Test results of personal protective grounding on distribution line wood pole construction

The results are presented of a series of tests to determine the most effective method of protecting distribution line workers from accidental line energization. The project scope was limited to three-phase, grounded-wye, distributed wood-pole construction. Voltages and currents across the work area were recorded with various configurations of temporary grounds. Several configurations provided currents which are considered lethal. The results indicate that the personal protective grounding method, also called single-point grounding, provides the most effective means of protecting distribution line workers