Electricity Today T&D Magazine

Protecting utility workers using mobile technologies

BY TOM OCONNOR, Panasonic Solutions for Business

Nearly every lineman has heard of a colleague who has been injured—or worse—while on the job. Because of the dangers inherent to their job (that is, electrical safety in the field), these brave men and women must take every precaution to get their work completed efficiently and safely. The realities of the economic slowdown add an additional level of complexity—the expectation that workers do more with less.

In an effort to increase their productivity in the field, linemen may be tempted to take shortcuts. A better...

In a perfect world, we could all work in weather-controlled environments where heat wouldn’t be a factor and comfort could be maximized. Many workplaces however, deal with very high temperatures and heat stress is a year-round risk that requires serious consideration. For many years the standards addressing the prevention of heat stress-related issues went untouched. Recently the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released an evaluation of the available data on this subject (criteria for a recommended standard), with the goal of setting a new standard. The report; Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments, contains detailed...