Transmission Maintenance & Work Management
Monday Morning Supervisor Safety Update & Briefing Sheet
7/12/10
Safety Goal Update
Transmission Safety Goals - 2010
Safety Performance (1/1/10 - 6/30/10)
2010 Incentive Goals
Employee Days Away & Restricted Time Recordable Injury
Rate (DART)
Employee Preventable Motor Vehicle Accident (PMVA) Rate
2010 Non-incentive Goal (tracking purposes only)
Employee Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR)
Target
Goal
YTD
Status
1.22
1.78
0.37 (1)
1.80 (3)
Max
Target
2.95
1.12 (3)
Max
DART Calculation: # of OSHA injuries resulting in days away, restricted
duty or transfer X 200,000 / # of work hours for the period.
200,000 = 100 employees X 40 hours X 50 weeks
TRIR Calculation: # of Total OSHA Recordable Injuries (typically
treatment beyond first aid) X 200,000 / # of work hours for the period.
PMVA Calculation: # of Preventable Motor Vehicle Accidents (PMVAs)
X 1,000,000 miles / # of miles driven for the period (TG drove
approximately 2,98,091 miles in 2009)
Review of Transmission Safety Incidents
Type
OSHA DART Recordable Injuries
OSHA TRIR Recordable Injuries
PMVAs
Near Hits & Property Damage Events (internal & external)
Contractor TRIR Injuries
YTD
1
3
3
16
4
July
0
0
0
1
0
NOTE: SIRS 653-2010 (Tick Bite) was determined by medical not be work related and will not
be coded as Recordable.
Review of Transmission Group SIRS Reports from Previous Week
 SIRS 950-2010 (WMECO Distribution Elec. Maint.): a WMECO Electrician working at Gunn
15A substation lifted a live CT wire off the 2X SCADA meter (transducer) causing a small arc.
No one was hurt and there was no equipment damage. A Transmission Automation employee on
site informed the WMECO Electrician that the three phase CT connections to the new 1X
transducer were wrong on the prints and needed to be rolled. He pointed to the 2X transducer
while explaining the wiring change to the Electrician. The 2X transducer was previously rewired
for the same issue and was now in-service. The Electrician proceeded to make the wiring changes
to the 2X transducer - instead of the 1X transducer - lifting the first CT wire and creating an arc.
The test device for the 2X transducer was never opened. The 1X test device was closed during this
event. There was a clearance on the 1X bank and the bank was energized (Human error: lack of
questioning attitude by Electrician).
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Review of Significant NU SIRS Reports from Previous Week:

SIRS 947-2010 (CL&P Line Dept.): While switching out to make the DB pad on research pkwy
dead, in order to replace it, a switching error occurred. The lead splicer and splicer had a tailboard
and both understood the steps and were wearing full PPE. The splicer was parking the primary
from Pad 63 to Pad 45(the one needing replacement) he pulled and parked phase 3 and 2, when he
went to pull and park phase 1 he installed it in the phase 2 energized bushing. Once the crossphase occurred they heard 2 loud noises but no flash occurred. They went and checked the pads
on either side of this location for damage.

SIRS 887-2010 (CL&P Elec. Maint.): Planned switching was underway at South Naugatuck 21L
s/s. The task was to isolate a section of the bus to allow for repairs to the damaged 21L5-4 switch.
In the process of the switching the crew opened a set of disconnect switches thought to be
associated with the 21L6 circuit however the switch was actually on the 21L4 circuit. When the
switch was opened the 21L4 circuit was de-energized resulting in an outage to a single large
customer (note: both disconnects were on the same pole and there was no nomenclature). The
Supervisor recognized that the wrong switch had been opened and contacted Dispatch to restore
the 21L4 circuit. The customer was out for about 30 minutes. At this point the EM Supervisor
made a decision to back out of the original planned switching and repair the 21L5-4 switch at a
later date. In the process of the go back switching the crews inadvertently closed the 21L5-2
breaker into workman's grounds. A full analysis will follow.
