The pros and cons of single-point equipotential grounding, as opposed to working between your grounds or bracket grounding, has generated a lot of dis...
This month’s Tailgate focuses on what we can do to combat overuse and overexertion injuries. As every utility employee knows, our work at times is hard, dirty and dangerous. The demands of our job require much physical wo...
This month’s Tailgate is a review of some basic safety precautions to take when using portable electric tools and equipment. The focus is on prevention of electrical shock, specifically when using 120-volt AC portable ele...
You’re a crew leader or even a supervisor and you really know your stuff, yet your crews aren’t quite following your direction. Something is amiss, but you can’t figure it out. Or maybe you’re a journeyman lineman, ...
More than 2,000 workers are injured yearly in arc-flash incidents. High incident electrical energy traveling through the air results in an arc flash. Electricity jumps across a gap in milliseconds, heating a small quantity ...
Does it really mean anything if the RAI (Recordable Accident Incident Rate) for your non-payroll workers (hereafter referred to as “contractors”) is 6.2? At Entergy, where our most important value is to “Create and Su...
Progress Energy is a Fortune 250 investor-owned electric utility company that comprises generation, transmission and distribution businesses and a general services company. Progress Energy’s 11,000 employees serve 2.9 mil...
To be absolutely clear – there is an arc hazard in the utility workplace. There is also a need for protecting employees with arc protective clothing. If you are responsible for hazard mediation, you should have an arc pro...
This feature's title is not a rhetorical question. There really should be an answer-a definitive, widely accepted answer we could all give quickly and consistently. There isn't and we can't, though we try with great confide...
The essence of safety is preventing incidents from having the opportunity to occur. When they do occur, it is usually the result of one or more safety systems failures. Failures, however, are the seeds of opportunity. Incid...
Identifying PPE Mistakes in Electric Arc Flash Programs
After a decade of electric arc testing, incident investigations and incident replications using electric arcs, a few lessons have emerged as critical in assessing a ...
This feature's title is not a rhetorical question. There really should be an answer-a definitive, widely accepted answer we could all give quickly and consistently. There isn't and we can't, though we try with great confide...