# Be carfull climbing



## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

Was he a POCO worker?


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## Sparky480 (Aug 26, 2007)

Yes he was. They had a pole break and took the secondary lines off of that pole, all he was doing is going up to rehang them before they went home for the day.


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

Was he climbing a power pole?


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

william1978 said:


> Was he climbing a power pole?


no, it was a flag pole. 

~Matt


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## leland (Dec 28, 2007)

TOOL_5150 said:


> no, it was a flag pole.
> 
> ~Matt



Mexican or Chinese? I heard the Japanese poles are sturdier.:laughing:


Hope the long term prognoses is good.:thumbup: That's not a fun thing to go threw.


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## BuzzKill (Oct 27, 2008)

Sparky480 said:


> Talk about a eye opener, A good friend of mine the other day had to climb a pole he checked it to make sure it wasn't rotted and started to climb. Got about 15' up it and He heard it crack, got two steps back down and away it went. A broken wrist, two broken ribs, 2 broken vertebrae and a helicopter ride he is home tonight with his wife and his kids. Just wanted to throw a reminder out there to all you lineman to be safe!


Knew a tree climber 25 years ago that went to cutting down a pine tree in an area that he couldn't outright drop it, so his plan was to top it then drop the trunk in 4 foot pieces. He went to top it, made his cut, the top was pulled away and the tree trunk started splitting in half and pulled him up against the tree, via his strap, breaking multiple ribs...nearly squished the sh*t out of him, literally.


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## big_power (Nov 25, 2009)

In an effort to prevent this type of accident in Seattle, we now train our apprentices to use the buck-squezze fall arrest system. The journey linemen are now starting to use this system, although some say it takes the "macho" out of climbing.


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## steelersman (Mar 15, 2009)

Sparky480 said:


> Talk about a eye opener, A good friend of mine the other day had to climb a pole he checked it to make sure it wasn't rotted and started to climb. Got about 15' up it and He heard it crack, got two steps back down and away it went. A broken wrist, two broken ribs, 2 broken vertebrae and a helicopter ride he is home tonight with his wife and his kids. Just wanted to throw a reminder out there to all you lineman to be safe!


Be "careful", not "carfull" of proper spelling! :thumbsup:


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## bobelectric (Feb 24, 2007)

steelersman said:


> Be "careful", not "carfull" of proper spelling! :thumbsup:


 OK professor,why did the Steelers lose 3 in a row?


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## william1978 (Sep 21, 2008)

bobelectric said:


> OK professor,why did the Steelers lose 3 in a row?


 Careful you are going to make him made.:laughing:


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## steelersman (Mar 15, 2009)

bobelectric said:


> OK professor,why did the Steelers lose 3 in a row?



Lots of key injuries. Polomalu has been out. Aaron Smith has been out. In this last game we had 2 more key guys out in addition to the above and they were: Ben Roethlisberger and Chris Kemoeatu.


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## Lighting Retro (Aug 1, 2009)

BuzzKill said:


> Knew a tree climber 25 years ago that went to cutting down a pine tree in an area that he couldn't outright drop it, so his plan was to top it then drop the trunk in 4 foot pieces. He went to top it, made his cut, the top was pulled away and the tree trunk started splitting in half and pulled him up against the tree, via his strap, breaking multiple ribs...nearly squished the sh*t out of him, literally.


I can see that happening. Almost did that to myself when a large branch went where it wasn't supposed to go.


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## Dave6 (Feb 12, 2010)

Sparky480 said:


> Talk about a eye opener, A good friend of mine the other day had to climb a pole he checked it to make sure it wasn't rotted and started to climb. Got about 15' up it and He heard it crack, got two steps back down and away it went. A broken wrist, two broken ribs, 2 broken vertebrae and a helicopter ride he is home tonight with his wife and his kids. Just wanted to throw a reminder out there to all you lineman to be safe!


Back when I was younger and in a rush to do everything...I was about half way up a pole when I heard a couple of loud cracks. I was lucky! After I got down I could push the pole with my thumb.


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## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

*climbing*



Dave6 said:


> Back when I was younger and in a rush to do everything...I was about half way up a pole when I heard a couple of loud cracks. I was lucky! After I got down I could push the pole with my thumb.


With these horror stories you guys are scaring me. It reminds me of the time when I was a young apprentice and fell off of a 40' extension ladder. Lucky for me...I was just on the first rung.


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## jw0445 (Oct 9, 2009)

Sparky480 said:


> Yes he was. They had a pole break and took the secondary lines off of that pole, all he was doing is going up to rehang them before they went home for the day.


So the POCO replaced the pole and the new pole broke? Doubt that.
Did the lineman dig the 12" down and probe the pole? Doubt that too.
Did the lineman whack the pole with a 3 lb. hammer? Possibly.

It's never fun when someone gets hurt. Was he belted on and came down with the pole or was he doing a 3 point climb and able to jump clear.

Do you know the details? There is more to this accident that all can learn from. Please elaborate.


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## Dave6 (Feb 12, 2010)

RIVETER said:


> With these horror stories you guys are scaring me. It reminds me of the time when I was a young apprentice and fell off of a 40' extension ladder. Lucky for me...I was just on the first rung.


I take it as a lesson learned. I should of rung the pole first. Looking back, luck has played a part from time to time.

I like how you word your fall...too funny


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## a-bulb (Feb 13, 2008)

RIVETER said:


> With these horror stories you guys are scaring me. It reminds me of the time when I was a young apprentice and fell off of a 40' extension ladder. Lucky for me...I was just on the first rung.


Glad you survived to tell that story :thumbsup: :laughing:


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## RIVETER (Sep 26, 2009)

Dave6 said:


> Back when I was younger and in a rush to do everything...I was about half way up a pole when I heard a couple of loud cracks. I was lucky! After I got down I could push the pole with my thumb.


A friend of mine used to be a lineman. He said that he was climbing a 60 foot pole and when he was half way up it it started to crack and groan and he hurried to the top. When I asked him why, he said it was the same distance either way.


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## ColoradoMaster3768 (Jan 16, 2010)

Sparky480 said:


> Talk about a eye opener, A good friend of mine the other day had to climb a pole he checked it to make sure it wasn't rotted and started to climb. Got about 15' up it and He heard it crack, got two steps back down and away it went. A broken wrist, two broken ribs, 2 broken vertebrae and a helicopter ride he is home tonight with his wife and his kids. Just wanted to throw a reminder out there to all you lineman to be safe!


 
Sorry to hear that. Sounds as though he was hitching the pole. Believe I speak for many others when wishing him a speedy recovery.

I've had to hitch poles during high wind conditions -- double-hitched actually in order to work around obstructions on the pole (telephone, CATV & secondary cables). 

Impossible to get away from taking a ride if you're hitched to the pole -- that has literally killed better men than myself. Came close to riding a pole back in '79 -- my own damn fault, didn't sound it out. You'd be amazed the number of poles that are stabilized by the wires attached to them.


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