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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.
Simulation technology offers many benefits, including its ability to reduce the likelihood of safety incidents.
Assessing and Mitigating Risk in Helicopter Line Work
Aerial line work using helicopters is a proven method utilized in our industry to perform certain tasks safely and efficiently. Helicopters have supported the utility industry since 1947. Operators conducting aerial work in support of the utility industry encounter different hazards due to various flight profiles, terrain, infrastructure and weather environments. Aerial work concerning the util…
Training Considerations for Active Shooter Response Programs
Active shooter response training for utility professionals is a subject that shouldn’t be ignored. However, few subjects are as challenging or controversial.
For decades, active shooter response training has been touted as a one-size-fits-all remedy that instills long-lasting, actionable survival skills in one easy application. In reality, off-the-shelf training programs seldom deliver on promi…
The Meter Base Checkout Procedure
To emphasize the critical importance of the meter base checkout procedure, this installment of “Voice of Experience” will cover the proper procedures for (1) checking out a meter base before setting a self-contained meter on new services and (2) resetting a meter after it has been removed and the…
Trailers, Brakes and Common Usage Errors
I perform audits of both utilities and contractors. When I work with them to do those audits, we include trucks and trailers. The trailers I’m talking about here are not the box vans behind tractors, but the general-duty trailers used to haul trenchers, backhoes, wire reels and padmount transform…
Make It Safe To …
A trainer, speaking to trainees at the start of class: “Welcome, class. You are encouraged to ask questions and participate. Remember, if you have a question, 15% to 20% of the class probably has the same question.”
A trainee, a few hours later: “I have a question.” The trainee then asks the t…
October-November 2024 Q&A
Q: We are looking for some direction and opinions regarding SF6 gas switches. The SF6 switches we use on our campus are older and starting to pose problems. Some are leaking and others are very difficult to operate. Can you help?
A: Sulfur hexafluoride, or SF6, isn’t a topic or problem we can …
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Safety Management
Designing Safe and Inclusive Work Systems for a Neurodiverse Workplace
Editor’s Note: Incident Prevention readers’ initial reaction to the following article might be, “HIPAA?” You are encouraged to check for yourself, but HIPAA – the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – does not apply to the methodologies the author presents (see www.hhs.gov/hipaa/f…
Empowering Utility Workers: Integrating Job Control and Resource Availability for Enhanced Safety
In the utility industry, workplace safety is of vital importance. Utility workers face numerous hazards daily, from working at heights and handling electrical equipment to operating in confined spaces and dealing with extreme weather conditions.
To ensure the well-being of these essential work…
Training Considerations for Active Shooter Response Programs
Active shooter response training for utility professionals is a subject that shouldn’t be ignored. However, few subjects are as challenging or controversial.
For decades, active shooter response training has been touted as a one-size-fits-all remedy that instills long-lasting, actionable survi…
Beyond the Physical Toll: The Collateral Damage of Safety Incidents
While leading a recent workshop at a client location, the introductions began by individually discussing how incidents at work have affected us. One story shared left an impact on all in attendance.
Fifteen years ago, an employee suffered what at the time seemed like a simple and small fractur…
Empowering Utility Workers: Integrating Job Control and Resource Availability for Enhanced Safety
In the utility industry, workplace safety is of vital importance. Utility workers face numerous hazards daily, from working at heights and handling electrical equipment to operating in confined spaces and dealing with extreme weather conditions.
To ensure the well-being of these essential work…
Training Considerations for Active Shooter Response Programs
Active shooter response training for utility professionals is a subject that shouldn’t be ignored. However, few subjects are as challenging or controversial.
For decades, active shooter response training has been touted as a one-size-fits-all remedy that instills long-lasting, actionable survi…
Beyond the Physical Toll: The Collateral Damage of Safety Incidents
While leading a recent workshop at a client location, the introductions began by individually discussing how incidents at work have affected us. One story shared left an impact on all in attendance.
Fifteen years ago, an employee suffered what at the time seemed like a simple and small fractur…
As organizations navigate an increasingly complex business landscape, the importance of frontline leadership development cannot be overstated.
The Transformative Impact of Training for Frontline Managers
Frontline managers are crucial because they bridge organizational goals and frontline employees. They significantly influence workplace dynamics and performance outcomes. In this context, my company surveyed 110 safety professionals and interviewed 10 safety professionals across various industrie…
Pattern Disruption: Don’t Start with ‘Why’
In the northern latitudes, Mother Nature is deeply vested in a cycle of pattern disruption. The four seasons change the ecosystems and habitats. As the seasons shift in New York, the lake that I live on moves from a warm thermocline with colder layers on the bottom and warmer water on top to the …
Worksite Safety
Reduce Risk with New Strategies for Operator Training
Utilities and utility contractors highly value safety. However, labor shortages can sometimes corner field supervisors into making a judgment call about whether an equipment operator is ready for the task. If Foreman A believes an operator is ready after several weeks of training but Foreman B be…
Hand Protection for Electrical Shock and Arc Flash Hazards
Hand protection has evolved in recent times, perhaps making the greatest advancements in the past decade. Although the primary focus of this article is hand protection for electrical shock and arc flash hazards, it also explores the multihazard protection incorporated into newer-generation hand p…
Dielectric Testing for Insulating Aerial Devices
Insulating aerial devices and digger derricks are used to provide a level of protection to their operators and ground personnel who work around energized power lines. Following established safe work procedures is critical, as is testing and maintaining the equipment so that it continues to provid…
Assessing and Mitigating Risk in Helicopter Line Work
Aerial line work using helicopters is a proven method utilized in our industry to perform certain tasks safely and efficiently. Helicopters have supported the utility industry since 1947. Operators conducting aerial work in support of the utility industry encounter different hazards due to variou…
Hand Protection for Electrical Shock and Arc Flash Hazards
Hand protection has evolved in recent times, perhaps making the greatest advancements in the past decade. Although the primary focus of this article is hand protection for electrical shock and arc flash hazards, it also explores the multihazard protection incorporated into newer-generation hand p…
Dielectric Testing for Insulating Aerial Devices
Insulating aerial devices and digger derricks are used to provide a level of protection to their operators and ground personnel who work around energized power lines. Following established safe work procedures is critical, as is testing and maintaining the equipment so that it continues to provid…
Assessing and Mitigating Risk in Helicopter Line Work
Aerial line work using helicopters is a proven method utilized in our industry to perform certain tasks safely and efficiently. Helicopters have supported the utility industry since 1947. Operators conducting aerial work in support of the utility industry encounter different hazards due to variou…
Proactive Risk Reduction: The Key to Sustainable Success
In an increasingly complex and volatile business landscape, the ability to proactively identify, assess and mitigate risks is not merely a valuable skill – it’s a strategic imperative for sustainable success. As leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators, our capacity to anticipate and navigate risks can be the difference between stagnation and growth and between surviving and thriving in a rapidly evolving world.
Risk management is not a one-time task but a continuous process that requires vigilance, adaptability and foresight. By cultivating a proactive approach to risk reduction, we can en…
The Evolution of Tree-Trimming Safety Practices
In 2013, tree trimming was a different game.
We worked hard, but safety protocols were often viewed as an inconvenience rather than a necessity. I guess you could say it was a bit like the Wild West – we did what we needed to do to get the job done. Most days, there wasn’t anyone to come out t…
The Best Practice
I am not a person who puts much stock in luck. I believe that in our line of business, it takes the correct tools to do a job correctly – especially since I’ve been the victim of a 4-inch lag to the forehead while trying to use a bell wrench as a hammer. I also believe that how you use those tool…
