Jenkins Academy of Applied Technology

EPT-001 — Learner reference

Electric Power and Telecommunications · v1.0.0 · October 23, 2026

Course developed by Todd Jerome Jenkins, MS, CSP.

Understand power operations, power-line construction and telecommunications training duties. Fourteen audible lessons; allow about 40–55 minutes.

Online knowledge component only. Actual task instruction, demonstrated proficiency, qualified-person competencies and specialized climbing, entry, first-aid and rescue preparation remain separate. No switching or energized-work authorization is awarded.

1. Choose the standard for the actual work

By the end: Identify the installation, activity and applicable standards before assigning work.

Electric power and telecommunications share poles, rights of way and equipment spaces, but they do not share one universal rule. Start with the installation, activity, employer responsibilities and employee assignment. A company name or job title alone does not establish which standard applies.

Section 1910.269 covers operation and maintenance of covered electric power generation, transmission and distribution installations and specified related work. Construction of transmission and distribution lines and equipment falls under Part 1926 Subpart V. Other applicable standards still apply; Subpart V also directs specified generation and line-clearance work to 1910.269.

Section 1910.268 covers specified telecommunications center and field work. It excludes construction and certain installations under exclusive electric-utility control. Telecommunications construction must be evaluated under applicable construction standards rather than assuming the telecommunications rule covers every activity.

This course explains requirements and assignment limits. It is not electrical-worker qualification, a live-line method, a switching order, a tower-climbing credential or an entry permit. The employer must identify the applicable rules and provide actual task instruction and proficiency verification.

Basis: 1910.269(a)(1); 1910.268(a); 1926.950(a)

2. Establish power-worker proficiency

By the end: Verify demonstrated proficiency for the assigned power work.

Employees performing covered power work need training in the safe practices, procedures and requirements relevant to their jobs. The degree of preparation must reflect the risk. Related emergency procedures, including applicable pole-top and manhole rescue arrangements, belong in that preparation.

Training may be classroom or on-the-job instruction. It must establish proficiency. The employer must ensure the employee has demonstrated proficiency before treating the required training as complete. Attendance or an online passing score alone cannot demonstrate every practical work practice.

For a previously trained employee, the standards describe confirming prior training, using an examination or interview to establish initial understanding before covered work, and closely supervising until proficiency is demonstrated. A prior employer’s card is useful evidence, not an automatic transfer of every assignment.

Use understandable instruction, actual equipment and safe supervised evaluation. Record the tasks demonstrated, limitations, instructor and corrections. Do not expose a learner to uncontrolled energized work simply to test confidence or speed.

Basis: 1910.269(a)(2); 1926.950(b)

3. Distinguish a qualified person from general awareness

By the end: Verify equipment-specific competence and limits before treating someone as qualified.

A qualified power employee needs knowledge of the construction and operation of the equipment involved and its hazards. Required competencies include identifying exposed live parts, determining nominal voltage, maintaining applicable approach distances and using special precautions and protective equipment.

The employee must also recognize electrical hazards and know how to control or avoid them. Qualification is connected to the equipment and work involved. Experience with one installation does not establish competence for an unfamiliar voltage, method or system.

A trainee’s permitted duties are limited by demonstrated ability, level of training, direct qualified supervision and the applicable standard. Training status does not create unrestricted access to energized parts. Some fall-protection provisions have additional limitations.

Line-clearance tree trimmers have distinct training requirements. Being a qualified tree trimmer does not automatically make someone a qualified electrical employee under 1910.269. Identify the actual role before selecting distances, equipment or methods.

Basis: 1910.269(a)(2)(ii), (x); 1926.950(b)(2)

4. Use supervision, annual inspections and retraining

By the end: Trigger retraining from gaps, changes and infrequent tasks before relying on the practice.

Covered power work requires regular supervision and inspections at least annually to determine whether employees follow required safe work practices. This is an annual work-practice inspection duty. It is not merely an annual classroom attendance requirement.

