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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.
Textile advancements available in today’s garments offer improved performance in extreme temperatures.
Solar Backfeed Safety on Distribution and Secondary Circuits
Editor’s Note: This timely article specifically addresses the contemporary issue of green-energy backfeed endangering power-line workers. Unlike engine-powered backup generators, green energy makes no telltale noise to alert workers to its presence and possible hazards. Incident Prevention encourages all employers to assess the risks related to backup energy sources and adopt effective storm-wo…
An Experiment in Crew Member Engagement
I don’t talk about myself a lot – I listen. I developed this skill after taking on a leadership position with a utility contractor in an industry I knew nothing about.
My work history prior to this role included management in pretty much every industry except utilities. In each of my previous jobs, I strived to learn and advance from an entry-level position. In this new position, I no longer ha…
June – July 2024 Q&A
Q: Why don’t all utilities use rubber gloves with hot sticks?
A: One of our supporting consultants sent us this question that he gets all the time. The answer is simple: There is no requirement in any standard to use rubber gloves with hot sticks. Rubber-gloving hot sticks has evolved as a wor…
START Work Authority
Stop-work authority is crucial in our industry. Understand me when I say this: If people aren’t using stop-work authority, they don’t have that authority even if it’s promoted on a bulletin board somewhere.
With that said, I want to propose START (self, task, assess, reduce, thrive) work autho…
Apprentice Development Programs: What Should be Included?
Over the years, I have received many questions asking what it takes to become a journeyman lineworker after being hired as an apprentice. In response, I have prepared the following overview of the skills training I believe needs to be covered. Please note that this is only an overview; some compa…
Don’t Abuse OSHA’s Digger Derrick Exemption
This isn’t the first time – and I suspect it won’t be the last time – that I have addressed the question of what work can be done under the digger derrick exemption found in OSHA’s Cranes and Derricks in Construction standard (29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC). The issue has come up constantly since the ma…
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Safety Management
DOT Compliance Considerations for Electric Utilities
The roar of diesel engines fills the midnight air as a crew of linemen prepares to depart for a critical repair job. Their trucks are loaded with tools and equipment, ready to tackle a downed power line that lies miles away. But before they hit the open road, there’s one crucial hurdle to clear: …
Ergonomics for a Multigenerational Workforce
Gray wave. Silver tsunami. Population aging.
We’ve all heard the names and metaphors, and experts have talked about the phenomenon for years. In 2024, it’s truly upon us: The population, both in the United States and abroad, is getting older, with major implications for the workforce and how e…
Five Core Capacities for Sustainable Safety Excellence
Does your organization have the capacity to achieve sustainable excellence in safety performance and culture?
For excellence to become a reality in any important area of operations, especially safety, there are five vital capacities that organizations must develop, monitor and synergize to ada…
An Experiment in Crew Member Engagement
I don’t talk about myself a lot – I listen. I developed this skill after taking on a leadership position with a utility contractor in an industry I knew nothing about.
My work history prior to this role included management in pretty much every industry except utilities. In each of my previous …
Ergonomics for a Multigenerational Workforce
Gray wave. Silver tsunami. Population aging.
We’ve all heard the names and metaphors, and experts have talked about the phenomenon for years. In 2024, it’s truly upon us: The population, both in the United States and abroad, is getting older, with major implications for the workforce and how e…
Five Core Capacities for Sustainable Safety Excellence
Does your organization have the capacity to achieve sustainable excellence in safety performance and culture?
For excellence to become a reality in any important area of operations, especially safety, there are five vital capacities that organizations must develop, monitor and synergize to ada…
An Experiment in Crew Member Engagement
I don’t talk about myself a lot – I listen. I developed this skill after taking on a leadership position with a utility contractor in an industry I knew nothing about.
My work history prior to this role included management in pretty much every industry except utilities. In each of my previous …
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
Innovations in FR/AR Clothing: Elevating Comfort for Optimal Performance
In the utility industry, the reliance on flame-resistant (FR) and arc-rated (AR) garments has been a longstanding practice to safeguard workers against arc flashes and flash fires. Crafted from specially engineered, self-extinguishing fabrics and adhering to stringent testing standards, these gar…
Solar Backfeed Safety on Distribution and Secondary Circuits
Editor’s Note: This timely article specifically addresses the contemporary issue of green-energy backfeed endangering power-line workers. Unlike engine-powered backup generators, green energy makes no telltale noise to alert workers to its presence and possible hazards. Incident Prevention encour…
An Experiment in Crew Member Engagement
I don’t talk about myself a lot – I listen. I developed this skill after taking on a leadership position with a utility contractor in an industry I knew nothing about.
My work history prior to this role included management in pretty much every industry except utilities. In each of my previous …
Skid-Steer Loaders: Hazard Awareness and Recommended Safety Practices
In 2009, OSHA published a safety and health information bulletin in part because of the seriousness of injuries that have occurred with skid-steer loaders (see www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/shib011209.pdf). Similarly, NIOSH published an alert in December 2010 in response to the ha…
Solar Backfeed Safety on Distribution and Secondary Circuits
Editor’s Note: This timely article specifically addresses the contemporary issue of green-energy backfeed endangering power-line workers. Unlike engine-powered backup generators, green energy makes no telltale noise to alert workers to its presence and possible hazards. Incident Prevention encour…
An Experiment in Crew Member Engagement
I don’t talk about myself a lot – I listen. I developed this skill after taking on a leadership position with a utility contractor in an industry I knew nothing about.
My work history prior to this role included management in pretty much every industry except utilities. In each of my previous …
Skid-Steer Loaders: Hazard Awareness and Recommended Safety Practices
In 2009, OSHA published a safety and health information bulletin in part because of the seriousness of injuries that have occurred with skid-steer loaders (see www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/shib011209.pdf). Similarly, NIOSH published an alert in December 2010 in response to the ha…
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 tools is equally important. And finally, I believe that there are times when we need a little help from documents called “best practices.”
What exactly is a best practice? It is a set of guidelines, ethics or ideas that represent the most efficient or prudent course of action in a given situation. Es…
Saving Lives with Quality CPR
With the best of intentions, our industry has not been able to change the persistent statistics of serious injuries and fatalities over the past decade. Even the most brilliant ideas seem to be unable to be translated into a change in work. So, while we continue trying to determine how to slow ou…
Expand Pre-Job Briefings to Include Your Hydro-Excavator Partners
Most state’s dig laws restrict the use of mechanized equipment within specified tolerance zones of buried utilities. Because of these laws, hydro-excavation trucks working in conjunction with electric line crews are now more prevalent throughout the industry.
START Work Authority
Stop-work authority is crucial in our industry. Understand me when I say this: If people aren’t using stop-work authority, they don’t have that authority even if it’s promoted on a bulletin board somewhere.
With that said, I want to propose START (self, task, assess, reduce, thrive) work autho…
Receiving Feedback
Most leadership development programs talk about the vital skill of giving feedback, as they should. I hope you’ve been trained on coaching and feedback and that you practice and enhance those skills frequently.
But what about receiving feedback? That is another skill that can be learned, pract…
Game-Planning for Safety
Given a relatively equal amount of talent on both sides, the sports TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) with the best game plan will likely win. Examining what champions – especially those that create dynasties – do well provides us with insight into achieving excellence in safety.
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