R-E-S-P-E-C-T....and linemen....

In most utility companies the great division is called “inside” versus “outside” workers. The truth is it takes all of us to make a great company.

I’ve worked in the utility industry since I was…ok, let’s just say it’s been a career that has spanned more than 30 years. Not in the same place, mind you – but always in electricity. What I know ABOUT electricity can fit on the end of my pinky. And by opposite comparison, linemen are men (or women) of few words so the ins and outs of my job could fit in the palm of their hand.

I can honestly tell you that I prefer my “inside” job over what the lineman must face outside. It’s not just battling the weather elements, but it’s also about the significant danger that those of us flipping switches in our homes probably take for granted. The first time I put on high voltage gloves and stuck my hand inside a padmount transformer, the panic that rose (in addition to the hair on the back of my neck) was nothing short of terror. My only task was to tighten a bolt but I couldn’t. It was a lesson about electricity – but it was a bigger lesson about respect.

Earlier in my career, I got to teach first aid to linemen…and as part of that, pole top rescue. In order to teach it, I had to “DO IT.” Picture a 125+ pound (we don’t need to be exact, do we?) female climbing 18-20 feet on a pole (climbing up isn’t too bad), wrapping the hand line around the 160 pound dummy, two half hitches (was supposed to be 3) remove the slack, firm grip on the fall line -- but forgot what my instructor said about wrapping the line up and around the cross arm twice (then wrap it over itself at least twice) to offset the weight of the dummy against my (lighter) weight before I cut the belt. I just threw it over the cross arm and tied it around the dummy, pretty happy with myself about those half hitches. There were 7 linemen watching me from the ground. One bucket truck poised with a lineman ready to stop a catastrophe. He wasn’t quite quick enough. The proud moment of cutting the belt came and went so quickly that I wasn’t even cognizant of flying up and hitting my knees on the cross arm braces, then the cross arm (which by the way, kept me from flying completely over the top of the pole). Later I found out the belt would have stopped me too but my thighs took a beating. The victim fell to the ground with enough force that the thud should have been heard for miles…except for my screaming.

My pride was thoroughly shattered and the howls of laughter from the linemen below only served to humiliate me further. Nicely enough, the lineman in the bucket truck quit laughing long enough to rescue me from my perched position on the cross arms. Once on the ground, I asked to do it again. Going up was a bit slower, the steps to complete the pole top rescue even slower (but this time right), and I was able to lower the victim to the ground. Linemen make pole top rescue AND climbing down a pole look easy but rest assured it is not. The next day I thought I’d been hit by a truck.

My respect for linemen is HUGE.

Gwen Kautz, Customer Service Manager
Dawson Public Power District