Additional training is required when supervision or inspection reveals noncompliance, when technology, equipment or procedure changes require different practices, or when an employee must use practices not normally used in regular duties.

OSHA identifies tasks performed less often than once per year as requiring retraining before those work practices are performed. Do not wait for the next calendar refresher when an infrequent assignment arises. Retraining must restore the necessary proficiency.

Keep the reason for retraining distinct from routine inspection records. Describe the observed gap or change, instruction given, safe demonstration and permitted duties. An annual inspection cannot authorize continuation of an unresolved critical gap.

Basis: 1910.269(a)(2)(iv)–(viii); 1926.950(b)(3)–(7)

5. Train and certify telecommunications employees

By the end: Complete and retain the employer’s task-appropriate training certification.

For covered telecommunications work, employees must receive proper training in required precautions and safe practices before engaging in the activities. Instruction may be on the job, classroom-type, or a combination. It must suit the actual task and site.

Where appropriate, training includes harmful substances, animals, insects and plants; emergency procedures; and first aid including artificial respiration. A routine indoor assignment and field work in a remote area may need different emphasis.

The employer must prepare a certification record at completion identifying the person trained, the training completion date, and the signature of the employer or trainer. Keep it for the duration of employment and make it available to OSHA on request. The Academy record alone is not the employer’s signed certification of all job training.

An employer need not repeat training when it can demonstrate the employee already received the required preparation before employment. Verify that evidence against current duties. Section 1910.268(c) does not prescribe one universal annual course interval; keep training adequate as work and hazards change.

Basis: 1910.268(c)

6. Exchange hazards and brief the job

By the end: Confirm shared hazard information and rebrief significant changes.

Power work requires relevant installation characteristics and conditions to be determined before work on or near lines and equipment. These include nominal voltage, possible induced voltage, circuit locations, grounding, pole condition and environmental conditions. Resolve missing information before it becomes an assumption in the field.

Host and contract employers exchange relevant hazards and coordinate procedures. Contractors must pass relevant host information to their employees, identify unique hazards before work, and report unanticipated hazards under the applicable timing requirement. The two-working-day notification provision is not permission to continue unsafe work meanwhile.

The power job briefing covers hazards, procedures, special precautions, energy-source controls and PPE. Repetitive similar work may use a briefing before the first job of the day or shift. Significant changes affecting safety require another briefing.

Complicated work or unfamiliar hazards need more extensive discussion. A worker alone still needs tasks planned as if a briefing were required. Use teach-back to resolve uncertainty rather than collecting signatures before discussing the work.

Basis: 1910.269(a)(3)–(4), (c); 1926.950(c)–(d); 1926.952

7. Control approach and contact hazards

By the end: Maintain the verified task boundary and report unknown or fallen conductors.

Electrical danger can involve contact, arcing and energized objects that appear ordinary. A communication strand or support may become energized through contact or induction. Do not infer safety from wire size, insulation appearance or lack of noise.

For power work, the employer establishes applicable minimum approach distances and ensures qualified employees can maintain them. Telecommunications has its own approach provisions and Table R-2. Do not transfer a distance from one rule, voltage or task to another.

When voltage, ownership or protective arrangements are uncertain, stop the affected approach and obtain reliable information through the responsible authority. This course intentionally does not provide a universal working distance or an energized-work sequence.

For crossed or fallen wires creating a possible hazard in telecom work, warn others by guarding or other adequate means and notify the proper authority promptly. Do so from a safe location; guarding a hazard does not require touching it or standing within the danger area.

Basis: 1910.269(l); 1910.268(b)(7), (d)(3); 1926.960

8. Separate energy-control systems and work authority

By the end: Identify the applicable control procedure and stay within your authorized role.

Deenergizing is a controlled process, not merely turning a switch off. Unexpected energization, backfeed, induced voltage and stored energy must be addressed by the applicable procedure and qualified personnel. A dark indicator does not prove safe conditions.

