Outside plant awareness and safety for field techs

Skills you'll practise

• Plan a field job with a job briefing and identify its hazards
• Set up and keep a work area that protects traffic, pedestrians and yourself, following local rules
• Recognize the supply (power) space on a shared pole and keep out of it unless qualified
• Explain why digging waits for locates and why some underground spaces need a permit process
• Handle fiber shards and laser light safely

Course outline

1. 1.Outside plant awareness and safetyVideo · 2 min
2. 2.Planning the job and working near trafficLesson · 16 min
3. 3.Poles, overhead power and laddersLesson · 17 min
4. 4.Underground plant, splicing, shards and lasersLesson · 17 min
5. 5.Outside plant awareness and safety for field techs: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 23 questions
6. 6.Outside plant awareness and safety for field techs: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
7. 7.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out

Sources it draws on

The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.

• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.268: Telecommunications (US federal example; follow the rules where you work)
• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.146: Permit-required confined spaces (US federal example)
• Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), Part 6: temporary traffic control (US example; use your local traffic rules)
• IEC 60825-2: Safety of optical fibre communication systems
• General ISP field practice