<img src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-man-wearing-a-head-to-toe-suit-posing-for-a-photo-and-displaying-the-strapping-system-that-connects-his-cloves-to-his-jacket.jpg?id=62695027&width=1200&height=400&coordinates=0%2C417%2C0%2C417"/> In 2018, Justin Kropp was working on a transmission circuit in Southern California when disaster struck. Grid operators had earlier shut down the 115-kilovolt circuit, but six high-voltage lines that shared the corridor were still operating, and some of their power snuck onto the deenergized wires he was working on. That rogue current shot to the ground through Kropp’s body and his elevated work platform, killing the 32-year-old father of two.“It went in both of his hands and came out his stomach, where he was leaning against the platform rail,” says Justin’s father, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-kropp-65140676/" target="_blank">Barry Kropp</a>, who is himself a retired line worker. “Justin got hung up on the wire. When they finally got him on the ground, it was too late.” <iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" lazy-loadable="true" scrolling="no" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2SJu2Jp4fSs?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe>Budapest-based Electrostatics makes conductive suits that protect line workers from unexpected current. Electrostatics Justin’s accident was caused by induction: a hazard that occurs when an electric or magnetic field causes current to flow through equipment whose intended power supply has been cut off. Safety practices seek to prevent such induction shocks by grounding all conductive objects in a work zone, giving electricity alternative paths. But accidents happen. In Justin’s case, his platform unexpectedly swung into the line before it could be grounded.<h2>Conductive Suits Protect Line Workers</h2>Adding a layer of defense against induction injuries is the motivation behind Budapest-based <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/electrostatics/?originalSubdomain=hu" target="_blank">Electrostatics’</a> specialized conductive jumpsuits, which are designed to protect against burns, cardiac fibrillation, and other ills. “If my boy had been wearing one, I know he’d be alive today,” says the elder Kropp, who purchased a line-worker safety training business after Justin’s death. The Mesa, Ariz.–based company, Electrical Safety Consulting International (<a href="https://esci.net/" target="_blank">ESCI</a>), now distributes those suits. <img alt="The lower half of a man\u2019s legs clothed in pants and socks that are connected by straps " class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="905fe340c107577430765b0fb26ea544" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="17b47" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/the-lower-half-of-a-man-u2019s-legs-clothed-in-pants-and-socks-that-are-connected-by-straps.jpg?id=62695049&width=980"/>Conductive socks that are connected to the trousers complete the protective suit. BME HVL <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/eduardo-ramirez-bettoni-2070a345/" target="_blank">Eduardo Ramirez Bettoni</a>, one of the developers of the suits, dug into induction risk after a series of major accidents in the United States in 2017 and 2018, including Justin Kropp’s. At the time, he was principal engineer for transmission and substation standards at Minneapolis-based <a href="https://corporate.my.xcelenergy.com/s/" target="_blank">Xcel Energy</a>. In talking to Xcel line workers and fellow safety engineers, he sensed that the accident cluster might be the tip of an iceberg. And when he and two industry colleagues scoured data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, they found 81 induction accidents between 1985 and 2021 and 60 deaths, which they documented in <a href="https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9925039" target="_blank">a 2022 report</a>.“Unfortunately, it is really common. I would say there are hundreds of induction contacts every year in the United States alone,” says Ramirez Bettoni, who is now technical director of R&D for the Houston-based power-distribution equipment firm <a href="https://www.powellind.com/" target="_blank">Powell Industries</a>. He bets that such “contacts”—exposures to dangerous levels of induction—are increasing as grid operators <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/grid-congestion-uk" target="_self">boost grid capacity</a> by <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/dynamic-line-rating-grid-congestion" target="_self">squeezing additional circuits</a> into transmission corridors.<h3></h3> <div class="rblad-ieee_in_content"></div>Electrostatics’ suits are an enhancement of the standard protective gear that line workers wear when their tasks involve working close to or even touching energized live lines, or “bare-hands” work. Both are interwoven with conductive materials such as stainless steel threads, which form a Faraday cage that shields the wearer against the lines’ electric fields. But the standard suits have limited capacity to shunt current because usually they don’t need to. Like a bird on a wire, bare-hands workers are electrically floating, rather than grounded, so current largely bypasses them via the line itself.<h2>Induction Safety Suit Design</h2>Backed by a US $250,000 investment from Xcel in 2019, Electrostatics adapted its standard suits by adding low-resistance conductive straps that pass current around a worker’s body. “When I’m touching a conductor with one hand and the other hand is grounded, the current will flow through the straps to get out,” says <a href="http://linkedin.com/in/n%25C3%25A9meth-b%25C3%25A1lint-1a366586?originalSubdomain=hu" target="_blank">Bálint Németh</a>, Electrostatics’ CEO and director of the <a href="https://nfl.vet.bme.hu/en/" target="_blank">High Voltage Laboratory</a> at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. <img alt="A man holds one side of his jacket open revealing conductive straps inside. " class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f0ad47dc99d78dcc76b59d05cdf16840" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="c7b7c" loading="lazy" src="https://spectrum.ieee.org/media-library/a-man-holds-one-side-of-his-jacket-open-revealing-conductive-straps-inside.jpg?id=62695052&width=980"/>A strapping system links all the elements of the suit—the jacket, trousers, gloves, and socks—and guides current through a controlled path outside the body. BME HVL The company began selling the suits in 2023, and they have since been adopted by over a dozen transmission operators in the United States and Europe, as well as other countries including Canada, Indonesia, and Turkey. They cost about $5,200 in the United States.Electrostatics’ suits had to meet a crucial design threshold: keeping body exposure below the 6-milliampere “let-go” threshold, beyond which electrocuted workers become unable to remove themselves from a circuit. “If you lose control of your muscles, you’re going to hold onto the conductor until you pass out or possibly die,” says Ramirez Bettoni.The gear, which includes the suit, gloves, and socks, protects against 100 amperes for 10 seconds and 50 A for 30 seconds. It also has insulation to protect against heat created by high current and flame retardants to protect against electric arcs.Kropp, Németh, and Ramirez Bettoni are hoping that developing industry standards for induction safety gear, including <a href="https://knowledge.bsigroup.com/products/standard-performance-specification-for-conductive-clothing-for-industry-applications" target="_blank">ones published in October</a>, will broaden their use. Meanwhile, the recently enacted <a href="https://autl.assembly.ca.gov/system/files/2025-03/ab-365-schiavo.pdf" target="_blank">Justin Kropp Safety Act</a> in California, for which the elder Kropp lobbied, mandates automated defibrillators at power-line work sites. This article was updated on 14 January 2026.

