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iPi Monthly Forum for Utility Professionals
The iPi monthly forum is where you can get answers to questions you have from subject matter experts like David McPeak, Jim Vaughn, Danny Raines and other utility safety and ops professionals like yourself. Forums will include industry specific topics, challenges, trends, and solutions along with best practices in leadership, operations, and safety.
Organizations that embrace holistic worker wellness as part of their safety strategy can move beyond compliance into the realm of cultural transformation.
Built In, Not Bolted On: Using Safety to Drive Operational Excellence
Employers in the electric utility industry are currently working on initiatives in various areas of their businesses, including safety, quality, production, leadership, and human and organizational performance (HOP). These are important programs, but it’s unlikely they’ll fully achieve their intended objectives if employees don’t have a firm grasp on how these various aspects of work impact one a…
Beyond the ABCs: Fall Protection for Unique Tasks
The electric transmission and distribution (T&D) industry often requires work in challenging environments. Whether crew members access tall structures by helicopter, use rope-access methods to climb lattice towers, or ride wire carts to install and maintain spacers along energized lines, their approach goes beyond standard ground-based operations. These specialized techniques can speed up pro…
August-September 2025 Q&A
Q: If a crew is setting a steel pole between energized phases (69 kV), would the 3.29-foot minimum approach distance found in OSHA Table 6 apply, or should we defer to the 15-foot clearance?
A: Setting poles is new construction that OSHA covers in 29 CFR 1926.960, Table V-5, “Alternative Minimum…
Your Response Matters … A Lot
How you respond to other people and events matters. It matters a lot. Your responses – both as a leader and a member of the TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) – impact every part of your life, including culture, relationships and safety.
Let’s start with this: “Responding” is a task. To…
Safety By Design: Human and Organizational Performance
The first three articles in this six-part series addressed the critical nature and value of an organizational safety management system (SMS) that engages all employees and effectively mitigates risks through a developed plan for continuous improvement. This article focuses on human and organization…
Clearing Up Confusion About Host-Contractor Relationships
In my consulting work, I’ve found there is some industry confusion regarding the relationship between a host utility and an independent contractor company. To help provide clarity, I’m going to kick off this installment of “Voice of Experience” with an overview of each party’s obligations from an O…
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Safety Management
Advancing Safety Through Total Well-Being: Practical Tips and Ideas for Utility Leaders
Over the past 50 years, the electric utility industry has developed and implemented robust engineering controls, detailed work procedures and focused training to reduce injury and fatality rates among workers. However, the total well-being of the worker is another critical safety factor that utilit…
Safety By Design: Human and Organizational Performance
The first three articles in this six-part series addressed the critical nature and value of an organizational safety management system (SMS) that engages all employees and effectively mitigates risks through a developed plan for continuous improvement. This article focuses on human and organization…
Variabilities in Electrical Arc Flash Protection
Accuracies are synonymous with safety and science. While many perceive that electrical safety needs to be highly exact, this article aims at creating awareness of why sticking to the basics is effective.
But before we delve into variability in electrical engineering, safe electrical work practices…
Built In, Not Bolted On: Using Safety to Drive Operational Excellence
Employers in the electric utility industry are currently working on initiatives in various areas of their businesses, including safety, quality, production, leadership, and human and organizational performance (HOP). These are important programs, but it’s unlikely they’ll fully achieve their intend…
Safety By Design: Human and Organizational Performance
The first three articles in this six-part series addressed the critical nature and value of an organizational safety management system (SMS) that engages all employees and effectively mitigates risks through a developed plan for continuous improvement. This article focuses on human and organization…
Variabilities in Electrical Arc Flash Protection
Accuracies are synonymous with safety and science. While many perceive that electrical safety needs to be highly exact, this article aims at creating awareness of why sticking to the basics is effective.
