RMEL Electric Energy Issue 2 2015

SPOTLIGHT ON CRITICAL ENERGY ISSUES

ISSUE 2 / 2015 www.RMEL.org

ENERGIZING SAFETY Aligning Leadership Around Safety

Sirens of Performance Improvement

Motor Vehicle Safety Technology

OSHA 1910.269 Changes

Taking the Commitment to Always Works Safely

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contents

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FEATURES 12 Aligning All Levels of Leadership Around Safety

PROVIDED BY XCEL ENERGY

Real life utility examples showing how to make it happen

By Jere Zimmerman, Consultant in Organizational Culture and Behavior and Steven I. Simon, Ph.D., President, Culture Change Consultants, Inc.

18 The Sirens of Performance Improvement

By Tim Autrey, CEO and Founder, Practicing Perfection Institute

24 The Role of Vehicle Crash Data Recorders in a Motor Vehicle Safety Program

By Neal Carter and Nathan Rose, Kineticorp, LLC

32 Are You Ready for Upcoming OSHA Changes?

Latest OSHA regulatory change includes complex calculations for utilities

By Bruce Penas, Market Manager-Industry, Border States Electric

38 A Commitment to Safety:

“How can we Become Better Tomorrow Than we are Today?

By Jeff Merrell, Safety Director, Savage Services

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ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

DEPARTMENTS. 06 President’s Message 08 Board of Directors and

Foundation Board of Directors

10 2015 Fall Conference

42 RMEL Membership Listings 44 2015 Calendar of Events 46 I ndex to Advertisers

RMEL INFORMATION

RMEL Board of Directors OFFICERS PRESIDENT Stuart Wevik Black Hills Corporation VP, Utility Operations PRESIDENT ELECT Tony Montoya Western Area Power Administration COO PAST PRESIDENT Dan Schmidt Black & Veatch Corp.

Sr. VP, Power Generation Services VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE Tom Kent Nebraska Public Power District VP & COO

VICE PRESIDENT, EDUCATION Jon Hansen Omaha Public Power District VP, Energy Production & Marketing VICE PRESIDENT, VITAL ISSUES Mike Hummel SRP Associate General Manager VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBERSHIP Scott Fry Mycoff, Fry & Prouse LLC Managing Director VICE PRESIDENT, MEMBER SERVICES Kelly Harrison Westar Energy VP, Transmission

DIRECTORS Paul Barham CPS Energy Sr. VP, Energy Delivery Services Doug Bennion PacifiCorp VP, Engineering Services & Asset Management Joel Bladow Tri State Generation and Transmission Sr. VP, Transmission Assn.

Tim Brossart Xcel Energy VP, Construction Operations & Maintenance Tom McKenna UNS Energy Corporation VP, Energy Delivery Tammy McLeod Arizona Public Service VP, Resource Management

6

Cheryl Mele Austin Energy COO Mike Morris Zachry Group VP, Business Development, Engineering Andy Ramirez El Paso Electric Company VP, Power Generation Jackie Sargent Platte River Power Authority General Manager Neal Walker Texas New Mexico Power President, TNMP SECRETARY Rick Putnicki RMEL Executive Director

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

Foundation Board of Directors

OFFICERS PRESIDENT Paul Compton Kiewit Sr. VP, Business Development

VICE PRESIDENT Walt Jones Intermountain Rural Electric Assn.

Assistant General Manager, Operations & Engineering (retired)

VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE Kent Cheese TestAmerica Laboratories, Inc. VP, Sales CHAIR, FUNDRAISING Jim Helvig AMEC Foster Wheeler Director, Power Delivery CHAIR, MEMBER DEVELOPMENT Mike Jones SRP Director

DIRECTORS Kelly Harrison Westar Energy VP, Transmission Scott Heidtbrink Kansas City Power & Light Executive VP & COO Karin Hollohan Platte River Power Authority Director, Corporate Services

STAFF LIAISON James Sakamoto RMEL Coordinator, Analytics and Communications Rick Putnicki RMEL Executive Director

Tammy Mallaise Zachry Group VP, Employment

P U B L I S H E D B Y:

www.RMEL.org Published Summer 2015 PUBLISHED FOR: RMEL 6855 S. Havana St, Ste 430, Centennial, CO 80112 T: (303) 865-5544 F: (303) 865-5548 www.RMEL.org

www.hungryeyemedia.com 800.852.0857 Brendan Harrington PRESIDENT

Deborah Juris PUBLISHER

Kathryn Hail EDITOR (303) 865-5544 kathrynhail@rmel.org

(303) 883-4159 deborah@hungryeyemedia.com

Electric Energy is the official magazine of RMEL. Published three times a year, the publication discusses critical issues in the electric energy industry. Subscribe to Electric Energy by contacting RMEL. Editorial content and feedback can also be directed to RMEL. Advertising in the magazine supports RMEL education programs and activities. For advertising opportunities, please contact Deborah Juris from HungryEye Media, LLC at (303) 883-4159.

