Who should I send up that pole?
LAHORE:
Most of the Lahore Electric Supply Company’s (Lesco) linesmen are unsafe on the sensitive job, Lesco field officials have revealed to The Express Tribune. More to the point, the situation is one of Lesco’s own making and unlikely to be corrected any time soon.
The officials said that all the linesmen are over 45-years-old. Most of them thus lack the physical attributes required of the person who has to climb poles. Many linesmen, according to them, are suffering from age-related diseases like diabetes, heart ailments, poor eyesight and hypertension.
Meanwhile, Lesco safety rules bar its assistant linesmen from climbing electric poles. Only linesmen are allowed to perform this task. An assistant linesman typically has to wait 15 to 20 years before he becomes a linesman. By the time he gets to that post he is too old to perform the tasks required of him, said a senior official of Lesco.
Lesco has 159 sub-divisions and each sub-division has about 12 to 15 linesmen. In all there are about 2,000 linesmen currently working with the company.
According to the Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) Hydro-Electric Central Labour Union secretary general Khurshid Ahmed, each year more than 100 linesmen are injured or worse during repair work.
A senior Lesco official suggested that the company should send the current linesmen to other sections and hire a fresh batch of younger people for this job. He added that the new personnel should be thoroughly trained and given the task of laying and repairing electric lines. It is after all an onerous task requiring good health and sound eyesight, he said. He said that during training the new staff should be kept in the construction department. The official also recommended that “Lesco should set up a medical board to periodically test and certify the health and fitness of its linesmen.”
According to Lesco’s safety rules, every linesman is to be provided with a pair of rubber gloves, a pair of leather gloves, a helmet, safety shoes and a belt. The linesman cannot operate without this kit. If he is not provided with one, he can refuse to climb the electricity pole.
According to the engineer in charge of one of Lesco’s sub-divisions, “Linesmen suffering from diabetes often avoid using safety shoes as these irritate them. This along with the heart problems is one of the leading reasons for accidents.”
In the last three days, two Lesco linesmen died from electric shock suffered while repairing lines. Khurshid Ahmed said these linesmen were forced to work on transmission lines without shutting down the system.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2010.
Most of the Lahore Electric Supply Company’s (Lesco) linesmen are unsafe on the sensitive job, Lesco field officials have revealed to The Express Tribune. More to the point, the situation is one of Lesco’s own making and unlikely to be corrected any time soon.
The officials said that all the linesmen are over 45-years-old. Most of them thus lack the physical attributes required of the person who has to climb poles. Many linesmen, according to them, are suffering from age-related diseases like diabetes, heart ailments, poor eyesight and hypertension.
Meanwhile, Lesco safety rules bar its assistant linesmen from climbing electric poles. Only linesmen are allowed to perform this task. An assistant linesman typically has to wait 15 to 20 years before he becomes a linesman. By the time he gets to that post he is too old to perform the tasks required of him, said a senior official of Lesco.
Lesco has 159 sub-divisions and each sub-division has about 12 to 15 linesmen. In all there are about 2,000 linesmen currently working with the company.
According to the Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) Hydro-Electric Central Labour Union secretary general Khurshid Ahmed, each year more than 100 linesmen are injured or worse during repair work.
A senior Lesco official suggested that the company should send the current linesmen to other sections and hire a fresh batch of younger people for this job. He added that the new personnel should be thoroughly trained and given the task of laying and repairing electric lines. It is after all an onerous task requiring good health and sound eyesight, he said. He said that during training the new staff should be kept in the construction department. The official also recommended that “Lesco should set up a medical board to periodically test and certify the health and fitness of its linesmen.”
According to Lesco’s safety rules, every linesman is to be provided with a pair of rubber gloves, a pair of leather gloves, a helmet, safety shoes and a belt. The linesman cannot operate without this kit. If he is not provided with one, he can refuse to climb the electricity pole.
According to the engineer in charge of one of Lesco’s sub-divisions, “Linesmen suffering from diabetes often avoid using safety shoes as these irritate them. This along with the heart problems is one of the leading reasons for accidents.”
In the last three days, two Lesco linesmen died from electric shock suffered while repairing lines. Khurshid Ahmed said these linesmen were forced to work on transmission lines without shutting down the system.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 27th, 2010.