You guys are hero’s and you don’t get enough credit. While we are sitting on our asses at home after a storm, y’all are out there putting your lives on the line literally. I never bitch to the power company about when the power will be back on. Thanks for your service.

@@ludvikjerabek that means a lot to me and I can assure you the lineman working along side me appreciate it too. You wouldn’t believe some of the hate we deal with while working 7days a week 18hr days in the rain or snow!! But I get it. People want their power and worry for their families. That’s why we do what we do. Even the angry ones are happy when we get it on usually and most calm down. It’s a fulfilling career for sure. Hard on the body and mind but such an awesome thing to help so many people in need!! Thanks for the kind words! 🍻

@@MadNlGER You’re welcome. Thank you again for all you do.

My buddy does this and isn't the smartest person I wish he would change jobs or something.

Lmaooo your profile is hilarious!

Rus a

He never said what actually happened. If he actually stuck his hand into something near the neutral when he waved his hand, he's a fucking dumbass. Seriously. I worked for a communications line contractor and worked in steel T40 bucket trucks. One guy I worked with got killed, the electricity burned right thru the tire to get to ground. BUT, I ALWAYS knew where the hot lines were, ALWAYS. I ALWAYS looked above my head, scanned around, knew what was hot and payed attention to that neutral. If you're WORKING on the neutral without gloves, you should NEVER EVER forget what's above your head, NEVER. If that is what actually happened, this guy got to lax. Sounds like something changed while he hoisted the neutral up, cause one little click from the hoist will change the sag of the line. I doubt that's what happened. It just doesn't sound right. I've heard of a guy being too close to the line with the bucket and keeping the line at his chest level and he tripped and fell on the line. Some guys get too lax doing this sort of work. They get WAYYYYY too lax and laid back. This is worst case scenario, losing your hands. I'd rather be dead.

@@jaywillow9927 You are so blessed with being almost perfect. But you have one big fault-you are a selfish, ignorant moron.

Amen brother. I'm in college right now. I plan on getting my 4 year degree and head off to lineman school

@@billrussell4832 give a try and see if its for you since not all people can do this line of work.

Do I know you? I pulled a co-worker off a 13kv line in Florida around that time. He didn't have his sleeves on and bumped his elbow on a concrete pole was leaned over an outside phase and a blanket slipped off the shoe and poly. It entered around the rib cage and exited out his elbow. I begged the crew to wear sleeves but everybody was complaining how hot it was.

​@@t.r.4496Yikes. I guess PPE really is that important isn't it? No room for error.

Don't forget that there's communication linemen who bring you your cable, internet, and phone. Those contractors work on shit equipment that was retired from the phone companies. A co worker of mine got his ass blown the fuck up by 19,900 volts on a fucked up slack span. Sounded like a cannon shot off and he was slumped over the bucket. EMS wouldn't touch him, not even after a lineman jumped up on the truck and got him down by the controls on the bottom of the boom. EMS just let him lay there. Fuckers. Motherfucking fuckers. Motherfuckers.

I suspect that you've never been "zapped" by primary voltage.

I was trying to figure that out too. From what I understood, he stuck his hand up to wave to another lineman and hit a live line above his head. I think he was waved in a circular motion above his head, so his is hand hit the line briefly.

Yea, it would be totally awesome to have a "life after" video going into these details

I'm a little confused too, but it sounds like he made a circle signal for the other guy and when he did one arm touched the primary and then exited through his other arm. Must have been uninsulated. I'm not sure

The explanation was unclear to me too. What I gathered is he was working the neutral. So one hand was on the nuetral. And when he made the circle motion, he grazed the primary above his head. If his two points of contact were one hand nuetral, one hand primary. The electricity went to ground through one hand, through his chest, through the other hand, and through the nuetral. Bucket insulation plays no part in that kind of contact.

Sounds like he was wearing leather/uninsulated gloves while holding onto the neutral, then made a lasso motion and his other hand hit the primary so he became the path to ground/neutral

he raised his hand up to signal buddy on next pole to take up on line and stuck his hand in hot wire while other hand was on neutral .

He should have been wearing rubber gloves and sleeves, this man got complacent and it bit him.

