Blue Hat?

 What exactly does blue hat mean to union brothers and sisters?  The local, in conjunction with the company, have agreed to enact a field observation program to address the company’s declining safety performance.  Because of the increased number and severity of accidents, it is clear the issue of safety awareness needs to be addressed.  The union is going to play an active roll in identifying and resolving safety issues.  It is vital that each of us be familiar with the Accident Prevention Manual and do everything possible to ensure our personal safety, that of our fellow employees and the public.  In addition to identifying safety concerns, the blue hats are charged with developing a “Got Caught Working Safely Program”.    This program will recognize and reward individuals for performing exemplary safety practices.

The company and the union jointly selected the individuals filling these positions.  The blue hat representatives are:  Metro Phoenix, Pete Peterson and Pat Davis; Northern Area, Jerry Murphy; and the Southern Area, Jeff Fields.  The blue hat program officially began on Monday, November 27, 2000.

Blue Hate Update #3

There have been 11 preventable/recordable injuries since our last newsletter dated January 17, 2001.  There have been 4 dog bites; of which two were hand punctures and two were leg punctures.  Two of the dog bite incidents involved meter readers, one involved a troubleman and one involved a B-serviceman.  The other injuries include one mouth laceration, two hand lacerations, a bruised knee, a neck strain, a wrist strain and a serious head contusion.

In a detailed analysis of dog bite events to Meter Readers over the past two years, the following statistics were developed and may be helpful in preventing future incidents from occurring.

·         Dog bites occur most often on the leg, then the hand, arm and face.

·         65% of dog bites are while facing the dog, 35% are while not facing the dog.

·         Most dog bites occur at the entry to the customers’ property.

·         75% of the bites occur while the dog is loose in the yard.

·         Almost 20% of dog bites occur while the owner is supposed to be controlling the dog(s).

When reaching over the gate or fence to read or gain access to the meter, taking a “look before you leap” approach, rattling the gate, or banging on the fence might help prevent the hazard.  If the customer offers to control the animal, it might be wise to ask them to place the dog in a secured area until your work is complete.

Another key safety issue to think about this month is proper tagging.  We need to be sure to install the proper tags along with the Salisbury Tagging Device.  Using the get back to basics approach, we want to emphasize the importance of complying with the Accident Prevention Manual (APM), especially when it pertains to clearance procedures and proper tagging methods.  Listed below are several sections in the APM that pertain to these procedures.  Please take a moment to review the APM to be sure you have a clear understanding of proper tagging procedures.

·         Section 5-02; Clearance.

·         Section 5-03; Release of a clearance.

·         Section 5-04; Transfer of a clearance.

·         Section 5-12; Clearing and grounding.

·         Section 5-13; Placing and removing tags.

·         Section 5-17; Construction release for operation.

·         Section 5-27a; Danger tag (ECC tag).

·         Section 5-27b; Danger tag (Construction tag).

·         Section 5-28; Contact tag.

·         Section 5-29; Division tag.

·         Sections 5-30 & 31; Tagging devices.