Job Profile:      A Class Lineman


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

49-9051
Job Information
   
   
50,030 97,690 155,580

Select Tasks
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.





Select Abilities
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand. The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity). The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem. The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways. The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem. The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures. The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns. The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object. The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you. The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted. The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources). The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects. The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects. The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion. The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part. The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears. The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists. The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects. The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object. The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without 'giving out' or fatiguing. The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath. The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs. The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion. The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer). The ability to see details at a distance. The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
The ability to see under low light conditions. The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead. The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
The ability to see objects in the presence of glare or bright lighting. The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness. The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated. The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.




Tools Used
Air hammers All terrain vehicles ATV Allen wrenches
Ammeters Arc suppression blankets Arrow boards
Asbestos gloves Auger bits Augers
Awls Backhoes Bashlin belts
Bench vises Block and tackle equipment Boats
Bolt cutters Breathing protection equipment Buck saws
Bucket trucks Cable benders Cable cutters
Cable strippers Cant hooks Capstan hoists
Chain jacks Chain saws Charge-actuated spiking tools
Clamp-on multimeters Climbing hooks Climbing spikes
Comealongs Compression tools Concrete drills
Concrete saws Conductive clothing Continuity meters
Crowbars Current leakage meters Digging spades
Digital dynamometers Digital recording amp meters Digital voltmeters DVM
Drill bit sets Dump trucks Ear plugs
Elbow pullers Electric drills Electric screw guns
Face shields Fall arrest harnesses Fire blankets
Fire extinguishers Fire retardant clothing Fish tapes
Flares Fuse pullers Gas drills
Gin poles Ground rod drivers Ground testers
Grounding devices Hacksaws Hammer drills
Hammers Hand benders Hand lines
Hand reamers Hand saws Hard hats
Hydraulic benders Hydraulic cutters Hydraulic drills
Hydraulic presses Hydraulic tampers Infrared guns
Insulated cable cutters Insulated gloves Insulated knives
Insulated pliers Insulated skinning knives Insulated wrenches
Insulator testers Jackhammers Jumper clamps
Keyhole saws Knockout punches Ladders
Laser printers Leather gloves Levels
Lifelines Lifting slings Light pickup trucks
Line tracers Load break tools Material handling aerial devices
Measuring wheels Megohmmeters Needlenose pliers
Non-metallic NM cable locators Nut drivers Nylon strap wrenches
Ohmmeters Optical power meters Oscilloscopes
Overhead hoists Peaveys Personal computers
Phase rotation meters Picks Pike poles
Pipe wrenches Plumb bobs Pneumatic drills
Pole belts Pole jacks Portable generators
Potential testing meters Power benders Power borers
Power chippers Power reel trailers Power washers
Punches Radial boom derrick trucks Ratchet cutters
Reel jacks Robotic arms Running grounds
Saber saws Safety boots Safety goggles
Scaffolding Screwdrivers Shovels
Single-cut mill saw files Skid steer loaders Sledgehammers
Slip joint pliers Snowmobiles Socket wrench sets
Soldering irons Static discharge sticks Telescoping boom trucks
Tension machines Time domain reflectometers Torque wrenches
Toxic gas detectors Tree trimmers Trenchers
Truck-mounted cranes Two way radios Utility knives
Water pumps Welding tools Wheel chocks
Wheeled bulldozers Wheeled forklifts Winches
Wire crimpers Wire cutters Wire tongs
Wire tuggers Wood chisels

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