IBEW 1245’s peer-to-peer groups continue to grow by approximately 10% annually. These member-driven programs continue to be the benchmark for member-to-member safety programs. Members engaging members is the best way to ensure a safe workplace. Brothers and sisters watching out for each other, participating with each other and having honest conversations about each other’s safety is paramount.
The Control the Pressure gas safety group has been growing its program by participating in the UGSR program and new utility worker programs at the PG&E training facility in Winters. Control the Pressure is always looking for new members to participate and new places to engage the membership. They are seeking people who are invested in safety and care about the well-being of their brothers and sisters. CTP could use more member participation in GC and Mark & Locate in particular, so if you are interested please contact Business Rep Casey Kelley at CFK0@ibew1245.com.
Hold the Pull continues to participate in apprenticeship presentations at PG&E and at NV Energy. The goal is to reach out to these apprentices and instill the importance of safety in the Line trade when they are at an impressionable time in their career. No job in any craft is so important that it must value production over safety. Hold the Pull has recently been developing a substation piece to their group. We currently have six substation employees from SMUD, PG&E, NV Energy and Silicon Valley Power participating, and look to grow this group moving forward. Hold the Pull is always looking for yards to come and talk to in areas where they have not been. If you are in an area and have not seen the Hold the Pull presentation and would like to, please reach out to Business Rep Casey Kelley CFK0@ibew1245.com to talk about a presentation in your area.
Keep the Clearance has recently started the Tree Safety Roundtable meeting. This meeting is an offshoot of the Tree Supervision Roundtable that was started by Rich Lane in 2016. This meeting is intended to bring the KTC committee, the union and the companies together to talk about accidents/near-misses and share information to help the membership and represented companies work safer. Keep the Clearance and Local 1245 are diligently working towards a consistent training program for all line clearance tree trimmers. The safety aspect of this work has long been neglected in favor of production. This must be reversed, as there are far too many accidents in the trees to keep looking the other way. We hope that the passing of IBEW 1245-backed legislation SB 247 will allow Line Clearance Tree Trimmers to gain traction to implement and participate in a consistent, regimented training program that benefits both the workers and the companies. If you are having issues that you think the KTC could help with, please reach out to business rep Casey Kelley at CFK0@ibew1245.com.