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Safety Training Important at Frontier Power
Safety is not something that we take lightly at Frontier Power. Many hours
and dollars are spent to train our employees on safely working with electricity
and all the equipment they may work with on a daily basis. Making sure you are
provided with safe, uninterrupted electric is a priority at Frontier Power. Frontier Power
also participates in
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association's Safety
Accreditation Program and takes part in a local Safety Council.
In addition there is a wide range of topics our personnel are continuously trained on
throughout each year.
Tree rescue, bucket rescue, and pole top rescue
All linemen and right-of-way personnel are required to do each of these
rescues in a specified time. A weighted dummy is used and each employee must
make a successful and safe rescue of the dummy from a tree, bucket (bucket
truck), or off of the pole. This can be an intense training session as each
person has a limited amount of time to do the rescue. Bringing the dummy safely
to the ground and preparing for any necessary medical attention completes a
successful training session.
CPR
Every outside employee is required to take a CPR class provided by the co-op every other year. This session includes assessment of various situations (including everything from shock to bleeding) and action needed for each.
Hand Protection
This session allows crew members to realize how important their safety gloves are and how a minute scratch, tear, or puncture can be serious. Employees working near and with electric evaluate jobs that require hand protection and utilize safety practices with hand protection in the field.
Avoiding Fatigued Employees
This training helps employees recognize when they or a co-worker are fatigued and no longer able to work safely on a project. Lack of sleep leads to drowsiness, inducing negative effects on safety, quality, and productivity. Fatigued workers cause many great disasters. Prevention methods are discusses along with emergency situations caused by tired employees.
Advanced Rigging for Lineman
This training session teaches all crew members about different rigging equipment such as basic hitches, shoulder bolts, slings, block loading, hooks, hoists, and shackles. It also teaches calculation methods and how that should be used to safely operate the rigging device.
Switching and Tagging for Personal Protection
OSHA requirements, different types of clearances, different types of tags and how used, switching orders and procedures and basic examples are reviewed in this session. Deadline and hotline clearances and how to set up protective zones are covered.
Chainsaw Safety & Basic Logging Techniques
The objective of this session is to give employees the knowledge to safely operate gas powered chainsaws, have an awareness of OSHA regulations regarding their use, and an understanding of some basic logging techniques to safely fell trees in different situations. Employees specifically are trained on safety rules, personal protective equipment required, understanding the safety related components of a chainsaw, major hazards related to felling trees, along with basic techniques for felling trees.
Defensive Driving
This class encourages employees to look out for the other person and realize a dangerous situation. Symptoms of road rage and persons exhibiting road rage, review of basic traffic rules, and advanced techniques for driving without incident are taught during this session.
Work Zone Safety & Traffic Control
Presenting hazards associated with traffic control, how to avoid these hazards, how to set up signs and warning devices on a highway, and work guidelines are a few things discussed in this meeting. Analysis of each job and how it affects traffic flow is closely reviewed.
Protective Grounding on Underground Systems
Crew members attending this safety session have learned basic safety rules and procedures for grounding, know what type of equipment is needed and how to use it, know the basic steps in grounding cables at pad mount equipment, have an understanding of the unique characteristics of URD cable, and how to create a safe equipment zone to work in.
These are just a few of the safety courses Frontier Power employees must attend. As you can see, many of the safety meetings conducted each month contain reinforcement training on different equipment and the proper use of that equipment. Some session such as "Cell Phones and Driving Safely" affect each employee in their personal life as well as on the job procedures. In addition to the monthly safety meetings, some employees attend schooling on specialized topics such as "Trench Safety and Excavating", and "Hot Line School". Frontier Power’s employees must be individuals who can easily understand their safety classes down to the smallest detail. Their own safety as well as yours could depend on it.