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Safety and exploding poles

John ECS

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DUBLIN
Hi guys 

I've been using this site for many years now and have gotten a wealth off information from use.

This is the first time I've posted something as I think it's an important topic.

One of my lads was doing a small commercial job the other day, he arrived on site met the client gave a quote and was given the go ahead to do the job walk around the building and filled in a risk assessment and method statement at witch point he was told there was a live wire running from the building. This led like me has over 25 years experience in window cleaning and has never had this happen too  him. As he was cleaning the windows he decided to try and manoeuvre the pole underneath the wire instead of dropping a section or two down  at witch point he made contact with it. Luckily for him he had the insulated section on his gardiner pole and no injuries were caused. But the pole did explode and catch fire. If he had not had this section on, he would most likely have been killed.

So this is just a quick warning to all other window cleaners as from time to time we do get complicated about safety and the importance of working around power lines 

Kind Regards, John 

20190611_123427.jpg

 
Good post. We carry class 0 gloves for work near overhead cables.

And glad he was okay.

 
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John this is a very good post to raise awareness and glad your worker was not hurt.

I'm sure Alex would like to highlight this somewhere on his website the importance of having an insulated pole bottom.

Correct me if I'm right Alex but it's only the bottom section that is insulated. So if this was removed there is risk. Also what I notice sometimes when someone is looking for an extension they order the spare section as they are saving a quid or so. These are not insulated and therefore at risk.

 
John this is a very good post to raise awareness and glad your worker was not hurt.

I'm sure Alex would like to highlight this somewhere on his website the importance of having an insulated pole bottom.

Correct me if I'm right Alex but it's only the bottom section that is insulated. So if this was removed there is risk. Also what I notice sometimes when someone is looking for an extension they order the spare section as they are saving a quid or so. These are not insulated and therefore at risk.


I'm not Alex but this is correct.

This is why we should be very careful about stripping a longer pole down to make a shorter, lighter pole that is easier to work with. If we want to do this then we should order a base section for the stripped down pole that is insulated.

If we are giving advice we have a duty of care to make this point clear.

 
Hummm just goes to show ,it’s easy to become complacent and think that will be ok , this is the kind of thing that this forum is designed for to raise awareness of things like this , and show how the latest equipment can prevent serious injuries or death , but caution needs to be used ever time when working near electric cables , 

 
Glad your chap was OK ?

We have now had 5 reported cases of this happening to users of the SLX poles so far in the UK. On each occasion, although the top of the pole 'exploded', the user has been protected by the insulated handle section.

On the SLX range only the handle section is insulated. Extension sections are also insulated. We have had these tested to resist in excess of 5000v so generally a lot more than would usually be encountered in a domestic or office setting.

Sometimes a user will add a standard section on to a pole - this would generally be OK as the original handle section in place would act as an isolator, although the section being held itself is not insulated. However when using water and carbon and working with electricity anything can happen!

We would never recommend working with the handle section removed for this very reason.

 
Glad no one was injured, I work in lots of rural villages where the electricity enter the properties via overhead cables and this is exactly the reason why I have always bought extensions and would never strip down a pole to make lighter. 

 
Glad your chap was OK ?

We have now had 5 reported cases of this happening to users of the SLX poles so far in the UK. On each occasion, although the top of the pole 'exploded', the user has been protected by the insulated handle section.

On the SLX range only the handle section is insulated. Extension sections are also insulated. We have had these tested to resist in excess of 5000v so generally a lot more than would usually be encountered in a domestic or office setting.

Sometimes a user will add a standard section on to a pole - this would generally be OK as the original handle section in place would act as an isolator, although the section being held itself is not insulated. However when using water and carbon and working with electricity anything can happen!

We would never recommend working with the handle section removed for this very reason.
Are the clx poles insulated also?

 
Wow that pole looks like a cheap wig now, proper shredded! Univalve unaffected and fully operational

In all seriousness glad your chap is ok, bit of a shock in more ways than one.

 
Shouldn't that cable be insulated? 


If you look closely you will find a lot of electric 'aerial' cables are not insulated on older estates. We still have a couple of older houses where we have to exercise extreme caution.

The one place in a village we do we complained to the electricity board about the danger we are exposed to every time we clean windows. It took them about 2 years to remove them and replace them with ABC cables which are insulated. (ABC = Aerial Bundled Cables.)

This is this place we cleaned. There are dozens of properties in Boosbeck where these overhead supply cables exist.

There are 4 uninsulated cables. The bottom one is earth and the 3 above are each live. These cables are outside the fish and chip shop and this section has now been replaced with new insulated cables. But the rest of the cables are as they always were.

I'm sure you have seen cables running into a house being renovated that have yellow electrical cable sleeves over the cables. The electricity board is requires by law to fit these as a temporary measure to protect workman again electrical shock when working near them.

Its the home owner who has to request any of this type of work to be done. I originally requested this safety action myself on my behalf but they refused to deal with me. I ended up writing the letter to the electricity board and getting my customer to sign it with his details.

.

electricity supply cables.jpg

 
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Loads of properties like that by me. I do gutter clearance with alloy poles near them. Think I'm going to call it a day doing them moving forward..

 
I'm not Alex but this is correct.

This is why we should be very careful about stripping a longer pole down to make a shorter, lighter pole that is easier to work with. If we want to do this then we should order a base section for the stripped down pole that is insulated.

If we are giving advice we have a duty of care to make this point clear.
 The ultimate pole has more than one insulated section, hoping to purchase this pole as keep putting it off lol.

https://gardinerpolesystems.co.uk/all-products/water-fed-poles/telescopic-poles/ultimate-high-reach-pole/gardiner-ultimatetm-high-reach-pole-46.html

 

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