TVPPA report: Part VI of the assessment

This article is the sixth in a series of reports abstracted from the Tennessee Valley Public Power Association’s October assessment of the Holly Springs Electric Department, hereafter referred to as HSUD.

The safety assessment covers the safety manual, general safe work practices, safe work practices (building, storage, maintenance and repair facilities), safe work practices at the substations, safe work practices for the utility fleet, and safe work practices (benchmarking).

Pages 21 - 30 contain the safety assessment findings.

HSUD uses the APPA (American Public Power Association) safety manual, but no documentation was found for the use and updates to the manual. Standard practice is to review/revise the manual every five years. No formal periodic review was found during the assessment.

There was no documented evidence of an annual or more frequent review of the safety manual with affected employees.

No written directive from HSUD management to use, read or understand the tenets in the manual were found.

Therefore, the assessment concluded that it is not possible to determine if the safety manuel was used as a living and breathing document or as a ready reference regarding specific operations or practice.

HSUD was found to conduct regular monthly safety meetings for all outside workers and the attendance and topics discussed were documented by the instructor. Meetings last up to an hour and a half and cover such topics as bucket truck rescue, pole top rescue, job briefings and lockout/tag.

Quarterly safety meetings for management, administrative and all other employees was not documented.

Senior management were not shown to participate in safety meetings, nor were there safety training makeup sessions.

A formal written policy providing evidence of disciplinary actions for noncompliance to safety rules was not found.

There was no individual designated to be responsible for coordinating safety and health activities.

A formal checklist for documenting safety job briefings was not found, however, common practice was to discuss some safety topics on a daily basis. An accurate record of job site inspections by supervisory personnel was recommended.

No formal process for on boarding personnel from other utilities or contractors was shown. These practices should be shared with outside workers as a matter of safety.

No process is in place to gather record information related to accidents or near misses, although the events are discussed in detail by personnel after such events.

Compliance with CPR training within one year of employment was not demonstrated. HSUD does not have Automatic defibrillators.

A formal internal flagger certification program was not observed, but evidence of apprenticeship practices is observed.

A written program for the use of personal protective equipment assessment was not in use. Linemen should be trained to test de-energized primary lines prior to placing ground for personal safety. HSUD has no way to determine if line workers PPE (personal protective equipment) is sufficient to deal with arc flash and no written switching procedures were found.

During the assessment linemen were found not wearing rubber gloves while using a shotgun hot stick or hot line clamp, or while operating a chainsaw protective leg wear, or Class E or C hardhats when appropriate.

Rubber gloves were not tested periodically.

Safe Work Practices - Building, Storage, Maintenance and Repair Facilities

Some materials were found to not be stored in appropriate bins/racks in an orderly manner.

Lift and hand trucks for movement of material were found to be available.

No written fire prevention plan was found.

Emergency signage and directives were found to be present and marked for ease of understanding.

However, at different locations in the utility complexes, some equipment was found to not be stored safely. Examples included the absence of a tongue guard for a bench mounted grinder, or a side cover and tool rest, missing standard guardrails or toe boards in some overhead storage areas, and absence of First Aid supplies in first aid kits.

Some pole stack racks were not secured.

Grass was overgrowing in the pole yard which had inadequate lighting. HSUD lacked fencing and locked gates around outside storage areas.

Safe Work Practices - Substations

Barbed wire was broken on the west side of the North Holly Springs substation and at the gate of the South Holly Springs substation.

Proper signage on fences was absent at the Ashland, North Holly Springs and Slayden substations.

Materials storage at the substations throughout fenced areas was haphazard which included damaged equipment still on site.

Substation maintenance is not being performed, including routine inspections. A checklist would serve to track this process.

Vegetation management was needed in all five substations. An inadequate supply of replacement transformers was noted.

No eye wash stations were available in all substations to protect eyes from battery acid.

Some fire extinguishers were not charged and were not inspected monthly.

Safe Work Practice - Utility Fleet

Documented, scheduled, mechanical inspections, preventative maintenance or maintenance logs for general vehicles, digger derrick trucks, trailers, trenchers, backhoes, forklifts and other special equipment were demonstrated. It was recommended in the report that HSUD prepare a system of inspections, and preventative maintenance, and keep logs of these inspections.

Twelve issues were noted with the fleet.

Mandatory seat belt use was not documented.

Defensive driver training of utility vehicles was absent.

Organized tools, materials and safety equipment in the tool bins was found to be lacking in some bucket trucks.

Safe Work Practices - Benchmarking

There was no evidence HSUD has used its safety related data to compare its utility performance metrics to that of other utility performance metrics.