Preventing Underground Damage
Construction professionals understand the importance of not damaging buried utilities while performing any type of new construction and maintenance work. Even so, accidental strikes of underground utility lines continue to interrupt essential services, cause millions of dollars in damage, result in serious injuries, and in some cases, loss of life. As utility easements become more […]
Training Second Point of Contact
The second point of contact is common terminology that is utilized industry wide when discussing energized work methods, such as rubber gloving or hot sticking. Ignoring the hazards of the second point of contact is the primary contributor to electrical contacts while working with rubber gloves or hot sticks. A study conducted by the National […]
Human Performance
The Generic Error Modeling System (GEMS) has developed a framework for understanding error types and designing error prevention strategies. During just about every conference at which I speak at least one person asks, “Okay, what is this human performance stuff?” I typically answer by making an analogy to behavior-based safety programs that are directed at […]
Arc Flash – Are You in Compliance?
Some utility personnel have resisted arc-flash compliance with the presumption that arc flashes and blasts are not a major issue for the utility industry. Organizations and standards committees such as IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), NFPA70E (National Fire Protection Association), EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute), CRN (Cooperative Research Network) and others confirm this […]