Indiana Electric Cooperatives hosted an electrical hazard awareness workshop for NineStar Connect contractors. Jon Elkins, vice president of safety, training and compliance, and Adam Lock, safety and risk management instructor, led the program focused on underground residential distribution for 21 third-party contractors.
NineStar Connect requires its contractors to attend this workshop to ensure competent workers on its system. Those who attended the workshop install underground electric cable and related equipment for NineStar Connect using trenching, excavation or directional boring installation.
The day-long workshop consisted of classroom teaching and hands-on learning with equipment. Classroom topics included:
- OSHA regulations
- Clothing best practices
- Correct voltage
- Heat awareness
- Safety standards
- Personal protective equipment
- Hazard analysis
The hands-on portion of the workshop included teaching the participants what the inside of padmount transformers should look like. In the teaching scenario, many of the padmount transformers had things wrong with them, allowing the participants to identify the issues.
They took turns visually inspecting the transformer to make sure everything was there, determine what was missing, and ensure everything was bonded. After identifying the mistakes inside, the participants discussed what could be done to make it right. This workshop allowed the participants to learn from each other and to be prepared to handle scenarios they may encounter in the field.
The workshop teaches contractors about hazards they might not know about and creates awareness about dangers in the field. This type of training reinforces a safety-first mindset in the contractors and helps them understand best practices. The main goal of this workshop is to help the contractors recognize potential hazards and what they should do about them. Recognizing when something is wrong is important but knowing what to do about the hazard is even more critical in keeping everyone safe.
Contact Jon Elkins to learn more about the electrical hazard awareness workshop and how it can be customized for your cooperative and its contractors.
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