It's lead cable, and it's still in use everywhere, even out here in the sticks. Next question.
May I interject yet another example of management stupidity? (Gee, I guess I will wind up writing more than one volume on this subject...)
Back in about 1995, we were treated to a 4-hour safety session in the garage, where some suits came out, brought cold coffee and stale pastries, and proceeded to tell us about the dangers of lead poisoning. As if we didn't already know.
They had the Buildings and Maintenance guys hang signs in the supply rooms and bathrooms that warned about the symptoms of lead poisoning, (my favorite was "black and tarry stools") and how important it was to wear protective clothing and to wash the hands after disturbing the lead dust that naturally occurs on lead surfaces.
"I say, Alphonse, my good man, would you kindly step in here for just a moment, and tell me, before I flush, if you think that my stools look black and tarry?" "Well, Gaston, far be it from me to criticize another gentleman's stools, old boy."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alphonse_and_Gaston#/media/File:Alphonsegaston.jpg
I won't bore you with ALL the stupid remarks (of which there was a metric plethora) just the highlights. The NEW RULE was going to be that should a splicer need to enter a manhole where, during the previous 30 days, another worker had disturbed the lead dust, he was required to dress in a Tyvek suit, don a respirator, and wipe off any exposed skin with a special ointment when the job was finished.
Mr. Trouble Maker (me) then asked what is known as the "show stopper" questions. It actually, in this case, DID stop the show, and caused the Suits to fold up their tent and dog-n-pony show, and high-tail it out of town. The simple questions that I asked were "How will I know if a particular manhole has been entered during the last 30 days? Will a record be kept somewhere? Will a placard or other document be left in the manhole by the previous guy? Did you bring an example of such a placard?"
To this day, 25 years later, I still haven't heard the answers.
