SAFETYSEASON - texas-ec.org. - Texas Electric Cooperatives

SAFETY
SEASON
TEC
LOSS CONTROL
WINTER 2014
New OSHA
Rules Explained
Plan To Attend TEC Loss
Control Conference in Arlington
The 69th annual TEC Loss Control Conference is right around the corner—March
18–20, 2015, at the Sheraton Arlington Hotel. TEC brings members together to reinforce the importance of workplace safety through instructional presentations and a
trade show featuring the latest advancements in the field, such as tools and equipment.
The conference also raises money for the TEC Loss Control Scholarship fund with a golf
tournament and auction. The golf tournament will be held Tuesday, March 17, at Waterchase
Golf Club with proceeds from registrations and the sale of mulligans going to the scholarship
fund. The scholarship fund received more than $40,000 from fundraising efforts at the TEC
Loss Control Conference in 2014.
The conference includes award presentations recognizing organizations and individuals
for safety achievements, including Lifesaving Awards. The Ray Pantel Meritorious Service
Award, the top honor, is awarded to the employee who is most instrumental in advancing best
practices in co-op safety training in Texas.
TEC urges organizations to complete the 2014 Injury/Incident Report, which will be
emailed on December 1. This important information help shape future safety education. The
Injury/Incident Report is also used to verify and nominate award winners.
KEY
DATES
• Registration for 2015 TEC Loss Control schools opens November 3, 2014.
Class sizes are limited; register early. The calendar is at texas-ec.org.
• Lifesaving Award nominations are due December 31.
• Registration for the 2015 TEC Loss Control Conference begins in January.
Williams Wins Potthast Award—Page 2
Scholarships Available—Page 2
ISTOCK | LISA F. YOUNG
Co-op safety leaders can learn about the latest in industry equipment and services from dozens of
exhibitors at the Loss Control Conference’s trade show.
TEC has added an important 1½-day
training session to the 2015 Loss Control
calendar: Electric Power Generation,
Transmission and Distribution Electrical
Protective Equipment. The training is
scheduled for January 7–8 at the Georgetown TEC Training Facility.
Electric cooperatives need to be aware of
Occupational Safety and Health Administration rule changes and compliance deadlines. OSHA issued a
final rule in April 2014 that
ushers in significant changes
to how co-ops work and
potentially communicate with electrical
contractors. The rule
also contains new requirements for fall protection,
minimum approach distance
and electric arc hazards.
Are you preOSHA began enforcing the
pared to pass
rule October 31, 2014.
an OSHA
David Wallis, the principal
inspection?
OSHA architect for the rules,
will explain the standards and discuss recent
interpretations governing how the rules apply.
Register at texas-ec.org. Deadline is
December 29.
45 Schools
Scheduled
for 2015
Start planning now to attend one or more
of the Loss Control schools held at training
facilities around the state. Register online.
Meet B.J. Varnadore—Page 3
Holiday Safety—Page 4
SAFETY SEASON
WINTER 2014
ISTOCK
Loss Control
Scholarships Available
Texas Electric Cooperatives offers scholarships to children of
employees of electric cooperatives, municipal electric utilities
or contractors participating in TEC Loss Control services, such
as organizational safety meetings or Loss Control schools.
Applicants for scholarships in 2015 must graduate from high school
or earn a GED diploma in 2015, meet entrance requirements and
enroll in a college or trade school next fall.
Applications must include letters of recommendation, a description of volunteer involvement and an essay on one of the following
topics: The Importance of Safety at My Electric Cooperative; How My
Electric Cooperative Benefits Our Community; or What Is an Electric
Cooperative?
Complete application details are online at texas-ec.org. The deadline is January 16, 2015.
TEC awarded 53 scholarships of $600 each to high school graduates
in 2014.
Danny Williams, TEC’s Loss Control manager, explains procedures during
a regulator recloser capacitor school.
TEC’s Danny Williams
Wins Potthast Award
New TEC Loss
Control Specialist
Danny Williams, TEC’s Loss Control manager since 2007, won
the Herman C. Potthast Award, presented by the National Utility Training and Safety Education Association in September.
Williams, who has worked in the electrical industry in Texas since
January 1965, has trained thousands of electric utility workers on how
to perform their hazardous tasks properly and safely. He has inspired
many of those workers to also become safety instructors and managers.
Williams’ colleagues stress that his patience in the field and in the classroom transforms him from an instructor to a mentor, which allows his
students to effectively bond with his message.
‘There is no greater honor than to be chosen by your peers to receive
such a prestigious award for the work I have done in safety and training,” Williams said.
Potthast, the award’s namesake, served the Wisconsin rural electric
cooperatives for 29 years before moving on to the Rural Electrification
Administration.
Wesley Caldwell joined TEC as a Loss Control
specialist October 13.
Wesley started his career with Guadalupe Valley Electric Cooperative in 1991 on a crew then
worked his way up to lineman, lead lineman and
serviceman. He has assisted the TEC Loss Control program for 10 years as a guest instructor.
THINK ABOUT IT
“Safety means going home to family.”
—Danny Williams, TEC Loss Control manager
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SAFETY SEASON
WINTER 2014
Send Us Your Best Photos
The Loss Control Photo Challenge is a competition open to all employees of
electric cooperatives, municipal electric utilities and contractors participating
in the TEC Loss Control program. Photos will be judged by popular vote, open
to 2015 Loss Control Conference attendees.
Theme: Distribution
Entry period: January 1, 2015, to February 28, 2015
Voting period: March 18–19 at the Loss Control Conference in Arlington
Winners announced: First-, second- and third-place winners will be announced
March 20 at the close of the Loss Control Conference.
