At InfraSource, a Quanta Company, we are committed to fostering a culture of safety through our Good Catch Program. This initiative encourages employees to stay vigilant and identify potential hazards. By utilizing the energy wheel, our team thoroughly inspects and identifies STKY (Situations That Kill You) scenarios, leading to countless safety success stories.
Preventing a Service Outage: While working near a pole where phase transfers were taking place, the crew identified a potential hazard. Concerned about the issue, they inspected the cutout before moving any wires. This precaution was crucial; without it, manipulating the wire could have caused the cutout to separate, resulting in a service outage for the Fire and Rescue building. The crew immediately called for an all-stop and alerted supervision.
Identifying a Broken Crossarm: A crew was dispatched to address a Power Service Problem during a storm. Upon arrival, they determined that all customers had power. As an extra precaution, the crew patrolled the line and found a broken cross-arm several spans away. The arm was still attached to the phase and hanging less than 10 feet above the ground, energized. The crew took a Stop Timeout and made the area safe.
Fixing a Broken Termination Tip: While transferring an existing riser to a new pole, an employee noticed the termination tip felt loose and wobbly. Upon investigation, the crew found the termination tip was cleanly broken inside the termination. After notifying the proper channels, it was determined that the crew needed to re-terminate the cable. Letting this go unfixed would have led to an eventual problem and fault. A good questioning attitude by the lineman led to this important catch and prevention of a future issue.
Covering Bare Hot Taps: Before transferring the energized triplex to a new pole, the crew noticed uncovered hot taps sitting right next to a neutral. If the crew had transferred the triplex without setting up to cover the bare taps, there could have been a secondary fault and outage. At InfraSource, we follow the Capacity model for our Safety Culture, thinking about Safety Differently. We plan and execute our work, assuming failure will happen today. The Capacity Model™ helps us build the capacity to absorb failure without suffering harm. We learn from every job, every mistake, and every success to continually improve.
Safety is not merely the absence of injuries; it is the presence of capacity.
