Climbing Experience | Joe Grothaus
Operations manager for the Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association in Steeleville, Illinois.

“Any fall protection system is only as good as the climber’s confidence.”

That’s what seasoned trainers and superintendents say about fall protection. Joe Grothaus operations manager at Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association, Steeleville, Illinois, says all of their journeymen are required to be climbing certified. If someone needs climbing certification they are sent to either Springfield (Lincoln Land Community College) or another state association school. This typically only occurs when someone retires and many journeymen that are being hired come with climbing school certification. Lincoln Land Community College offers a two-week climbing school that teaches pole-climbing techniques, some basic framing and pole assembly, and line-building instruction.

Climbing school does two things. First it tends to weed out the ones who don’t like to climb, which is a big part of the job. And second, they come back confident climbers, which only get better with experience.

Fall protection at the schools Egyptian Electric has attended have always had Lifehook® systems and self-retracting lifelines to protect the climbers while they are learning. Once they are properly trained and learn to do it right they develop even more confidence. To this date, Egyptian Electric has never had a fall protection issue among its four line crews and four trouble crews.

A few years ago, OSHA mandated crews wear a full-body harness while working in the bucket. This has been the only real change Grothaus has seen in fall protection. Grothaus admits he comes from the old school way of thinking. You learn to do it right and you keep improving your skills, regardless if its climbing or changing out an insulator on a live conductor.