If the number of participants in climbing and rescue rope classes is any indication, the utility field is abounding with workers involved in aerial work and trained crew members who are becoming skilled at safe practices related to work on high lines and towers. With so many aerial workers, a concerning trend of more and more head injuries is emerging that needs to be addressed, specifically when transmission workers are performing any kind of maintenance and upgrades on towers.

Head injuries are the leading cause of traumatic injury-induced death in the world today. A simple blow to the head in the wrong spot can kill instantly, and still other locations produce life-changing cerebral edema or bleeding. People who survive such an impact to the head are rarely the same after the injury.

Head Injuries on Towers

In the electric utility industry, many accidents have occurred involving traumatic injury to tower workers. These are generally quite different from distribution accidents in that there are more substantial mechanical forces at work involving equipment under tension or longer unimpeded falls off the structure. Injuries from towers are generally serious.

It is no wonder then that other elevated rope trades employ suitable climbing-style helmets that can sustain major impacts from any side of the head. Rope access technicians, dam and bridge inspectors, and structural workers use these helmets as part of their personal protection equipment (PPE). Almost all other elevated disciplines do the same, with one major exception — power transmission line workers do not wear them.

As amazing as it may seem, I have not seen the use of climbing-style helmets by any utilities in the United States except those that send workers to my courses in which I bring such helmets.

Caught on Tape

Very seldom are accidents caught on video. In my rope access and rescue workshops for transmission linemen around the United States, I show two major accidents involving falls that were caught on video. The footage is dramatic, and in each instance, the lineman was injured and required time off. As the video clearly shows, the standard hard helmet worn by each of the victims falls off their head and comes sailing to the ground. Luckily for these two individuals, their heads did not hit the steel, or an even more extensive injury would have resulted. One victim appears to have missed the steel by inches as he plummeted from 20 ft above on a horizontal live-line ladder (230-kV deadend insulator change out).

Through continued observation, I have come to believe that these helmets should be worn by anyone who climbs towers as part of their work. Tower helmets should have three-point suspension to prevent the head protection from being knocked off during a violent fall or mechanical failure, as is commonly seen in transmission. The required electrical rating should accompany this helmet, although this requirement is less important on towers because of the distance from EHV conductors. Distribution linemen should continue wearing the helmets they have been wearing for years, as the incidence of a contact injury is more acute with these workers.

From My Perspective

If transmission line workers wore climbing-style helmets during the construction and maintenance of transmission lines, I believe the overall survivability of the workers during accidents involving falls or mechanical failure would improve. For these reasons, in my own “Ropes That Rescue” tower courses, climbing-style helmets have become and will remain mandatory. And I strongly recommend that utilities make them standard PPE for all elevated workers on towers.

Reed Thorne trains workers around the world on rescue techniques involving ropes. Major electric utilities across the United States have learned pioneering techniques from Reed who has been in the industry for more than 20 years. reed@ropesthatrescue.com