How to Participate: Email all photos to Tami Knipstein at [email protected].
Entries should be high-resolution digital images—at least 4 by 7 inches at 300dpi.
Please do not downsize or reduce the original image quality. If there are recognizable
people in your photographs, you could be contacted about securing photo releases.
What Happens to Entries: Winning photos will be displayed in the Safety Season
newsletter.
2014 winning entry taken by Medina EC’s Armando Castillo
Meet B.J. Varnadore
By TOM WIDLOWSKI
Before becoming a
TEC Loss Control
specialist earlier
this year, Byron J.
Varnadore, who
goes by B.J., had an
up-and-down
career. He was a
lineman, of
B.J. Varnadore
course—for the city
of Liberty. But before that, he installed
elevators.
He was a master of all trades, as his father
was, and he followed in his father’s footsteps
to become a longshoreman for a while. Varnadore, 59, also laid floors before starting on
a career path that would lead him to TEC.
In 1983, he landed a job mowing for the
city of Liberty, in the Houston area. He
hadn’t worked there long when deadly Hurricane Alicia struck Galveston and Houston,
causing widespread electric outages. Liberty’s electric department recruited him to
help with power restoration efforts. After
voltage at any time.”
What’s the most important lesson you
share as a safety instructor?
Communication. That’s the most important thing. Wear your PPE [personal protective equipment] and talk with each other so
everybody always knows what everybody
else is doing. Job briefings are so important.
Everybody needs to be aware of the existing
hazards and the potential hazards.
What’s your favorite movie?
“Quigley Down Under.” I love long-range
shooting, though I’ve never done it.
Who inspires you?
My dad was always my hero. I always
looked up to him.
What would be your dream job?
I always wanted to be in safety, and now I
have been blessed with the opportunity. I
truly hope that I can make a difference. If
one person remembers something that I said
and it helps them make a decision that keeps
them from injury, then maybe I have found
my dream job.
STAFF
that, he joined the department and worked
his way up through the ranks, including the
position of lineman.
Varnadore and his wife, Roxanne, live in
Liberty.
When you were a kid, what did you want to
be when you grew up?
My dad was a laborer. I just thought that
was the manly thing to do. Line work filled
that niche. You’re outside and doing something important. I never wanted to work
inside or in a factory.
What scares you?
Fire. I’m just scared to death of fires. I’ve
seen two house fires and some close calls.
What’s the best advice you ever received?
When I first started line work, I climbed a
pole and was working on an energized secondary without rubber gloves, just leather.
When I got down, my superintendent said,
“B.J., I want to tell you something. There’s no
guarantee what voltage will be coming down
that line. You could be working with primary
Danny Williams, Loss Control Manager
(512) 413-0509, [email protected]
Phillip Henricks, CLCP, Loss Control Specialist B.J. Varnadore, Loss Control Specialist
(806) 438-0067, [email protected]
(512) 573-9333, [email protected]
Tami Knipstein, Program Coordinator
(512) 486-6271, [email protected]
Warren Huggins, CLCP, Loss Control Specialist Curtis Whitt, CLCP, Loss Control Specialist
(512) 773-7664, [email protected]
(512) 694-0232, [email protected]
Wesley Caldwell, Loss Control Specialist
(512) 942-9351, [email protected]
David Nance, CLCP, Loss Control Specialist
(512) 804-6748, [email protected]
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Martin Bevins, Vice President,
Communications & Member Services
(512) 486-6249, [email protected]
Tom Widlowski, Editor
Ronnie Wiggins, CLCP, Loss Control Specialist (512) 486-6246, [email protected]
(512) 709-1177, [email protected]
SAFETY SEASON
WINTER 2014
Start a Tradition of Safety
This Holiday Season
At home and in the office, holiday decorations are one of the
most festive parts of the season, but they also can be the most
dangerous. Take all the necessary time to decorate safely—
without skipping any safety steps—for the holidays.
Shawn Miller knows firsthand how important every safety step is
and how quickly holiday festivities can turn into tragedies. When
helping his mother decorate the trees in her front yard for Christmas,
he had not noticed that the trees had grown into the overhead power
lines. When he threw a strand of lights up into the tree, he was seriously injured. Miller lost his left hand and suffered numerous other
injuries in the tragic accident.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission estimates that
more than 5,000 people wind up in hospital emergency rooms every
November and December after they fall off ladders while hanging
lights and decorations. Another 10,000 have
other decorating-related accidents.
Whether decorating your home or the coop’s headquarters, remember these safety
guidelines:
• Never throw holiday lights or other dec- Watch how you can safely
orations into trees near power lines.
decorate for the holidays.
• Use only lights, cords, animated displays and decorations rated for outdoor use. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions on how to use them. Use plastic or insulated
hooks to hang lights.
• Cords should be plugged into outlets equipped with ground-fault
circuit interrupters. Use a portable GFCI if your outdoor outlets are
not equipped with them.
• Do not staple or nail through light strings or electrical cords, and
do not attach cords to utility poles.
• Outdoor holiday lights are for seasonal use, up to 90 days. Bring
them inside after the holidays.
• Avoid decorating outside on windy or wet days. Choose to decorate in favorable weather conditions and during daylight hours.
• Keep ladders, equipment and yourself at least 10 feet from
power lines.
• Secure ladders on even ground or use leg levelers. Do the work
during daylight hours. And do not climb on the roof if you’ve been
drinking alcohol.
LYNN MOORE
Contact Tami Knipstein
[email protected]
(512) 486-6271
Deaf Smith EC uses holiday lights to turn the co-op’s headquarters in
Hereford into a jumbo-sized Christmas card.
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