Under 1910.269, generation energy control is addressed in paragraph (d); transmission and distribution deenergizing is addressed in paragraph (m), with protective grounding under paragraph (n). Other equipment may fall under 1910.147 and Subpart S. Construction power work has its corresponding Subpart V provisions.

Generation energy-control training distinguishes authorized employees, affected employees and other workers. Authorized employees need source recognition and isolation/control skills; affected workers need the purpose and use of the procedure; others must understand the prohibition on restarting locked or tagged equipment. Tags are warnings and do not provide a lock’s physical restraint.

Use the actual switching, clearance, verification and grounding arrangements required for the job. Do not bypass a tag, remove another person’s device or install grounds based on this overview. Changes, gaps and new hazards trigger appropriate retraining and verification.

Basis: 1910.269(d), (m), (n); 1926.961–962

9. Match protective equipment to the hazards

By the end: Verify the assessed protection, inspection and test status before use.

Power employers must assess flame and arc hazards and estimate incident heat energy for employees exposed to electric arcs. The applicable requirements govern clothing and arc-rated protection. Shock insulation and arc protection serve different purposes; one does not automatically supply the other.

Protective clothing must not create the prohibited melting or continuing-burning hazard. Select the complete protective arrangement from the actual assessment and standard, including applicable exceptions. A generic fabric label or one remembered rating is not enough to approve an assignment.

Telecommunications requires needed protective devices, special tools and PPE to be provided and used. Before each day’s use, a competent person must carefully inspect them for good condition. Rubber insulating equipment needs voltage suitability and the applicable testing requirements; the telecom provisions have specific retesting rules.

Remove defective equipment from use through the employer’s procedure. Keep inspection, test and care requirements tied to the equipment and rule. This lesson does not authorize dielectric testing, live-line tool work or substituting equipment outside its rating.

Basis: 1910.269(g), (j), (l)(8); 1910.268(e)–(f); 1926.960(g)

10. Plan poles, elevated work and public protection

By the end: Verify the support, fall/rescue arrangements and traffic protection before access.

Before telecom employees or equipment are supported on a pole, platform, ladder, walkway or aerial device, a competent person must inspect the support and determine that it is strong enough, in good condition and properly secured. Past use does not prove today’s condition.

Elevated assignments require appropriate climbing, fall-protection and rescue preparation. Power and telecom rules contain equipment- and activity-specific requirements. Identify the actual arrangement; do not assume that a harness alone makes a pole or tower assignment safe.

Where vehicles or pedestrians may endanger telecom employees, establish conspicuous warning and traffic-control measures before work. Add barriers where needed. Night work has warning-light and excavation-barricade provisions. Keep public protection and worker escape in the plan.

Aerial devices, line installation, cable handling and tree work introduce additional hazards and training needs. Verify the operator’s role, equipment condition, electrical boundaries and work zone. Report an unstable support or uncontrolled traffic exposure before starting the task.

Basis: 1910.268(b)(6), (d), (g)–(n); 1910.269(g), (p), (q)

11. Evaluate enclosed spaces and manholes

By the end: Verify the actual entry rule, controls and rescue arrangement before entry.

Power enclosed-space and telecom manhole provisions are specific to their scope. They are not blanket exemptions for every confined space. The employer must determine the applicable entry requirements and whether other hazards require the permit-space or construction confined-space rules.

Under 1910.269(e), entrants and attendants need instruction in entry hazards, entry procedures and rescue procedures. Atmospheric testing, ventilation, guarding and assistance requirements must fit the actual conditions. Do not use this course as an entry checklist or rescue procedure.

Telecom manholes and unvented vaults have requirements for guarding openings, atmospheric testing, ventilation and assistance. Joint power/telecom manhole work requires basic-first-aid assistance in the immediate vicinity, with specific limited exceptions in the rule. Do not assume a person can safely work alone merely because the space is familiar.

