The previous articles in this series outlined the essential components of a strong safety management system (SMS). To achieve safety success, electric power organizations must ensure those components align with and support one another. This article – the last in the series – addresses two final topics of importance: assessing an organization’s SMS performance and implementing a structured corrective action plan in response to identified performance gaps. We will use ANSI/ASSP Z10-2019, “Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems,” as a guide, focusing on performance measurements, in…

Ferroresonance is a complicated issue, one that industry workers must be educated about. That’s because as the number of URD system installations grows and systems age, instances of ferroresonance increase – as do threats to worker and customer safety, equipment and service reliability. I first became acquainted with ferroresonance in the 1980s while troubleshooting a pad-mounted, three-phase transformer at night. The pad fed a chemical plant, closed for the evening, in the middle of nowhere. The 480-volt, 2000-amp main was single-phasing, so plant electricians had dropped all the 480-volt…

In this installment of “Voice of Experience,” I am going to share a safety perspective that struck a real chord with me when someone offered it during a recent meeting. My goal in passing it along during this season of reflection is to prompt readers to contemplate and continue refining their safe work practices. From the time we are born, we learn about the world in various ways, often in the form of instructions about what we should and should not do. Our parents forbid us from crossing the street without their assistance. We are warned to keep our hands away from hot stovetops. Even bef…

Q: Can I ground through a wave trap? A: General discussion about wave or line traps centers on their function. At operating frequency, they have extremely low impedance to any voltage at 60 Hz. Some would say that for the sake of convenience, it’s OK to ground at a switch even where there is a line trap on its load side. That is a bit too simplified. Historically, we isolated a transmission line and grounded it to protect the crew. Sometimes a trap would be situated between the ground point and the work location. Today, we don’t ground to protect workers; we bond to protect them and ground…

“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.” Light. We literally cannot live without it. In addition to sustaining life, light can be used in various other ways, including helping us to see clearly and sanitizing unsafe conditions. That sounds a lot like what safety is all about, which means that safety professionals need to be the light. With that in mind, let’s discuss how you can become a safety light – one that shines brightly. Light is Revelatory When you lose something in the dark and then turn on a light, what you couldn’t see…

If you spend enough time in the safety world, you’ll notice something about the word “accountability”: everyone uses it and claims to value it. If you listen closely to safety-related conversations, you’ll also discover that accountability means different things to different people. For some, it’s a co-worker getting written up (i.e., identifying “who did it” and making sure there are consequences). The word essentially becomes a euphemism for “blame.” But while pointing fingers might feel satisfying in the moment, rarely does it lead to meaningful, positive change. Playing the blame ga…

In the demanding and often hazardous world of utility work, trust is not just a virtue – it’s a necessity. Crews rely on one another for productivity and survival. Yet peer pressure is one of the most underestimated threats to both trust and a strong safety culture. When it creeps into safety decisions, peer pressure does more than compromise individual judgment. It undermines the very foundation of a crew’s collective responsibility. This Tailgate Topic explores three critical topics: (1) how peer pressure affects trust; (2) the reasons it has no place in a healthy safety culture; and…

OSHA requires utility employers to provide appropriate personal protective equipment to their employees, such as non-conductive hard hats that meet the ANSI Z89.1 standard. The evolution of Class E helmets represents a significant advancement in worker safety, with 20,000-volt dielectric protection and fully sealed, non-vented designs creating a barrier against electrical conductivity in high-voltage environments. As utilities modernize their infrastructure, effective PPE remains much more than a regulatory requirement – it is a safety imperative. Numerous organizations are embracing sophi…