في عام 2018، توفي جاستن كروب بشكل مأساوي أثناء عمله على دائرة نقل في جنوب كاليفورنيا بسبب تيار غير متوقع اجتاز جسده. يسلط هذا الحادث الضوء على المخاطر التي يواجهها عمال خطوط الكهرباء، مما أدى إلى تطوير بدلة موصلة جديدة تكلفتها 5200 دولار مصممة لتعزيز السلامة في البيئات عالية الجهد.

En 2018, Justin Kropp falleció trágicamente mientras trabajaba en un circuito de transmisión en el sur de California debido a una corriente rebelde que atravesó su cuerpo. Este incidente resalta los peligros que enfrentan los trabajadores de líneas eléctricas, lo que llevó al desarrollo de un nuevo traje conductor de 5,200 dólares diseñado para mejorar la seguridad en entornos de alta tensión.

En 2018, Justin Kropp est tragiquement décédé alors qu'il travaillait sur un circuit de transmission en Californie du Sud à cause d'un courant indésirable qui a traversé son corps. Cet incident met en lumière les dangers auxquels sont confrontés les travailleurs des lignes électriques, ce qui a conduit au développement d'un nouveau costume conducteur de 5 200 $ conçu pour améliorer la sécurité dans les environnements à haute tension.

In 2018, Justin Kropp tragically died while working on a transmission circuit in Southern California due to a rogue current that surged through his body. This incident highlights the dangers faced by power-line workers, prompting the development of a new $5,200 conductive suit designed to enhance safety in high-voltage environments.

This $5,200 Conductive Suit Could Make Power-Line Work Safer

Was this article worth reading? Share it

Ohmconnect

IndyPass

RunCode

ElectricianCalc

LabEx

eZLO

Ready to build your own newsroom?