Unsafe atmospheric conditions must be corrected before entry under the applicable procedure. Odor and an open lid do not establish safe air. Stop and obtain qualified evaluation when testing, ventilation, access or rescue arrangements are missing; do not enter to retrieve a collapsed coworker without the required rescue capability.

Basis: 1910.269(e); 1910.268(o); 1910.146; 1926.953

12. Recognize batteries, substances and transmission hazards

By the end: Identify non-electrical telecom hazards and the task-specific controls.

Telecom work can involve storage batteries, hazardous substances, biological encounters and microwave equipment. Identify the product, source and task before choosing controls. A communications system may contain both electrical and chemical hazards.

Employees assigned storage-battery work need emergency instruction, including response to accidental acid spills. The standard specifies protective clothing and eye protection for electrolyte handling and appropriate quick-drenching or flushing arrangements, with a limited enclosed-battery exception. Verify the actual installation rather than assuming the exception applies.

Employees must not look into an open waveguide connected to an energized microwave source. Hazardous microwave areas have posting requirements. Access and servicing must follow the responsible operator’s exposure-control arrangements; an antenna’s appearance does not establish that transmission is off.

Use the employer’s hazard communication, PPE and emergency instructions for actual substances. Field preparation should include relevant animals, insects and plants. Do not improvise electrolyte mixing, spill cleanup or transmitter servicing from this knowledge overview.

Basis: 1910.268(b)(2), (c), (p); 1910.1200

13. Verify first aid and rescue capability

By the end: Verify trained responders, complete CPR preparation, supplies and safe rescue arrangements.

For covered power work on or associated with exposed lines or equipment energized at fifty volts or more, first-aid-trained people must be available under the applicable staffing rules. For field work involving two or more employees, 1910.269 normally requires at least two trained persons, with a specific line-clearance exception.

For fixed power locations, enough trained persons must be available to reach each shock-exposed employee within four minutes. Where staffing is insufficient to meet that rule, each employee at the location must be trained. Verify the actual standard and work arrangement rather than treating a distant emergency service as the only plan.

Power first-aid training includes CPR with chest compressions and rescue breathing. A hands-only awareness lesson does not replace this complete requirement. First-aid supplies must be ready, maintained and weather-protected where needed; power kits require inspection often enough to replenish use and at least annually.

Telecommunications also requires suitable accessible supplies and appropriate first-aid instruction, including artificial respiration. Rescue from poles, energized areas or spaces needs its own trained capability and safe procedures. Call for help and prevent additional exposure; never touch an electrically exposed casualty before safe access is established.

Basis: 1910.269(b), (x); 1910.268(b)(3), (c), (o); 1926.951

14. Complete the employer’s qualification evidence

By the end: Document actual preparation, proficiency and restrictions without overstating the online award.

Finish by mapping the employee to specific duties and equipment. Record what remains outside the assignment: switching, energized work, climbing, entry, rescue or other specialized functions. A broad course title must not silently expand a worker’s authority.

For power work, verify demonstrated proficiency and the supervision, inspection and retraining process. The general proficiency paragraph does not impose the same signed certification record as telecommunications. Separate generation energy-control provisions do require training certification with employee names and training dates.

For telecommunications, complete the required employer or trainer-signed record with worker identity and completion date, retained for employment duration. Use the course transcript as one supporting record. Add actual site/task training and observed ability rather than representing a knowledge score as the whole program.

Confirm state-plan and other applicable requirements, understandable instruction and the person’s opportunity to ask questions. Correct critical gaps before assignment. The final Academy assessment records knowledge completion and does not declare the workplace compliant or certify the person for live-line work.

Basis: 1910.269(a)(2), (d)(2)(ix); 1910.268(c); 1926.950(b)

Sources

Federal OSHA sources reviewed October 23, 2026. Confirm the actual work, jurisdiction and applicable additional requirements. Agency guidance supports planning; it is distinguished from mandatory standard text.