Here’s a peek at lineworkers learning about the most dangerous job in the world.
Linework is one of the most dangerous jobs on the planet.
“We use the word hazardous,” said Chad Crockett, director of education and apprenticeship training for the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi.
Crockett made the comment while sitting with a group of apprentice linemen from electric co-ops all around the state at a recent week-long training session at Dixie Electric in Laurel.
The training — ALTS 1 school or Apprentice Lineman Training School 1 — was focused on cooperative linemen that have two or less years of experience. The session had 53 linemen and eight instructors. The focus of the school was framing poles and doing basic design for repair work under “non-energized” environments. A first-year apprentice is strictly prohibited from working on energized conductors or poles with energized lines.
Although the environment is “non-energized,” it was still apparent that linemen are a special breed.
The catastrophic nature of an injury or accident that is associated with a high voltage electrical contact. Damage to person and property is almost always totally destructive.
One of the eight stations at the school tested linemen on skills needed for poll top rescue. The station is notable for the one spot at the school with a raggedy and muddy, yet sturdy dummy lineman hanging from a bucket truck. The dummy weighs about 180 pounds.
The idea behind the task is ensuring a lineman can get up a pole, rescue, and pull down an unconscious lineman before he succumbs to his injuries.
Josh Geiger, an instructor with the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi’s safety department, told the linemen at his station that the serious damage occurs to an unconscious lineman after about 4 minutes.
After a briefing, the linemen at the station took turns climbing the pole to safely get the dummy back down as Geiger scored them from a nearby bucket.
Welcome to Lineman Apprentice Training School.
Dangerous and hazardous
Gerald Gordon, vice president of the Electric Cooperatives of Mississippi’s department of safety and loss control, said “the most dangerous job” designation stems from two facts.
“The catastrophic nature of an injury or accident that is associated with a high voltage electrical contact. Damage to person and property is almost always totally destructive,” Gordon said. “Also, the frequency with which a lineman handles high voltage carrying conductors in the daily charge of the job. Most jobs can categorize functions in various degrees of risk and then adjust their level of safety awareness to match said risk. A lineman’s job is to deal with a 10/10 risk daily.”
So how does one become an electric cooperative lineman in Mississippi?
“The typical lineman will apply for a job at one of our systems after completing lineman school. This is often referred to as ‘climbing school.’ That training usually takes around 16 weeks to complete and is done through one of the lineman schools administrated by a Mississippi community college. There are written exams as well as physical proficiencies that must be demonstrated in order to graduate with a certificate of training,” Gordon said.
Gordon said there’s one trait above others that linemen need to possess to be successful.
“Toughness. It is most productive when coupled with a healthy fear/respect for the dangers of the job, but the best linemen I know are just tough.”
I saw linemen out working. Being outside was attractive. I’m an outdoors person. Also, I love heights.
The class
Lineman school instructor Scott Weeks, a 30-year veteran of the state’s electric cooperatives and manager of safety at Magnolia Electric, said the linemen at Laurel were one of the youngest groups he’s ever seen come through.
“We are talking 20 and 21-year-olds, some with only 3 to 4 months of line work behind them,” Weeks said.
Hunter Adams, 22, has been a lineman with Singing River Electric for a little over a year.
“I knew I wanted to be a lineman from family and friends in the industry. I like working with my hands, being outside, and doing something different every day,” Adams said.
Adams said he has a firm understanding of the hazards of the job.
“As long as you do everything right and follow standard operating procedure, everything is fine.”
Trontavius Townes, 22, has been a lineman for Tallahatchie Valley Electric for a year and a half.
Townes was 16 when he first realized he wanted to be a lineman.
“I saw linemen out working. Being outside was attractive. I’m an outdoors person. Also, I love heights,” Townes said.
Pride
Gordon said the “on call” aspect of the job is tough.
“Even if you are not one of the designated linemen that is technically on call on a given night or weekend, you know that the weather could make it an ‘all hands-on deck’ situation. Second to that would be the stress of the work. The combination of working very long hours in such a high-risk environment,” Gordon said.
So, what motivates linemen getting into the profession?
“Pride. I do not know of a single lineman that would give you an answer that doesn’t include that word. The pride of being able to look back at the end of the day and see the spans of line that have been constructed. Or to see the complicated pole structure that was taken down by a car accident but is now back in the air, even better than before, and the service has been restored,” Gordon said.
A lineman’s pride also kicks in during times of mutual aid — helping other electric cooperatives during a time of crisis or disaster.
“Communities that have been days or weeks without power and have gotten into, sometimes, some really desperate situations due to lack of electricity, but then the linemen roll in. Families frequently come out to the trucks and gather dirty clothes to go wash and bring back at the end of the day. They bring food and water to the men. Pretty much every time a system goes to help with hurricane restoration, entire classrooms of children will send thank you cards and write stories about how thankful they are for people they have never met that came from multiple states away to help them in their time of need.”
I knew I wanted to be a lineman from family and friends in the industry. I like working with my hands, being outside, and doing something different every day.
