For telecom technicians, line workers and splicers: who the rule covers, training and certification, public work areas, PPE and rubber insulating equipment, climbing and fall protection, poles and strand, grounding, power line approach, and manholes and vaults.
Based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.268 · about 5 min read
Need proof of training? The full course (30 min) adds practice questions, a job scenario, the final quiz and a certificate your employer can verify.
The rule covers telecommunications work in telecom centers and in the field. It does not apply to construction work (covered by part 1926) or to certain installations under the exclusive control of electric utilities.
Employees may not do the covered work until they have been trained in its precautions and safe practices, by on-the-job training, classroom training or both. The employer keeps a certification record of the training.
Where appropriate, the training also includes recognizing and avoiding dangers from harmful substances and animal, insect or plant life, emergency procedures, and first aid including artificial respiration.
No one is supported on any pole, platform, ladder, walkway or other elevated structure or aerial device unless a competent person has first inspected it and found it strong, in good condition and secured.
Before working near vehicle or pedestrian traffic, place warning signs, flags or other traffic control devices to alert and channel traffic; use barriers where more protection is needed. At night, display warning lights and barricade excavations.
If work exposes normally protected energized or moving parts, display danger signs and barricades.
An employee who finds crossed or fallen wires that could be hazardous stays on guard (or otherwise warns others) and has the proper authority notified as soon as practical.
PPE, protective devices and special tools are provided and used, and inspected by a competent person before each day's use.
Rubber insulating equipment rated for the voltage is provided and used. Gloves and blankets are periodically retested and marked with the date the next test is due. Defective gloves are destroyed by cutting them open from finger to gauntlet.
Class B electrical head protection is used wherever there is exposure to possible high-voltage contact. Eye protection is used where foreign objects may enter the eyes, for example drilling or chipping stone, brick or masonry, cleaning with compressed air, steam or sand blast, and removing or rearranging strand or open wire.
A positioning system or personal fall arrest system is provided and used for work more than 4 feet above the ground on poles and towers (with limited exceptions in the rule).
All climbing equipment is inspected before each day's use.
Pole climbers (gaffs) are not worn while working in trees, on ladders, in an aerial lift, driving, or walking on rocky, hard, frozen, brushy or hilly terrain.
On elevated platforms and positions without adequate railings or guarding, safety straps and body belts are used.
Certain poles (such as dead-end poles and others listed in the rule) are tested before climbing unless temporary guys or braces are attached.
One method: rap the pole with a hammer of about 3 pounds from the ground line up to about 6 feet. A dull sound or weak rebound means decay, and the pole is unsafe. Also prod near the ground line with a pole prod or screwdriver.
Unsafe poles are not climbed until made safe by guying or bracing, and are tagged to warn others.
Before attaching a splicing platform, test the strand to make sure it can hold the platform and the employee (where the strand crosses above power wires or railroad tracks, it is inspected instead of tested).
Power lines, grounding and position on joint-use poles
Do not approach or bring a conductive object closer to energized overhead power lines than the Table R-2 distances unless you are insulated or guarded from the energized parts (insulating gloves rated for the voltage count as adequate insulation), the energized parts are insulated or guarded from you and any other conductive object at a different potential, or the power conductors and equipment are deenergized and grounded.
Treat power conductors and equipment as energized unless you can see they are bonded to an acceptable ground.
Bonding order: attach to the protective ground first; when removing, take the connection off the line or equipment first. Wear insulating gloves for both.
On joint-use poles, climbing and working above the lowest power conductor is prohibited, except where the rule's barrier or other conditions are met.
No metal measuring tapes or conductive tapes near exposed energized parts.
When a manhole or vault cover is removed, promptly guard the opening with a railing, temporary cover or barrier.
Before entry, test the atmosphere for combustible gas, and for oxygen deficiency unless continuous forced ventilation is provided. If unsafe conditions are found, ventilate and make the space safe before entry.
An adequate continuous supply of air is provided while work is performed in a manhole where combustible or explosive gas vapors were first detected and then reduced to a safe level by ventilation, organic solvents or open flame torches are used, the manhole is in the part of a public right of way open to vehicle traffic and/or exposed to a seepage of gas, or a toxic gas or oxygen deficiency is found.
In a manhole shared with an electric utility, an employee with basic first aid training is available in the immediate vicinity.
Fact-checked against the regulation text on October 09, 2026. This certificate records completion of awareness training based on OSHA 29 CFR 1910.268. It is not an OSHA card or license, and it does not by itself meet the training requirements of 29 CFR 1910.268(c). Your employer must still provide training in the various precautions and safe practices described in 1910.268, consisting of on-the-job training or classroom-type training or a combination of both, and must ensure you do not do the work the section covers until you have received that training (unless the employer can demonstrate you were already trained before your employment). Where appropriate, the training includes recognition and avoidance of dangers from harmful substances and animal, insect, or plant life; procedures to be followed in emergency situations; and first aid training, including instruction in artificial respiration. The employer must certify the training by preparing a certification record.
This guide explains the rule in plain words. Always read the regulation itself and your employer's site-specific procedures.