Articles

Advancing Safety Through Total Well-Being: Practical Tips and Ideas for Utility Leaders
Over the past 50 years, the electric utility industry has developed and implemented robust engineering controls, detailed work procedures and focused training to reduce injury and fatality rates among workers. However, the total well-being of the worker is another critical safety factor that utility organizations often don’t address.
Well-being encompasses physical health as well as mental, emotional and social dimensions that can significantly influence an individual’s capacity to make sound decisions, maintain situational awareness and successfully mitigate risks. Workers bring their who…

Equipotential Grounding for URD Work
I have written about grounding for the protection of employees numerous times in Incident Prevention magazine, addressing both the law and other issues. Let’s begin this installment with the understanding that “grounding for the protection of employees” – which is the phrase OSHA uses – means establishing an equipotential zone or EPZ. The purpose of grounding is to trip circuits. Grounding for the protection of employees can only be assured if it is arranged in an equipotential manner, preventing the worker from being exposed to a hazardous difference in potential. That’s the bottom line, and…

The Evolution of Personal Protective Grounding: Part 1
Personal protective grounding, or PPG, is arguably the most critical safety procedure affecting contemporary lineworkers. Over time, it has evolved to include numerous significant elements that contribute to the success of today’s comprehensive methods and procedures.
To adequately address these elements, this article will be presented in two parts. Part one, which you are now reading, covers PPG’s early years. Part two – scheduled to be published in the October-November issue of Incident Prevention – will cover the critical testing and development that led to the methods and procedures cu…
Safety By Design: Human and Organizational Performance
The first three articles in this six-part series addressed the critical nature and value of an organizational safety management system (SMS) that engages all employees and effectively mitigates risks through a developed plan for continuous improvement. This article focuses on human and organizational performance (HOP), an operational philosophy that utility organizations must incorporate into their SMS to achieve organizational safety success.
Over the years, traditional safety programs have primarily focused on managing employees, often overlooking the crucial systems designed to support…
Clearing Up Confusion About Host-Contractor Relationships
In my consulting work, I’ve found there is some industry confusion regarding the relationship between a host utility and an independent contractor company. To help provide clarity, I’m going to kick off this installment of “Voice of Experience” with an overview of each party’s obligations from an OSHA perspective.
A contract employee performs work covered by a signed agreement between the host utility and the contractor company. The host’s construction coordinator must work with contract employees on the host’s system. The host must also provide training for the tasks contract employees ar…
August-September 2025 Q&A
Q: If a crew is setting a steel pole between energized phases (69 kV), would the 3.29-foot minimum approach distance found in OSHA Table 6 apply, or should we defer to the 15-foot clearance?
A: Setting poles is new construction that OSHA covers in 29 CFR 1926.960, Table V-5, “Alternative Minimum Approach Distances for Voltages of 72.5 kV and Less.”
There is cover rated up to 72 kV phase to phase, so for a 69-kV system, cover can be used. Without cover, an electrical crew can use the 3.29-foot MAD for phase to ground. If cover is not used and a conductive object could enter the electrica…
Your Response Matters … A Lot
How you respond to other people and events matters. It matters a lot. Your responses – both as a leader and a member of the TEAM (Together Everyone Accomplishes More) – impact every part of your life, including culture, relationships and safety.
Let’s start with this: “Responding” is a task. To perform the task well, we need tools that give us time to think, help us focus our attention and assist us in controlling our work, emotions, risk tolerance and decision-making. Now, keeping in mind that good tools help us work better and great tools help us think better, we’re going to discuss a gr…
Disable Reclosing to Heighten Worker Protection
In utility line work, safety is built on layers. Each layer is essential; ideally, if one fails, another layer will prevent alignment of all the holes in James Reason’s proverbial Swiss cheese.
Recently, while preparing a training presentation focused on switching procedures, de-energization and grounding, I found myself thinking through the process backward and forward. I considered the moment a line is still energized, imagining the scenarios that could unfold for a troubleman or line crew. Then I thought forward again, this time to the crew working behind an open switch, between grounds…
5 Core Components of a Well-Developed Storm Response Plan
Electric utilities are part of the backbone of modern society, providing essential power to homes, businesses, emergency services providers and more. But this critical service is vulnerable to extreme weather events that can cause massive disruptions, damage infrastructure and jeopardize public safety. Due to the frequency and severity of such events, it is more important than ever for electric power organizations to have a comprehensive storm response plan in place.
I’ve consistently been involved in storm response planning throughout my career, both as a lineman and a safety specialist…

Variabilities in Electrical Arc Flash Protection
Accuracies are synonymous with safety and science. While many perceive that electrical safety needs to be highly exact, this article aims at creating awareness of why sticking to the basics is effective.
But before we delve into variability in electrical engineering, safe electrical work practices and electrical PPE, here is a brief story my second-year engineering physics professor shared when I was in school: A person stands in the center of a boxing ring; their soulmate stands in the corner. The person in the center is only allowed to walk toward their soulmate in discrete steps defined b…

From Risk to Reliability: Improving Rope Safety in Energized Environments
The tools and equipment employed by electrical workers must possess the necessary insulating properties to ensure user safety. One such tool, dielectric rope, can be overlooked as a component of electrical safety, but modern standards and rigorous testing protocols are transforming the way this type of rope is designed, used and maintained.
The transition from use of traditional synthetic ropes (e.g., double-braided polyester or polypropylene with wax or overlay finishes) – which can absorb contaminants and moisture, thereby significantly reducing their insulating properties – to dielectric…

Built In, Not Bolted On: Using Safety to Drive Operational Excellence
Employers in the electric utility industry are currently working on initiatives in various areas of their businesses, including safety, quality, production, leadership, and human and organizational performance (HOP). These are important programs, but it’s unlikely they’ll fully achieve their intended objectives if employees don’t have a firm grasp on how these various aspects of work impact one another – and the ideal order in which they should be addressed.
As someone who has spent a great deal of time studying HOP and teaching its principles to others, I understand that part of the philoso…

Safety By Design: Safety Management System Planning
In the first two parts of this six-part series, I discussed the importance of creating and implementing a safety management system (SMS) that actively involves all employees. This part will focus on (1) identifying and prioritizing an organization’s safety needs based on specific hazards and risks and (2) developing a plan with clear objectives and targets to meet those needs. Without a solid plan, it’s difficult to assess whether the SMS is effective and adds value to your organization.
Early in my career, I didn’t fully grasp the significance of having a safety plan. I often experimented…
OSHA-Compliant Employee Training
“Yes, we are OSHA compliant. Our apprentice lineworkers are trained and certified by a local line school, which guarantees that the training they deliver meets OSHA standards. Every six months, we send the apprentices to the school for two weeks of hands-on training. They also take online classes in between the hands-on sessions; the online classes are delivered via a learning management system (LMS) operated by the school. It takes two years for an apprentice to complete the program. If the apprentice passes the written and practical exams delivered through the LMS, the line school then cert…
Bucket Truck Safety: OSHA Standards and Other Considerations
I receive numerous and varied questions about the safe use of bucket trucks in electric utility operations, so in this installment of “Voice of Experience,” I am going to share with you the OSHA standards you need to know as well as some things I have discovered during observations and audits of field crews.
First, it is important to recognize that there is a substantial difference between Class A barehand bucket trucks and the Class B trucks used in gloving distribution. Class A barehand trucks are used for precisely that type of work; to protect employees, OSHA requires grounding the vehic…