Protecting those who protect us

Local 1245 promotes First Responder Training Program

 

Local Union 1245 had a booth at the first annual Pacific Coast Safety Fest in Dublin Ca. at Camp Parks. This weeklong free safety training event began on Feb. 27 and ran through March 2. This event kicked off our union’s First Responder Training Program that targets police and fire and the dangers they face being the first on the scene of a utility type incident. This is part of our new safety agenda that we call “Protecting those who protect us.”

Richard Lane and Jerry Debaca manned the Local 1245 booth for the 3 days of this event. They answered questions and took names of organizations that may have an interest in receiving this training. Both Richard and Jerry said they felt this event was very successful. Going forward we will be working on how this First Responder Training will be offered.

Local 1245 also sponsored a trainer to put on a 4 hour training session on the NFPA 70e standard for Fire Resistant clothing. This individual is Hugh Hoagland and is known throughout the industry for his work on the NFPA 70e standards committee.

Local 1245 was considered a Founding Sponsor for the Safety Fest. It was a tremendous opportunity for our local union to be actively involved with the participating organizations and to publicize the valuable training opportunities that we are offering to the community at large. Local 1245 signatory employers PG&E and SMUD were also Founding Sponsors. Other Founding Sponsors included:

– U.S. Army
– AGC of California
– Cal/OSHA
– California National Guard
– Operating Engineers Local 3
– OSHA
– Safecon
– Safety
– U.S. Forest Service

Accident Reporting

Forms and guidelines are on the website. Units should use them as part of their unit meeting and submit them to the Local 1245 Safety Committee whether or not there are accidents or concerns. This should be a standard reporting practice at every unit meeting every month. This is our best resource to share the information with the rest of the membership. We are continuing to see an increase in the number of these forms being turned in and want to thank everyone who is doing this.

Here is the most recent accident reported to us:

On Thursday afternoon, February 9, 2012 at 12:45 p.m., a T-man with approximately 35 years experience, received very serious injuries to his left hand as a result of an Off-road Utility Vehicle (OUV) roll over while performing his work.

Preliminary indications are that the employee was conducting a routine patrol in an OUV by himself, near the entrance to the Melones Power House. He was attempting to drive his OUV around a locked gate when the OUV got stuck. The employee put the OUV in reverse and the OUV took off traveling 25 feet to the edge of the road and down a gulley rolling over and injuring the employee. The injured employee contacted a co-worker on his phone. The co-worker arrived approximately 40 minutes later and took him to a local hospital in Sonora. The injuries were extensive enough that the injured employee was airlifted to another hospital where surgery was performed. Preliminary reports are that surgery was successful.

Near Miss

The Safety Committee is encouraging everyone to report all near misses to the committee through our IBEW1245 Safety Matters web page. Anyone with a near miss should sanitize the report to omit names and companies as the intent of reporting a near miss is to provide others with information about potential hazards that members find in the field in order to make others aware of these hazards.

Submitted by,
Ralph Armstrong