In recognition of May as the National Electrical Safety Month (NESM), the Electrical Alliance (EA) sponsored a safety day event on May 18th at IBEW Local Union 26 headquarters in Lanham, Maryland. All EA contractors’ representatives and employees were invited to the event. Tom Myers, Local 26 President, described the EA Safety Day as an “inaugural event [that] celebrates our industry’s collaborative efforts to protect the safety and health of our workers.”
The agenda included the following discussions by EA contractors’ safety professionals and industry partner:
|
Presenter |
Company |
Topic |
| Adam Geller | Freestate Electric | Excavation Safety |
| Vince Hankins | Dynalectric Company | Ladder Safety |
| George Stallings | Sales Solutions | Fall Protection |
| Philip Wheeler | JE Richards | Shock Protection |
NESM is an initiative of the Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) to educate key audiences on how to reduce the number of electrically-related fires, fatalities, injuries, and property loss. NECA has been a strong supporter of the ESFI initiative since it began in the 1990s. NECA held its annual Safety Professionals Conference on May 15 – 17 in San Antonia, Texas. EA contractors were well represented at the Conference. In his address to participants of the EA Safety Day, Jerry Rivera, NECA DC Safety Director, acknowledged the industry success and progress in ensuring that job site safety is a top priority. He encouraged EA contractors to take advantage of NESM as another opportunity for them to re-affirm their commitment to the protection of their employees.
EA contractor, JE Richards, kicked off their 101 Days of Summer Safety campaign. The campaign promotes safety awareness at all Richards’ job site, offices, and warehouses from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This annual corporate initiative requires all JE Richards employees to participate in weekly toolbox talks – informal safety meetings that focus on safety topics related to the specific job, such as workplace hazards and safe work practices. Meetings are generally brief and are conducted at the job site before the commencement of work. Chad Bittick, JE Richards VP of Field Operations, stated that their safety campaign gives their employees additional opportunity to learn how they can improve safety performance in their work. These initiatives help to ensure their workforce is motivated to perform at its best, delivering quality work in a safe way.
The EA Safety Day successfully concluded with EA’ s leaders re-affirming their commitment to not rest or waiver from the objective of driving safety incidents to zero.
