SAFETY TALK
Hazard Control or events.”
A few of the common risks encountered and focused on at Alabama Power are falls from heights, line of fire, hoisted loads and arc flash / electrical contact.
Fall protection practices put in place at Alabama Power to mitigate risks included maintaining three points of contact when ascending or descending and utilizing measures such as platforms and restraints when three points of contact could not be maintained. Also advised is to wear the company’ s approved fall protection system when operating aerial devices and to always keep fall restraints properly adjusted.
For safely working on mobile equipment, best practices put in place included setting equipment properly before each job task and disabling equipment by using Lockout-Tagout procedures. In addition, using wheel chocks appropriately as well as auto lifts, stand supports, cribbing and overhead cranes to support potential hazards.
“ Our critical controls are selected safety rules that were identified as foundational life-saving requirements when performing a job task involving a critical risk,” Johnson said.“ These controls, selected through a collaborative process between union leadership and management, identify and mitigate the top two or three critical risks for each work group and incorporate critical control checks that are covered in job safety briefings.”
Becoming a Learning Organization
At Alabama Power, teams that include employees who are closest to the work being performed share their experience with Serious Injury or Fatality( SIF) or Potential Serious Injury or Fatality( PSIF) events.“ In a learning organization, sharing close calls and operating experience and discussing significant safety events helps develop action items for continuous improvement,” Johnson explained.
This process at the utility, Johnson noted, includes facilitating routine discussions on significant safety events for high-risk work groups that cover event causes, the critical risk involved, contributing factors and lessons learned. In addition, the company remains focused
Fall restraint protection for fleet technicians at Alabama Power includes garage ceiling mounted restraint systems with self-retracting lanyards, as well as portable manlifts and scaffolding.
on increasing communication about the phases of the event learning process as well as creating a targeted collaboration process for those on event learning teams.
“ By recognizing that all events and injuries are not the same, and through transparency that helps eliminate blind spots and develop trust, we’ re focused on fostering a culture of system-wide learning in which information sharing is second nature,” Johnson added.“ Completing event learning and postjob reviews in response to events, as well as proactively before an event occurs, helps address serious injuries and those with potential for serious injury.”
Continuous Improvement of Existing Safety Systems
Employee-led safety committees at Alabama Power, after identifying risks and hazards by reviewing and analyzing learning events, have addressed the need for new and improved safety technologies, including:
• Digger derrick radio controls that can be used to eliminate falls from the riding seat, arc flash from the use of lower controls and reduce hoisted load and line of fire risks.
• Items such as contrast-painted walk surfaces, enhanced handrails on mechanized equipment, side-mounted outrigger controls and boom out of stow interlocks.
• Fall restraint protection for fleet technicians with garage ceiling mounted restraint systems, handrails on field boxes, self-retracting lanyards and truck crane mounted attachment point systems, as well as portable manlifts and scaffolding.“ We actively care about the safety and well-being of our employees, customers and communities,” Johnson said.“ Through a partnership with the union and employees who are close to the work, and with safety leadership and management input and support, we’ re more safely approaching every job, every day. ”
12 l March-April 2025