To Improve On-the-Job Safety, Consistency and Continuing Education are Key

It’s a little late to say Happy New Year, but I still want to wish all of you a fantastic and safe 2025. One of my hopes for this year is that I won’t be asked to investigate another incident or fatality – because we’ll all work together to ensure they never occur. We’ve had more than enough injuries and deaths in our industry’s history, including just this past year.

That’s why I want to ask each person reading this to make sure you’re taking the time needed to perform your tasks safely. We must continue the important work of preventing incidents and strive to significantly lower serious injury and fatality rates in the industry.

Some of you may be familiar with Kirby Smart, head football coach for the University of Georgia. Once, when a reporter asked him how to win games, he repeated the same advice he gives the football team: “Do what you’re supposed to do every time you’re supposed to do it. Nothing less will win the game.” I believe applying that same philosophy will keep lineworkers safer – because although failure to do what we’re supposed to do doesn’t always end poorly, it has the potential to do so 100% of the time. A better, safer approach to line work is to always follow all the rules and best practices, including using appropriate cover-up and grounding techniques to prevent accidents.

Each year, Forbes magazine publishes a list of what it deems the most dangerous careers in the U.S.; “electric utility lineman/technician” recently placed in the top 10. When I read that, I found I humbly disagreed with the magazine’s use of the word “dangerous.” I believe lineworkers have one of the most hazardous careers in the U.S.; it becomes dangerous when we fail to follow Kirby Smart’s advice. We must adhere to proper work procedures, safe work practices and regulatory guidelines every time a task is assigned to us – no matter the task or how many times we’ve done it before.

Statistics from OSHA and NIOSH regarding reported electrical fatalities have not meaningfully changed in the past two decades. Each time I consider that fact, I wonder to myself for the umpteenth time why the industry hasn’t been able to improve workplace safety and lower accident rates – particularly given all the improvements in tools, PPE and training. Perhaps the solution lies in more closely focusing on human performance and supervision.

A Serious Responsibility
Early in my career at an investor-owned utility, I was blessed to work for and with some of the best linemen in the industry. They dispensed quite a bit of advice, and I worked hard to emulate those men who made such an impression on me.

Having learned a great deal from them and others during the 40 years I spent at the company, I’m now in a position to dispense advice to newer lineworkers and other utility employees, a responsibility I take very seriously. I try to share everything I know in hopes that the information can be used to prevent more tragedies in the field.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that I’m called on almost weekly to either investigate or offer opinions about terrible accidents, including fatalities. I’ve come to find that it’s a never-ending job, with the same errors being made over and over. Yes, every incident is different, but I still believe that most – if not all – on-the-job injuries and fatalities can be prevented by complying with OSHA’s regulations. The agency’s standards explain what must be accomplished and why. Employers should look to consensus standards and industry best practices for guidance on how to perform the work.

The Human Condition
I’ve made many great friends through my relationship with Incident Prevention; among them are Jim Vaughn, Bill Martin, Lito Wilkins, Rod Courtney and Pam Tompkins. We are trainers, consultants, writers and speakers with our own stories to tell, yet our varied experiences have led each of us to the same belief: that line work must be conducted with the utmost professionalism and attention to detail.

We also recognize that human beings are fallible. As a species, we make mistakes in large part because of biases, bad habits we form over time and bad advice we receive from others. We also tend to think our way of doing things is the best or easiest way – even if it doesn’t fully comply with safety rules and regulations. For example, I’ve asked numerous lineworkers whether they should be using more cover-up and PPE; some of them have quickly replied that they’re knowledgeable and experienced enough to do the work without those additional protective barriers. Even if that’s true for them, do all their other crew members have that same knowledge and experience? Here’s something else to consider: Do we risk normalizing deviation by opting against the use of additional protection?

Become a ‘Learn-It-All’
When I first started working in the industry, supervisors and linemen would tell me that if I didn’t get hurt on the job every so often, I must not be doing much of anything. That was a terrible message to communicate – something I recognized even back then – but I didn’t know what I could possibly say in response given that I was the new guy just out of high school.

My work practices and habits were influenced by many of those linemen, the majority of whom were great at their jobs. But others were not, something that became clearer to me as I advanced in my career. An important lesson I learned through observation is that a worker who doesn’t always follow all the safety rules will eventually experience an incident of some kind. Using luck as a protective strategy is never a smart choice.

Of the incidents I’ve investigated in recent months, two have really stuck with me. One resulted in the death of a lineman who’d recently graduated from a development program and worked on a crew for less than a year. The other involved a more experienced lineman whose injuries led to his limbs being amputated. In both cases, I found it was easy to determine which safety rules had been violated simply by reviewing the facts and eyewitness accounts.

As I shared earlier, I want 2025 to be a fantastic and safe year for all industry employees. Continuing your education is an excellent way to work toward that objective. Become what I call a “learn-it-all” – because no matter how far you advance in your career, there’s always something else to be learned about the trade. By the way, one opportunity to continue your industry-relevant education is to join me on the second Friday of each month for the Incident Prevention Institute’s monthly forum. Visit https://ip-institute.com/ipi-forum/ for more information.

About the Author: Danny Raines, CUSP, is an author, an OSHA-authorized trainer, and a transmission and distribution safety consultant who retired from Georgia Power after 40 years of service and now operates Raines Utility Safety Solutions LLC.

Learn more from Danny Raines on the Utility Safety Podcast series. Listen now at https://utilitysafety.podbean.com!