Line work is very dangerous. It only takes 35 milliamps to stop your heart, lineman work with several thousand milliamps everyday. Lineman must be able to calmly operate the lines while hanging from a pole, a helicopter, or a bucket truck. Lineman often must wear thick insulated gloves and clothing making it harder to operate tools and lines (ehow).
To better understand linework, one must understand the history of linework and how it got started. With the introduction of the telegraph in the 1840’s, and the invention of the telephone in the 1870’s, there came a need for men to expand the distance of communication by putting up poles and stringing wire across them. The word, “lineman”, was acquired to refer to these men.
Between the 1890s and the 1930s, and the advent of electric power as a useful form of energy, this job was considered to be one of the most hazardous of occupations. Many would lose their lives due to electrocution because there wasn’t adequate training for this job.
In the 1930s, many linemen traveled around from job to job, and became known as “boomers”. They were known as …show more content…
The most common being International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers or the IBEW. The unions are where lineman get their benefits and salary. Linemen receive some of the best benefits possible, including on average 21 paid days off, an average 401 k of about one hundred thousand dollars a year, and a pension of one million, four hundred and twelve thousand, five hundred dollars. Unions work very hard to give the men and women they represent a very good living. (Ibew) Unions are crucial to having a successful career in this trade. With a solid union manager, a man or woman can achieve all of their