SALES REPRESENTATIVE

Susan Wist (303) 378-1626 susanwist@hungryeyemedia.com Lindsay Burke CREATIVE DIRECTOR & AD PRODUCTION

Susan Humphrey PROJECT MANAGER

2015 FALL CONVENTION

LIGHTING THE WAY FOR CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDING AT RMEL’S 112th FALL CONVENTION

SEPTEMBER 20 -22 , 2015

Event Location The InterContinental Kansas City at the Plaza 401 Ward Pkwy Kansas City, MO 64112 (816) 756-1500 www.igh.com/intercontinental 8

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

|

K A N S A S C I T Y, M I S S O U R I . .

OIN ELECTRIC ENERGY INDUSTRY SENIOR executives for RMEL’s 2015 Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention Sept.

20-22 in Kansas City, MO. The theme of this year’s Fall Convention is Out of the Dark: Lighting the Way for Customer Understanding. With the numerous challenges the industry is facing right now, customers will be the ones to pay the price. As utility executives strategize to keep rates affordable while also dealing with regulations, renewables and reliability, everything comes back to the customer.

The RMEL Fall Convention attracts over 300 senior-level utility managers and executives. Find chief executives, company officers, vice presidents, general managers, decision makers and senior management of energy companies at this event. Attendees represent the many utility ownerships including IOU, G&T, municipalities, cooperative and government agencies.

The keynote speaker is John Foley, Former Lead Solo Pilot, U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels and Founder and CEO of John Foley CenterPoint Companies, Inc. As the lead solo pilot of the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels, John consistently performed as part of a close-knit team in an intense, high-stakes environment. Reaching that level of excellence required commitment, discipline and trust. Using Blue Angel methodology as a model, Foley has developed a

112th Annual

unique approach that equips others to make the same journey towards excellence. His message, delivered with a contagious enthusiasm, emphasizes principles of trust, alignment, clarity and commitment, positioning individuals and teams to achieve and sustain higher levels of excellence than they ever dreamed possible.

A presentation on safeguarding America’s critical energy assets will take a high-level look at physical and cyber security in the electric energy industry, including reliability, costs, customer service and the impacts to the grid.

Executive Leadership and Management

Gary Vicinus, VP and Managing Director, Pace Global, a Siemens Business, and Melissa Haugh, Pace Global, a Siemens Business, will provide an expert, national perspective on EPA Clean Power Plan impacts and what they mean for the future of coal and the gas infrastructure’s capacity to handle the increased demand.

As more and more customers choose to install rooftop solar, utilities must confront both operational challenges and cost shifting from solar customers to non-solar customers. Current regulatory practices and tariff structures can make equitable cost recovery challenging.

During a Renewable Integration, Net Metering and Cost Recovery Panel, Arlen Orchard, CEO & General Manager, Sacramento Municipal Utility District and Marc Romito, Manager, Renewable Energy Programs,

Arizona Public Service, will focus on strategies and solutions to help utilities achieve equitable cost recovery, address integration and operational issues associated with increased distributed generation, and meet customer expectations.

Electric utilities are headed into possibly the most challenging times ever. With 111d, talk of deregulation and the many electric energy regulations hitting utilities, executives are concerned that customers will take the brunt of the costs and reliability challenges. Innovation is moving fast and there is a great sense of optimism as utilities work hard for customers.

During the CEO Panel, Jim Jura, CEO & General Manager, Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.; Terry Bassham, Chairman & CEO, Kansas City Power & Light; Mark Ruelle, CEO, Westar Energy; Stuart S. Lowry, President

W W W. R M EL .O R G

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2015 FALL CONVENTION

& CEO, Sunflower Electric Power Corporation and Jerry Crouse, Vice Chairman and CEO, Tenaska, Inc., will weigh in on what it’s going to take to protect customers.

During a presentation on longterm challenges and emerging issue considerations for maintaining electric reliability in North America, John N. Moura, Director, Reliability Assessment and System Analysis, North American Electric Reliability Corporation, will focus on electric energy reliability issues in the face of a changing resource mix. Impacts of new generation on the system and plant retirements will be discussed.

Day 2 keynote speaker Robert Bryce, Author & Sr. Fellow, Manhattan Institute, will talk about innovation, shale, and the second American century. He’ll discuss the themes in his new book, Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation

Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong. He will highlight the traits of innovation and show why so many of the predictions about the future have been wrong. In addition, he’ll cover other topics including: the ongoing surge in global coal use, the factors driving U.S. oil and gas production, the main challenges facing the electricity sector, and why the US will continue dominating the global economy for decades to come.

Tom Casey, Managing Principal, Discussion Partner Collaborative LLC, will moderate a panel on Inflection Points in Career Management. Panelists Renée Gartelos, Director of Human Resources, Burns & McDonnell; Amy Reininger, Human Resource Director, Black Hills Corporation; and Major Sean Casey will discuss the drivers and challenges between and among the multi-cultural and generational workforce as it relates to career progression.

