Jim Vaughn, CUSP

I’m not sure how I became an analyst. It wasn’t something I planned for. Various types of analyst roles exist, but I primarily analyze incidents, breaking down and studying the elements of events to identify causes and effects. Incident analysis, done well, ultimately helps prevent undesired future outcomes. Over the last 15 years, I have […]

Q: Why does an EPZ pole connection need to be close to the worker’s feet? A: In an equipotential arrangement, if the bus is inadvertently energized, the length of the bonding cable from the grounded conductors to the structure will affect the voltage across the worker. The worker is only exposed if they contact the […]

I know a lot about buckets, but it wasn’t until after I hung up my tools that I learned much of what I’m going to share with you in this article. Background I was lucky to work as a lineman when I did. The buckets we used at Florida Power & Light through the 1970s […]

Q: We recently did some contract work in a manhole with live primary cables running through it. During an audit, the client’s safety team cited us for failure to have our manhole workers tied off to rescue lines. We had a tripod up and a winch ready for the three workers. What did we miss? […]

Ferroresonance is a complicated issue, one that industry workers must be educated about. That’s because as the number of URD system installations grows and systems age, instances of ferroresonance increase – as do threats to worker and customer safety, equipment and service reliability. I first became acquainted with ferroresonance in the 1980s while troubleshooting a […]

Q: Can I ground through a wave trap? A: General discussion about wave or line traps centers on their function. At operating frequency, they have extremely low impedance to any voltage at 60 Hz. Some would say that for the sake of convenience, it’s OK to ground at a switch even where there is a […]

There is an elephant in the room that plays a role in the safety culture of our industry. That elephant needs to be exposed, even though it’s going to be tough to do. Based on a less-than-official count, 12 to 14 lineworkers have lost their lives on the job over the past six months. The […]

Q: We hear lots of opinions about whether a lineworker can lift a hot-line clamp that has a load on it. There is a rule that says disconnects must be rated for the load they are to break. We’ve been doing it forever. Are we breaking an OSHA rule or not? A: We have answered […]

I have written about grounding for the protection of employees numerous times in Incident Prevention magazine, addressing both the law and other issues. Let’s begin this installment with the understanding that “grounding for the protection of employees” – which is the phrase OSHA uses – means establishing an equipotential zone or EPZ. The purpose of […]

Q: If a crew is setting a steel pole between energized phases (69 kV), would the 3.29-foot minimum approach distance found in OSHA Table 6 apply, or should we defer to the 15-foot clearance? A: Setting poles is new construction that OSHA covers in 29 CFR 1926.960, Table V-5, “Alternative Minimum Approach Distances for Voltages […]