Weekly Safety Topic – Top Three Myths about Workplace Injuries
Top Three Myths about Workplace Injuries - And What YOU can do to Bust Them
by Dr. Deb Potter and Carl Potter, CSP
How many times have you heard people saying something completely ridiculous or that you know just
isn’t right? You don’t have to go very far these days to encounter such statements. With everyone
having their say on blogs, YouTube, and even the nightly news, you probably hear things that you just
don’t agree with or that you know are fabricated several times a day. Safety is not immune. We’ve
been hearing “myths” about safety for years. We took an informal poll recently, and here are our top
three safety myths – you’ve probably heard them or something similar a time or two in your career.
Myth #3 You cannot create a hazard-free workplace
It is shocking how many people believe that no workplace can be made free of hazards. We had one
person tell us that it just isn’t possible to have a workplace without hazards so he might as well lock
the front door to the manufacturing plant where he was the safety director. Certainly situations change
over time, sometimes even very quickly, making it difficult to identify and control hazards. It requires
discipline and diligence to recognize and mitigate every hazard.
“We don’t work in a dangerous environment. We work in a hazardous environment that we
make dangerous by not following safe work procedures and wearing our PPE.” -Brad Miles
When we understand what it takes to create an injury-free workplace, we are able to hit the target more
than not. Hazards are the reason people get hurt, without the hazard there is no injury. When we fail
to follow safety procedures and or wear our personal protective equipment we increase the risk of an
injury. A hazard-free workplace is created by actively identifying, evaluating the risk and applying
controls to physically protect employees.
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Myth #2 Being safe takes too much time and money
When people say that it takes too much time or money to be safe, they obviously don’t understand the
power of a cost/benefit analysis. Have you ever considered the direct and indirect cost of even a minor
injury? And, the thought of pain and agony that an injury causes should be enough to make anyone do
everything they can to stay safe.
"I think of attitude as an inward feeling expressed by outward behavior." -John Maxwell
If you feel that being safe takes to much time and money you have an attitude problem. In our work
we continually meet individuals who have been injured and by their own admission, the cost of
recover and lost wages is substantial. A personal injury impacts the productivity of the company, the
earning power of the individual who is injured and takes valuable quality time away from families.
Myth #1 Accidents just happen
Research shows that over 99% of all accidents are preventable. If you think that accidents just happen,
then what allows you to drive down the road, walk down the sidewalk, or even live in your home
without great fear. The reality is that you have a great deal of control over the circumstances around
you.
"Fate is the hunter for those least prepared." -Ernest K. Gann
In the high-risk environment of electric utilities it is vital that workers understand the importance
knowing how to prevent personal injuries. Any utility worker who thinks that working safe is a matter
of fate is a danger to themselves and co-workers. Fate is the hunter, but the worker who prepares by
learning everything they can about working safe is less likely to be injured. When conducting a job
briefing the fates are dismissed by taking time to identify any hazards. When the worker believes that
they have no control they are likely to miss a hazard and in turn miss preparing themselves to hit the
goal of nobody gets hurt.
"Remember, people will judge you by your actions and not your intentions." -Carl Potter
Safety is an action word, but most of the time we treat it as something passive. Be Safe, have a safe
trip or make safety your first concern. To make something safe takes action and requires one to do
something. That something is to recognize what can cause an injury (hazard) and then take steps to
control it in a manner that ensures nobody gets hurt. Many leaders think that leading people to work
safe means showing support by flipping burgers at the annual safety meeting. This is great to help
show servant leadership, but that is not what people in the field want to have happen. They want
leadership!
A leader is one who knows how to rally the people behind a cause and is willing to walk the talk.
Employees want a leader who will challenge them to continually be better at working safe. A leader
who says, "I don't want you to get hurt producing, transmitting or distributing our product and I am
willing to work with you to make sure that happens." Creating a workplace that targets zero-injuries is
not a gimmick or a new safety program, it is a workplace where everyone cares enough to engage in
the safety process. To create such a workplace the organizations need leadership and leadership is at
all levels. Will you take action to engage and challenge the people you work with or are you just
talking about safety?
Carl Potter, Certified Safety Professional and Deb Potter, PhD are Certified Management Consultants who work with organizations that
want to create an environment where nobody gets hurt. As advocates of a zero-injury workplace, they are speakers, authors, and consultants
to industry. As a general aviation pilot, Carl enjoys infusing aviation safety principles into his workplace programs. For information about
the Hazard Recognition and Control Workshop, contact them at. 800-259-6209 or www.HazardRecognitionWorkshop.com
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