awful news . lesson to all polers

[Bell Pallisey]

Window cleaner loses forearm when 33,000 volts jump from cable

A window cleaner lost his left forearm, and may never walk again, after suffering a 33,000-volt electric shock.

uk.yahoo.com

 

[Bell Pallisey]

Window cleaner loses forearm when 33,000 volts jump from cable

A window cleaner lost his left forearm, and may never walk again, after suffering a 33,000-volt electric shock.

uk.yahoo.com

 

[vinchenzo19]

That’s terrible, poor bloke.
What kind of line would cause that to happen?

 

[Mattymarske]

That's Awful awful incident. 18 months old twins and 7 year old daughter and he's maimed like that. Very lucky to still be with us. Heartbreaking. Wishing him a recovery.

 

[Cleanco]

Not nice, I remember this happening to a friend of mine carrying an aluminium ladder partially extended. Luckily he was ok apart from bein a bit shaken up. Lesson learned

 

[Pjj]

Very sad , just goes to show we all need to be very careful always looking up at ware the top of the pole is .

 

[ks789]

Yes, thanks for putting this on here and reminding us. I brushed a line of some sort only the other day. never again after reading this.

 

[Peter J]

Proper scary. Poor guy

 

[Part Timer]

The difference between power lines and telephone wires is fairly obvious to anyone that has learned the difference.
Absolutely terrible that he hadn't and hopefully this will highlight the dangers to those that don't know the difference.
Please don't think you are holding a pole that is insulated so this can't happen to you

 

[Skxawng]

Wow, he was in a customers back garden. That sounds really bad that there was a 33 thousand volt power line in reach of his pole while in a back garden. Surely it shouldn't have been that close.

 

[AW Services]

Awful news. Unfortunately it's not the first and won't be the last

People need to follow the principle of look around and look up before extending their pole
There was a case a few years ago when a young lad made contact with a line

Also many older homes still run bare twisted conductors to the wall or fascias onto old ceramic insulators at 230v 100 amps and you have to be vigilant when quoting for gutter and fascias jobs

It's also good to educate your employees if running a larger business on how to deal with electrocution, arc flash and safety zones with paths of arc

here's a safety video I made a few years ago

 

[THL4KEL]

Very sad news...

It's about time the gutter pole manufacturers built a proper insulated base pole. Can't understand why one off them has jumped on this safety precaution as a selling point...

Also be good if the current WFP poles that claim to have insulated bases could be tested to see how they perform..

 

[spruce]

I was under the impression that all these uninsulated cables running directly into old homes were 230v single phase.

I don't understand where the 33,000 volts figure comes from. Those higher voltages are cables leading the transformers which then reduce the voltage down for use in the home. If he was around the back cleaning windows, then there shouldn't have been 33,000 volts near the house.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm confused.

 

[Part Timer]

I was under the impression that all these uninsulated cables running directly into old homes were 230v single phase.

I don't understand where the 33,000 volts figure comes from. Those higher voltages are cables leading the transformers which then reduce the voltage down for use in the home. If he was around the back cleaning windows, then there shouldn't have been 33,000 volts near the house.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm confused.

I thought a OHP line that carries that type of voltage had to be 10 metres from the building, but if he had his flow up high and turned towards it this might have caused the power to jump across. Everyone is second guessing though

 

[spruce]

I thought a OHP line that carries that type of voltage had to be 10 metres from the building, but if he had his flow up high and turned towards it this might have caused the power to jump across. Everyone is second guessing though

We have a number of old properties that have overhead power cables to supply household needs. There isn't a transformer close to any house. Upleatham village is a typical example. The transformer is in the field nowhere near where any workman will be.

We have to pay attention when cleaning houses down the main road as all the overhead power lines are uninsulated.

Ordinary 230v from the grid can be very nasty, so we always need to keep on alert.

 

[Part Timer]

all the overhead power lines are uninsulated.

Again I think the first 2 metres from the wall should be insulated, but this insulation will breakdown over time so the older the property the more chance it isn't insulated.
I still can't believe that with the profits the power companies are making all cables aren't underground so the likelihood of deaths and injuries would be greatly diminished.

 

[spruce]

We have done the chip shop in Boosbeck for nearly 14 years. Initially, the overhead power head cables ran close to the building over the narrow pavement.

I complained about safety cleaning the windows, but the power grid wrote back to me and said it was the chip shop owner's responsibility to raise these safety concerns, not mine.
I drafted another letter which the chip shop owner signed and sent it off. A response eventually came back saying that they didn't have the budget to make any supply cable alterations. They suggested that the owner didn't have to have his windows cleaned.

Anyway, a year and a half later they replaced those cables with ABC cables, which I was very pleased about. It is apparently cheaper to do it this way than to dig up the road and lay the cables underground.

Getting back to Upleatham Village. The electricity board had an ongoing issues with trees on one section of the supply cables on the road up to the main village street. I think they also had issues with the wires being too slack, so in windy conditions they could touch each other and create a spark of havoc. They replaced all of that with ABC cabling using the original wooden posts.
When there is a safety or financial consideration, the electricity board will give consideration to justifiable requests, but it could take years before anything happens.
It took them months to replace a stretch of supply lines with ABC cabling. Every house on the road got a generator running 24 hours a day outside. Houses built close to the road had generators supplied with sound deadening 'tents' around them. I would hate to think how much that exercise cost.

I'm the first to realize that there is a big difference between having the money to fix something and having the budget to do it.

 

[doce]

This was a flashover from high voltage overhead lines. Metres away from them, and it can still happen.

 

[Pjj]

I was under the impression that all these uninsulated cables running directly into old homes were 230v single phase.

I don't understand where the 33,000 volts figure comes from. Those higher voltages are cables leading the transformers which then reduce the voltage down for use in the home. If he was around the back cleaning windows, then there shouldn't have been 33,000near the house.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm confused.

Yes I thought the same 33000 volts are the big cables on pilons and arnt generally near houses been out to many involved in fires usually they go into a transformer then it’s down rated to go into houses

 

[AW Services]

There are many wooden pylons / poles on the roads in residential areas why I carry out my work

3 phase bare conductors either carried horizontally or vertically which can be anything from 11kv and 33kv and the houses tap off from most pole intersection

You also see these in rural areas

 

[AW Services]

We have a number of old properties that have overhead power cables to supply household needs. There isn't a transformer close to any house. Upleatham village is a typical example. The transformer is in the field nowhere near where any workman will be.

We have to pay attention when cleaning houses down the main road as all the overhead power lines are uninsulated.

Ordinary 230v from the grid can be very nasty, so we always need to keep on alert.


View attachment 30205

Yes 230v lines are normally energised with around 400/600 amps between transformer locations as most homes especially older properties draw 100amp and newer builds 60amps

A water fed pope with a stream of water in close proximity to a line is enough to be shocked