphere in a vault is safe to breathe
- Explain how to use ventilation equipment to supply fresh air to an enclosed area. Respiratory Protection
- Describe the following types of respirators: half mask with cartridge filters, self-contained breathing apparatus, and demand airline respirator
- Describe how each respirator is inspected, put on, and adjusted for proper fit
- Vault Emergency
- Describe general safety considerations associated with responding to a vault emergency involving an unconscious worker
*This course is discounted for NATE members.
