Washington Administrative Code › Title 296 - Labor and Industries, Department of › Chapter 296-32 - Safety standards for telecommunications › Part B - REQUIREMENTS THAT APPLY TO WIRELINE › Section 296-32-23505 - Pole climbing equipment

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) Approved lineman's belts and straps must
				be provided. The employer must ensure their use when work is performed at
				positions more than four feet above ground, on poles. The belt and strap
				(work-positioning systems) must be rigged so that an employee can free fall no
				more than two feet (0.6 meters).
(2) The employer must ensure that all safety
				belts and straps are inspected by a competent person prior to each day's use to
				determine that they are in safe working condition.
(3) Telecommunication lineman's body belts,
				safety straps and lanyards have to meet the following general requirements:
(a) Must be drop forged or pressed
				steel.
(b) Must have a corrosion
				resistant finish tested to meet the requirements of the American Society for
				Testing and Materials B117-64 (50-hour test).
(c) Hardware surfaces must be smooth and free
				of sharp edges.
(d) Lineman's body
				belts must be at least four inches in width.
(e) Buckles must be capable of withstanding
				an 8.9- kN (2,000-pound force) tension test with a maximum permanent
				deformation no greater than 0.4 millimeters (0.0156 inches).
(f) "D" rings must be capable of withstanding
				a 22- kN (5,000-pound force) tensile test without cracking or
				breaking.
(g) Snaphooks must be
				capable of withstanding a 22- kN (5,000-pound force) tension test without
				failure. The keeper of the locking snaphooks must have a spring tension that
				will not allow the keeper to begin to open with a weight of two and one-half
				pounds or less, but the keeper of snaphooks must begin to open with a weight of
				four pounds, when the weight is supported on the keeper against the end of the
				nose. The snaphook must be a locking snaphook.
Note:
Distortion of the snaphook sufficient to
						  release the keeper is considered to be tensile failure of a snaphook.
(h)
				Top grain leather or leather substitute may be used in the manufacture of body
				belts and positioning straps; however, leather and leather substitutes may not
				be used alone as a load-bearing component of the assembly.
(i) Plied fabric used in positioning straps
				and in load-bearing parts of body belts must be constructed in such a way that
				no raw edges are exposed and the plies do not separate.
(j) Positioning straps must be capable of
				withstanding the following tests:
(i) A
				dielectric test of 819.7 volts, AC, per centimeter (25,000 volts per foot) for
				three minutes without visible deterioration;
(ii) A leakage test of 98.4 volts, AC, per
				centimeter (3,000 volts per foot) with a leakage current of no more than 1 mA;
Note:
Positioning straps that pass direct-current
						  tests at equivalent voltages are considered as meeting this requirement.
(iii) Tension tests of 20 kN (4,500
				pounds-force) for sections free of buckle holes and of 15 kN (3,500
				pounds-force) for sections with buckle holes;
(iv) A buckle-tear test with a load of 4.4 kN
				(1,000 pounds-force); and
(v) A
				flammability test in accordance with Table 5.
Table 5
Flammability Test Method
Criteria For Passing the Test
Vertically suspend a 500 mm (19.7 inch) length of
							 strapping supporting a 100 kg (220.5 lb.) weight. Use a butane or propane
							 burner with a 76 mm (3 inch) frame. Direct the flame to an edge of the
							 strapping at a distance of 25 mm (1 inch). Remove the flame after five seconds.
							 Wait for any flames on the positioning strap to stop burning.
Any flames on the positioning strap must
							 self-extinguish. The positioning strap must continue to support the 100 kg
							 (220.5 lb.) mass.