Handling outages is all part of our safety plan
High winds with snow and ice. That was forecast for Christmas Eve.
When a storm is forecast, the Cherryland Electric Cooperative Operations Department steps into action. Planning begins with the on-call supervisor and what support that person has immediately available.
Equipment, tools, materials and personnel are reviewed before the storm hits. A call is usually made to TV 7&4 meteorologists Greg MacMaster or Joe Charlevoix to find out exactly the track, severity and duration of what the storm holds.
With this particular storm in December, Nick Edson, the editor of Country Lines, was the lucky on-call supervisor. In actuality our protocol for pre-storm and storms are the same, no matter who is in the head chair at the outage center table. Nick, as in everything he does, handled this storm with the seamlessness and professionalism that he approaches all tasks with.
Now, about this time, you may be saying, “Tim, why are you telling us about this in your safety article?” Good question, and I believe I can answer that.
Safety is priority one at your Cherryland Electric Cooperative. This includes the safety of our employees and the safety of the public, our members, as well as anyone else working, traveling or recreating anywhere near our lines.
Because safety is priority one, the Cherryland Electric Cooperative management, including the Board, General Manager Tony Anderson and Operations Director Jim Carpenter, give me the time and resources to train our employees in all areas of possible danger, in their jobs and at home.
This training becomes paramount when a storm hits. We step up the safety awareness a notch as we step into outage management. In this short article, I can not explain all the safety resources during a storm or even everyday operations, though I will attempt to list a few:
The On Call Supervisor has
· Immediate 24 hour access to me, the Safety Director, throughout the storm, for accidents or consulting
· Global Positioning on all vehicles, in case of communication failure
· Extra stand-by employees in case of injury or fatigue
· Resources for rest and recovery of employees
· Radio and Cell phone communication with crews
· Staff to stand by dangerous downed lines until crews can repair them
· Information about members who may be on medical alert needing attention sooner
These are just a few safety resources that go into effect during a storm. These
same resources, together with weekly safety training, meetings, seminars and schools keep our employees and general public safe from day-to-day. Of course if there is anything that concerns you or any training we can offer, please contact me, I’m glad to help.
Now it’s February and there are still some winter, spring and summer storms ahead. Rest assured, Cherryland Electric Cooperative will be there working safely and tirelessly until the lights are back on.
Tim Keenan
Tech Page Column
February Country Lines
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