The Peer to Peer initiatives continue to grow and improve their programs.
The peer groups will be holding their annual safety summits in late April and into the middle of May. These summits bring our safety stewards in for a one-day safety collaboration with the committee members, who get to engage their safety stewards in person and work together for the common good.
Control the Pressure has been invited and has accepted the challenge to go to 30+ GSR safety kickoffs throughout PG&E’s service territory, all the way from Bakersfield to Eureka. These events will help them grow their membership and will also help get the word out about personal responsibility in safety.
Keep the Clearance is working on wrapping up their presentations for Trees Inc. and Davey Tree. They will be setting up presentations for Mountain Firewood Enterprises in the coming months. This group is hard to engage due to their sometimes nomadic ways, and getting time off approved for our members to carry the messages proves to be difficult at times, but we will continue to persevere.
Hold the Pull is endeavoring to go to each and every headquarters to bring the message of safety to the guys in their bull rooms. They feel that the smaller settings are more effective, and it’s easier to engage the group in meaningful conversation. They have already set up meetings in the City of Redding and WAPA, and will be following up with Modesto and Merced Irrigation districts, along with PG&E GC in the northern areas of PG&E.
There has been an ongoing effort with PG&E to deal with communication dead areas in the Ukiah area. The issue involves employees who drive into areas and are out of communication with their headquarters up to four hours at a time. This is an unsafe condition where employees could not call for help if needed. A corrective action (CAP) report was filed a year ago, and Control the Pressure safety steward Chris Stevens has stayed on the issue. PG&E studied the complaint and found it involves a larger area than first thought. Frequency beacons are planned to be installed.
In early March, a meeting was conducted with supervision and field personnel regarding corrective action related to the Deer Park incident in which two gas workers were burned while servicing a frozen meter valve; the release was ignited by a nearby water heater. The two workers had a release of gas when they broke the valve tang. The discussion, in which CTP committee chair Ernie Pena participated, lead to creating a procedure and training, where previously there had been none.
Business Representative Julius Mathews from IBEW Local 1547 “Keep Out of the Bite” reported two serious incidents involving line personnel in Alaska. The first incident occurred when a line tech opened the lid to an overhead transformer and the release of pressure caused the lid to strike him on the forehead, causing a three-inch laceration. The transformer was found to not have a pressure release valve and had three faults. The second incident involved a crew performing a secondary cut over. The crew de-energized the service and on the go-back did not communicate with an onsite electrician who went to remove a part and made contact. He was shocked with a non-life threatening injury.
–Casey Kelley, IBEW 1245 Business Representative