Conway Corporation is dedicated to providing crews with the technical skills needed to maintain and restore electricity and cable services quickly and safely to customers. It takes intense training to operate and repair power and cable poles, but five Conway Corporation employees are climbing to new heights after successfully completing a pole-climbing course and passing certification assessment earlier this month.
Newly certified employees are Cable Installer John Davis, Sean Maxfield, Andrew Nelson and Jake Stewart as well as Electric Department Apprentice Lineman Cory Cox. The class was taught by certified instructor and Conway Corporation Journeyman Lineman Scott Ussery.
The course focuses on learning how to safely and effectively ascend and descend wooden poles using gaffs, hooks and belts and must be completed by every employee who will be climbing a pole. Employees learn on poles ranging from 25 to 45 feet tall – taller than a four-story building.
Every year all employees who climb poles are also required to participate in a pole top recue course designed to evaluate employees on the ability to properly rescue an injured or stranded coworker. As part of the annual training course, each employee must climb a pole and rescue a 150 pound training mannequin hanging from the utility pole, secure the mannequin using ropes and clips and safely bring it back to ground. After the rescue, proper CPR techniques must be performed and everything has to happen in less than 4 minutes.
Conway Corporation is dedicated to putting safety first. Providing the necessary certifications and performing annual training is one of the reasons we are continually recognized as a national leader in the utility industry and have been recognized as a Reliable Public Power Provider by the American Public Power Association.
