According to people in this career, the main tasks are...
| Task | Importance |
|---|---|
| Adhere to safety practices and procedures, such as checking equipment regularly and erecting barriers around work areas. | 95% |
| Drive vehicles equipped with tools and materials to job sites. | 95% |
| Open switches or attach grounding devices to remove electrical hazards from disturbed or fallen lines or to facilitate repairs. | 94% |
| Climb poles or use truck-mounted buckets to access equipment. | 91% |
| Install, maintain, and repair electrical distribution and transmission systems, including conduits, cables, wires, and related equipment, such as transformers, circuit breakers, and switches. | 90% |
| Inspect and test power lines and auxiliary equipment to locate and identify problems, using reading and testing instruments. | 90% |
| Coordinate work assignment preparation and completion with other workers. | 89% |
| Replace or straighten damaged poles. | 88% |
| String wire conductors and cables between poles, towers, trenches, pylons, and buildings, setting lines in place and using winches to adjust tension. | 88% |
| Attach cross-arms, insulators, and auxiliary equipment to poles prior to installing them. | 87% |
| Dig holes, using augers, and set poles, using cranes and power equipment. | 86% |
| Travel in trucks, helicopters, and airplanes to inspect lines for freedom from obstruction and adequacy of insulation. | 85% |
| Identify defective sectionalizing devices, circuit breakers, fuses, voltage regulators, transformers, switches, relays, or wiring, using wiring diagrams and electrical-testing instruments. | 84% |
| Install watt-hour meters and connect service drops between power lines and consumers' facilities. | 84% |
| Test conductors, according to electrical diagrams and specifications, to identify corresponding conductors and to prevent incorrect connections. | 82% |
| Splice or solder cables together or to overhead transmission lines, customer service lines, or street light lines, using hand tools, epoxies, or specialized equipment. | 80% |
| Place insulating or fireproofing materials over conductors and joints. | 80% |
| Trim trees that could be hazardous to the functioning of cables or wires. | 77% |
| Clean, tin, and splice corresponding conductors by twisting ends together or by joining ends with metal clamps and soldering connections. | 75% |
| Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks. | 75% |
| Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduit running through the trenches. | 67% |
| Cut trenches for laying underground cables, using trenchers and cable plows. | 65% |
| Cut and peel lead sheathing and insulation from defective or newly installed cables and conduits prior to splicing. | 63% |
