Someone asked me…
“Why do you still travel to teach safety to utilities and linemen?” It was an honest question. With all the talk of linemen safety and being your brother’s keeper, it appears to be a conversation everyone has already had. So why do I continue to travel?
Because the conversation has just begun.
It’s true that my grandfather created the first phasing set after the loss of a crew member more than 75 years ago. And, sure, we’ve made a lot of progress in methods, tools and procedures used by electrical utilities and the guys on the line. But the reason I travel to raise awareness for linemen safety lies in the fact that we’re still losing linemen in ways that can often be prevented.
Linemen who’ve never used a tester?
In recent years, I’ve talked to linemen who’ve never used a tester and discovered co-ops still using outdated methods and crude testing techniques. Many times crews tell me they’ve never heard of some of the new safety products like indicators or phasing set on the market. American workers are some of the safest workers around the world, but not everyone is on the same page.
It’s still a dangerous industry.
With the number of linemen lives lost still ranging between 60-100 per year this lack of awareness cannot continue. Each opportunity to train, advise and inform those in this vital but dangerous industry is a chance to save a life…or 100 lives. So, I travel. And I’ll keep traveling until everyone is on the same page – linemen safety.
Do you know a utility, co-op or crew?
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