@@MikeK-nm5gg do you put gloves and sleeves on to go set a span of nuetral in a clevis and tie it in? Go up and dead end a nuetral in a shoe? This story is a reminder to be extra aware of the distance you really are to the primary at all times. But if you've really been in your tools, and tell me you've gloved and sleeved up on every nuetral you've ever worked. I'd call you a damn liar.

The neutral conductor is grounded and normally doesn't normally have any voltage on it. It carries the out of balance or return electrical current back to the transformer. In this circumstance if the other conductor is alive and carrying current, your body can complete the circuit to to ground or the other end of the neutral conductor and you will suffer an electric shock

So did he touch a phase as he was signaling to the other lineman while holding the neutral?

If you've ever been shocked between a hot and a neutral or a hot and a ground in a house, it's most likely around 120 volts. Most likely the hot line above Gerry, was 7200 volts. 60 times stronger than 120 volts. Also, he may not have even touched the " hot " line. The higher your voltages are, the further distance you have to keep from them. Because it can arc ( jump ) to anything that is grounded. I think 7200 volts can jump close to 12 inches. So, if you're grounded and get closer than 12 inches to a hot line, it can jump to you and through you, and injure or kill you. I hope that helps you. I'm an industrial electrician, a lineman could give better info about the minimum distance from 7200 volts safely. But the higher the voltages, the longer distances is required between the phase to phase and phase to ground to keep them from arcing ( grounding or shorting ) out. That's the reason you will see so many different types of power poles and transmission towers, and different distances between the lines

Near as I can reckon, from his description of his actions, he had the neutral (that they were pulling up) in his left hand, and was signaling above his head with his right hand, and he brushed the live phase conductor... thus a direct short from right to left. My question is: If they were putting back up downed lines, why was the phase conductor even hot? It's not quite clear from the explanation of the work (I believe that was what they were doing), but seems like if the hot-leg had been down also, it shouldn't have even been energized until the neutral was back up and re-connected.

Had one hand on neutral while he signaled coworker, other hand brushed hot phase...

tubester4567 me too i dont understand

sounds like he went phase to ground by giving the hand signal to tie in while touching the neutral and got into a phase above

@@creekfishers2739 Sounds about right....He said he was to close. As he was to high. And touched that primary. While holding that neutral. When he waved his hand.....Why he tried to move his bucket to lower it....Had the same thing happen to me. But I grabbed that Neutral. Thinking it was a phone line..While I was holding the cable TV span.... I should be dead....

@@MasterChief-sl9ro why would you be dead if you grabbed a neutral and a phone line together? They're both grounded lol

@@creekfishers2739 The damn phone line wasn't a phone line. It was the Neutral...As I didn't lookup to notice the phones lines were under ground...So while holding that Cable TV span. Which is grounded. I was hooked between the two.... The damn customer said his service panel was buzzing... I should have been dead. As I could not let go. Only thing that saved me was God. As the last thing I thought. was. This is it..then bam I was loose...No missing body parts either. But my mouth tasted like metal for 2 weeks.. Now I'm an Electrical Engineer.

Its not a mystery if you do a union apprenticeship and actually learn the trade before booming up into the 3 phase with a tank top on.

Believe me, alot of those guys bare hand it to shed that rubber during storm damage duty, whatever isn't hot, they shed those gloves cause it's a hell of alot easier. Some guys who do this work get too lax. I did communication linework and when it came to dangerous stuff, I never got lax. Climbing, I knew what would happen if I fell, I'd get splinters all in my body and could die or get paralyzed, so I ALWAYS took my time and moved slow, making sure my hooks were solid in the pole. I never fell. Guys who get lax and cocky wind up falling. Same with these guys, the ones who get too lax wind up getting it good one time. I'da prolly wore rubber gloves to hoist up that neutral. I know fucked up shit can happen while sagging a line tight, alot of fucked up shit could happen.

Near as I can reckon, from his description of his actions, he had the neutral (that they were pulling up) in his left hand, and was signaling above his head with his right hand, and he brushed the live phase conductor... thus a direct short from right to left. My question is: If they were putting back up downed lines, why was the phase conductor even hot? It's not quite clear from the explanation of the work (I believe that was what they were doing), but seems like if the hot-leg had been down also, it shouldn't have even been energized until the neutral was back up and re-connected. Sad story nonetheless. A single moment of not paying attention can change your whole life...