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Safety Best Practices


Electric Utility System Standards

How Ontario regulation can improve electrical safety BY BILL KHASHFE, London Hydro According to an Ontario Electrical Safety Report, 35 percent of the province’s electrical-related fatalities in the past 10 years were attributed to power-line contact. Equipment specifications and electric utility...

The Right Vendor Partnerships Positively Impact Line Crew Safety

A variety of factors influence the safety of those who work on utility lines. Many of the items are standard and likely on everyone’s line worker safety checklist. But there’s one that may not be top-of-mind when considering how to keep linemen and linewomen safe — the influence...

Grounding & Protection


Grounding Electrodes

For years, manufacturers of ground rods have strived to develop technical specifications for the electrical industry which address the specific needs and applications of clients and endusers alike. One reason for stressing the importance of this was to assure that the customer would receive what...

Lightning Strikes

In Canada, lightning flashes occur about 2.34 million times a year; with the highest levels of concentration during the summer months. While most lightning on earth is ground-to-cloud,  recent research has identified that the majority of lightning events to tall structures, such as wind...

Safety Technologies


Building a Competency Program

At Valard, our people are the core and health of our business. Without our people, we have nothing. In fact, one of our slogans is “People. First.” However, being a people company means some of our biggest challenges are created by people. Our challenges are unique, as is each person...

Fighting Heat Stress With Effective Workwear

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...

Lineman Safety

Safe Grounding in Substations

How to guard utility personnel from shock hazards

BY JEFF JOWETT, Megger

In the power industry, safety is just as important a function as performance. Safety considerations, parameters, and methods of implementation are an integral part of any electrical system. A most important element is the grounding system. This system performs several functions, not the least of which is safety. Substations are active in fault clearance, and personnel working in and around them, as well...

Lineman Safety Articles