Thanks Black sheep, I've heard many descriptions of the possibilities of injuries from the lanyard. Yours tickled me.
I remember tapping a suspect pole with a hammer only for the hammer head to half dissapear into the wood with a soggy squelch. The pole looked sort of ok to sight. I reckon the sun dries the outer layers so it looked ok.
@ Broadstairs, that screwdriver thing is a probe. Like a screwdriver but with a taper at the end to make a slight point and a mark about 20mm back. The idea that in theory you should not climb any pole where the probe can be inserted as far up to the mark. That includes "Shakes" which are the natural splits in the wood.
Oh and Black Sheep, I wonder if your aware on EL poles if a stay wire has the insulator below the level of any BT plant then its deemed a D pole ?
No, I wasn't aware of that, Ezz ??!! The rules and regs surrounding EL poles, have probably changed since you left our shores/ Openreach ?? We have to fill out a on-site assessment form now and retain for 'x' ammount of time (can't remember how long ??). We
have to be 2-men parties now, if an EL pole is to be climbed. We have to use 'Blue ladders' (fibreglass constructed).
Somewhere in the back of my mind is a memo about not being able to 'add' any more loading to EL Poles, anymore ?? We can use existing way leaves to replace faulty DW's, but as far as I'm aware, we can't install newly provided DW's ?? As CAL/OMI isn't my forte, I may be slightly out of touch with the last comment ??
However, I must admit I haven't seen that particular snippet of info you have just given ?? As you well know, information overload is rife in BT and one cannot possibly absorb all the daily changes to working practices, booking codes, quality, safety, equivalence ....... all being different dependant upon the nature of the work being undertaken. Great bit of knowledge share though, Ezz.
PS ..... glad the fall-arrest pun tickled ya !!