In a few years I’ll be 60. I’ve been in the business now for 37 years, but no one ever talked to me about how to care for my feet until I finally had to go to a podiatrist a few years ago. When he looked at my X-rays he said, quite confidently, “You are a lineman right?” It seems he had seen the picture several times before.

Many utility companies are focusing on zero injuries and their efforts have been paying off, with fewer employees are getting hurt. This is attributed to an arsenal of things such as meaningful safety meetings, applying injury prevention theories, ergonomic tools, detailed job briefings and many other proactive safety actions. If you are lucky enough to work for such a company, you should be proud of yourself and your fellow employees and continue to strive for zero injuries.

Electric utilities have unique issues that are not easily addressed in a traditional LOTO program. Traditional programs typically address equipment and system designs that rarely change. This is certainly not true with electric utility Transmission and Distribution (T&D) programs. LOTO procedures are dynamic, changing from day to day and sometimes from hour to hour.

Compressed gas has become very commonplace in the utility industry. Flammable gases are used for cutting, burning and welding. Propane is used to heat mastic for piping or to melt lead for splices. Compressed gas fuels are used for fork trucks while refrigerant gases are used by fleet personnel. As a result, most utility workers are exposed to gas cylinders as part of their daily operations.

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and ongoing spill is only the latest in a series of dramatic high-profile disasters. A decade that began with the devastation of 9/11 has also featured Hurricane Katrina, massive flooding and destructive wildfires in the U.S.; high magnitude earthquakes in China, Haiti, and Chile with the resulting Tsunami in Malaysia and Thailand; the H1N1 epidemic; terrorist attacks or attempts worldwide; and mass killings by lone gunmen at Ft. Hood, Texas and Virginia Tech. If there is one lesson these horrific incidents clearly demonstrate, it’s the critical importance of proper disaster response and preparedness.

By some estimates, as many as 50,000 new lineworkers will need to be trained by 2016. The Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD) estimates that between 40 and 50 percent of the current pool of aging lineworkers will retire during that period. Coupled with adding 13,500 new positions because of growth, the industry will need to find and train more than 8,000 new lineworkers every year.

Employees may occasionally encounter crops and substations that have recently been sprayed with pesticides. This Tailgate describes what to look for and the safe work practices to use to minimize pesticide exposure.

“Line of fire” is a military term that describes the path of a discharged missile or firearm. It’s the path an object will travel. In utility work there are many objects that have potential to create line of fire exposure.

Prior to 1950, sources report that 30 percent of all linemen were electrocuted on the job. As a result, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has ranked “Lineman” as one of the 10 most dangerous jobs. Since then, insulated equipment such as fiberglass tools and rubber goods, along with well-documented safety techniques and work standards, have improved safety dramatically. Also, mandated periodic safety tests help to keep tools and equipment in working order.

When searching for ways to improve safety and safety culture, many companies administer safety perception surveys to identify areas for improvement. A common category that is probed is management’s support for safety. When positive perceptions are identified, many organizations will move on to other categories. However, it is important to understand what is influencing a positive perception within a culture if you would like it to persist.

It’s a warm summer day in San Diego. The temperature is 85 degrees, the relative humidity is 30 percent, and winds are out of the west at 10 to 15 miles per hour. A utility crew from San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) is performing maintenance on a broken cross-arm on a wooden 69-kilovolt transmission pole. Suddenly, a phase-to-phase contact causes a shower of sparks, igniting the dry grass below. The fire grows quickly and blackens several square feet of grass around the pole. A crew from SDG&E’s wildfire contractor, Fire Stop, has been working next to the utility crew. As a precaution, the Fire Stop crew had already positioned a dry hose line within 25 feet of where the fire started and had placed firefighting hand tools and a dry chemical extinguisher nearby.

Hydraulic tools and equipment have come a long way over the past several decades and even over the last several years. Utilities and many other industries rely on hydraulic tools, equipment and systems to get the job done. Getting the job done is always a big concern, but the priority should always be on getting the job done safely.

Workplace safety is not an exact science. We can determine hazards, measure risks, provide protective equipment, implement policies and procedures – and then inject corrective actions when needed – but may still fall short of stellar performance.

In the electric utility industry, there are several often-asked questions about FR clothing. The following questions and answers address many common concerns.

This month we continue with the remaining tools that will help you with error-free performance. First, a quick recap:
• Human error is normal, but can be provoked by practices found in the workplace and by traps in organizational processes, procedures and culture.
• When applied in the moment, a series of techniques called “tools” will catch errors or help avoid error traps.
• A tool can be used alone or multiple tools can be used depending on the complexity of the task.
• The challenge is developing the habit to routinely use tools. They are used every day by emergency room personnel, 911 center operators, pilots and air traffic controllers, nuclear plant personnel and employees of other businesses where errors create unwanted consequences. These tools are used around the world because they work.

Have you ever:
• Driven through a stop sign without realizing it because you were deep in thought?
• Lost your place while reading a book?
• Gotten distracted while performing a task and ended up having to do it again?
• Found yourself writing the wrong year on a check in January?
• Taken direction over the phone only to realize you’re lost when you attempt to follow what you wrote down?
• Built or assembled something only to find out you have to rebuild it because there are leftover parts?

Human error is natural, but can be provoked by workplace practices and traps in organizational processes, procedures and culture. Understanding human error helps us realize that we, as human beings, possess a wide range of capabilities, yet we also have many limitations.

If you’re in a quandary over arc flash compliance, you’re not alone, according to Incident Prevention’s recent survey.

Learn about the advantages of becoming a credentialed utility safety professional in today’s transitioning workforce.

Ground grids provide a fundamental safety feature in substations and should be tested periodically. Unfortunately, some are approaching 100 years old and haven’t been tested in many years.

Job Safety Analysis (JSA) and Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) are often talked about as separate activities, but are actually very much the same. The basic idea is that they both involve the careful study of each job step to identify potential or existing job hazards generated by equipment, environments or employee actions. The most efficient way to reduce or eliminate hazards is then determined.