But before we delve into variability in electrical engineering, safe electrical work practices…
Built In, Not Bolted On: Using Safety to Drive Operational Excellence
Employers in the electric utility industry are currently working on initiatives in various areas of their businesses, including safety, quality, production, leadership, and human and organizational performance (HOP). These are important programs, but it’s unlikely they’ll fully achieve their intend…
Organizations that embrace holistic worker wellness as part of their safety strategy can move beyond compliance into the realm of cultural transformation.
Advancing Safety Through Total Well-Being: Practical Tips and Ideas for Utility Leaders
Over the past 50 years, the electric utility industry has developed and implemented robust engineering controls, detailed work procedures and focused training to reduce injury and fatality rates among workers. However, the total well-being of the worker is another critical safety factor that utilit…
The Roadmap to Gaining Senior Leader Buy-In for Safety Initiatives
In a recent survey we conducted, 97% of safety professionals who responded confirmed that gaining senior leader buy-in for their safety programs was either very important or extremely important to them.
This research project was a joint effort between the National Electrical Contractors Associat…
Worksite Safety
The Evolution of Personal Protective Grounding: Part 1
Personal protective grounding, or PPG, is arguably the most critical safety procedure affecting contemporary lineworkers. Over time, it has evolved to include numerous significant elements that contribute to the success of today’s comprehensive methods and procedures.
To adequately address these…
Variabilities in Electrical Arc Flash Protection
Accuracies are synonymous with safety and science. While many perceive that electrical safety needs to be highly exact, this article aims at creating awareness of why sticking to the basics is effective.
But before we delve into variability in electrical engineering, safe electrical work practices…
From Risk to Reliability: Improving Rope Safety in Energized Environments
The tools and equipment employed by electrical workers must possess the necessary insulating properties to ensure user safety. One such tool, dielectric rope, can be overlooked as a component of electrical safety, but modern standards and rigorous testing protocols are transforming the way this typ…
Beyond the ABCs: Fall Protection for Unique Tasks
The electric transmission and distribution (T&D) industry often requires work in challenging environments. Whether crew members access tall structures by helicopter, use rope-access methods to climb lattice towers, or ride wire carts to install and maintain spacers along energized lines, their…
Variabilities in Electrical Arc Flash Protection
Accuracies are synonymous with safety and science. While many perceive that electrical safety needs to be highly exact, this article aims at creating awareness of why sticking to the basics is effective.
But before we delve into variability in electrical engineering, safe electrical work practices…
From Risk to Reliability: Improving Rope Safety in Energized Environments
The tools and equipment employed by electrical workers must possess the necessary insulating properties to ensure user safety. One such tool, dielectric rope, can be overlooked as a component of electrical safety, but modern standards and rigorous testing protocols are transforming the way this typ…
Beyond the ABCs: Fall Protection for Unique Tasks
The electric transmission and distribution (T&D) industry often requires work in challenging environments. Whether crew members access tall structures by helicopter, use rope-access methods to climb lattice towers, or ride wire carts to install and maintain spacers along energized lines, their…
Disable Reclosing to Heighten Worker Protection
In utility line work, safety is built on layers. Each layer is essential; ideally, if one fails, another layer will prevent alignment of all the holes in James Reason’s proverbial Swiss cheese.
Recently, while preparing a training presentation focused on switching procedures, de-energization and grounding, I found myself thinking through the process backward and forward. I considered the moment a line is still energized, imagining the scenarios that could unfold for a troubleman or line crew. Then I thought forward again, this time to the crew working behind an open switch, between grounds…
5 Core Components of a Well-Developed Storm Response Plan
Electric utilities are part of the backbone of modern society, providing essential power to homes, businesses, emergency services providers and more. But this critical service is vulnerable to extreme weather events that can cause massive disruptions, damage infrastructure and jeopardize public saf…
Recording and Analyzing Job Briefings Can Save Lives
Planning saves lives. Whether you call it a job briefing or a tailboard, taking time before work begins to identify potential hazards, discuss elimination and mitigation strategies, and align the crew reduces the risk of incidents – and it’s an OSHA requirement per 29 CFR 1910.269(c). Studies consi…
