Career summary

Details for Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers


Description

Install or repair cables or wires used in electrical power or distribution systems. May erect poles and light or heavy duty transmission towers.

Tasks

  • Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas.
  • Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs.
  • Climb poles or use truck-mounted buckets to access equipment.
  • Place insulating or fireproofing materials over conductors and joints.
  • Install, maintain, and repair electrical distribution and transmission systems, including conduits, cables, wires, and related equipment, such as transformers, circuit breakers, and switches.
  • Identify defective sectionalizing devices, circuit breakers, fuses, voltage regulators, transformers, switches, relays, or wiring, using wiring diagrams and electrical-testing instruments.
  • Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites.
  • Coordinate work assignment preparation and completion with other workers.
  • Inspect and test power lines and auxiliary equipment to locate and identify problems, using reading and testing instruments.
  • String wire conductors and cables between poles, towers, trenches, pylons, and buildings, setting lines in place and using winches to adjust tension.
  • Test conductors, according to electrical diagrams and specifications, to identify corresponding conductors and to prevent incorrect connections.
  • Replace or straighten damaged poles.
  • Install watt-hour meters and connect service drops between power lines and consumers' facilities.
  • Attach cross-arms, insulators, and auxiliary equipment to poles prior to installing them.
  • Travel in trucks, helicopters, and airplanes to inspect lines for freedom from obstruction and adequacy of insulation.
  • Dig holes, using augers, and set poles, using cranes and power equipment.
  • Trim trees that could be hazardous to the functioning of cables or wires.
  • Splice or solder cables together or to overhead transmission lines, customer service lines, or street light lines, using hand tools, epoxies, or specialized equipment.
  • Cut and peel lead sheathing and insulation from defective or newly installed cables and conduits prior to splicing.
  • Clean, tin, and splice corresponding conductors by twisting ends together or by joining ends with metal clamps and soldering connections.
  • Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks.
  • Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduit running through the trenches.
  • Cut trenches for laying underground cables, using trenchers and cable plows.

Interests

  • Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
  • Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
  • Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Education, training, experience

  • Education - Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
  • Training - Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
  • Experience - Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Knowledge

  • Mathematics -Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

Skills

None found.

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