Pole Top and Bucket Truck Rescue Certification Held for MEC Employees

Macon Electric Cooperative has always considered safety a top priority for not only its membership, but its employees as well. On Friday, July 26, MEC linemen and operators participated in pole top and bucket truck rescue training.

The certification was hosted by Johnny Hendrix with the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives. To obtain certification for pole top rescue, a lineman must perform in a hurt-man rescue scenario which finds a fellow worker unconscious atop a utility pole. The lineman must radio for help utilizing the proper mayday procedures, put on full climbing gear, climb a pole, and safely master a rigging procedure which secures the “hurt-man” in order to safely lower him to the ground.

Employees were also required to obtain certification in bucket truck rescue. The line workers operated with a three-man crew, where one individual came into electrical contact and is knocked unconscious in the bucket truck. The other employees must follow mayday procedures to notify dispatch of the incident and safely remove the hot wire so the bucket with the injured lineman can be safely brought to the ground.

“It is very important to practice these procedures, so that we can help our fellow employees in the event that this situation would ever occur,” stated Dan Ulhorn, MEC’s Safety and Training Coordinator. “It means a lot to the linemen to know that they can rely on one another to get each other home safely.”

Pole top rescue and bucket truck rescue are annual certifications that all Macon Electric Cooperative linemen and operators must renew each year.