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ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

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Patrick O’Toole, CEM, CBCP, Principal Business Continuity Analyst, SRP, will provide a behind the scenes planning perspective for a “no fail” event and describe what it takes to power the Super Bowl. On February 1, 2015, Super Bowl XLIX became the most watched broadcast in U.S. television history with over 114.4 million viewers. The University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona was home to the big game and is powered by the Salt River Project. Go behind the scenes and get an inside look at the multitude of challenges and planning activities that made this “no fail” event such a resounding success.

With reduced resources and a federal environmental regulatory agenda built on transparency, more and more information is being made available by federal and state regulators for easy viewing. NGOs and community groups are well funded, informed and are pursuing agendas through a variety of regulatory and enforcement strategies. Media and use of social networking also imposes a different dimension on public perception and regulator pressure. Renee Cipriano, Partner, Schiff Hardin LLP, will explore the ways in which NGOs and community activism are influencing environmental regulatory decisions and public perception, and what we can do about it.

The Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention is a three-day event that begins on a Sunday with a golf outing followed by an evening reception hosted by the RMEL Champions. Monday is a full-day of educational presentations ending with an RMEL Champions reception, dinner and the RMEL Foundation Silent Auction. The final day includes the RMEL annual meeting and a half day of presentations. A guest program, awards presentation and plenty of time to relax and network are also part of the tradition.

Go to www.RMEL.org for more information and registration.

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ALIGNING ALL LEVELS OF LEADERSHIP

AROUND

SAFETY

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ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

Real life utility examples showing how to make it happen

By Jere Zimmerman, Consultant in Organizational Culture and Behavior and Steven I. Simon, Ph.D., President, Culture Change Consultants, Inc. www.culturechange.com

HE MOST POWERFUL force pushing organizations towards or away from achieving the goal of safety excellence is the cultural leadership that guides the organization’s members in their beliefs and actions concerning safety. Many organizations identify middle management as the problem area for their safety improvement efforts. Safety and operations leaders set expectations and are frustrated when they see actions on the part of middle management that don’t appear to conform to those expectations. When questioned, those middle managers and supervisors sometimes share their reasons, including conflicts with production demands and resource constraints. To combat what they see as “supervisors not being on board,” organizations often require middle management to go to supervisory leadership training. In our

practice, we have found that it is not enough to set new expectations and train people on them – in order to see behavior changes it is necessary to gain true alignment in the underlying beliefs and assumptions that drive behavior. Gaining true alignment means that leadership from all levels need to engage in honest two-way dialogue that leads to alignment on a common set of leadership principles, assumptions, and behaviors that are needed to guide the shift towards becoming a world-class safety culture. This means supervisors, middle managers and upper managers getting in the same room and having honest discussions, and realizing that being on the same page when it comes to safety is their joint problem, not just a “supervisory” problem that can be solved by sending “them” (i.e., supervisors) to a training class.

RESEARCH BEHIND LEADERSHIP ALIGNMENT Kotter’s (1990) research on leadership explains the theory behind aligning leadership. Kotter discusses the need for leaders to be aligned in their practices, norms and assumptions in order to be able to convey a shared set of expectations, norms, beliefs and practices to their workforce. If there is inconsistent leadership, the workforce will see this inconsistency and it will be difficult for the group to have a common set of behaviors. For example, if there is inconsistency in leadership about questioning unsafe behaviors it may create inconsistency in the workforce as well. If there is an employee perception that some supervisors do not listen to safety concerns while other supervisors do, this would create inconsistency in how the workforce reports safety issues. In order to have a consistent workforce culture there needs to be consistent leadership as well.

Kotter and Heskett (1992) state that

organizational culture has two levels.

They referred to one as the visible part of the culture. This part of the culture is the behavioral patterns which new employees see when they first come to work, or outsiders may see. This includes symbols, technology, leadership, or metrics and systems in place.

The second level is the invisible level.

Schein (1992) breaks out Kotter and Heskett’s invisible culture into two different levels to include values and underlying assumptions. Schein (1990) discusses that assumptions, which persist over time, are deeper than values people hold. Assumptions are what underlie the values people hold.

The Leadership Alignment Dialogue is meant to get at the underlying assumptions leadership holds. Once leaders understand these assumptions they can begin to change and align their behaviors. Schein states, “The bottom line for leaders is that if they do not become conscious of the cultures in which they are embedded, those cultures will manage them.

Cultural understanding is desirable for all of us, but it is essential to leaders if they are to lead” (p. 23).

LEADERSHIP ALIGNMENT DIALOGUES Two companies, one a major utility located on the West coast and PSE&G in New Jersey, were engaged in active efforts to improve their respective safety cultures. As part of that process they set out to align leadership at all levels around a shared vision of the desired safety culture. In doing so they intended to clarify what it means to work safely in “questionable” circumstances by coming to agreement on shared assumptions, and to define what it means for all levels of both union and management to be safety leaders. Both organizations engaged Culture Change Consultants to facilitate customized Leadership Alignment DialoguesTM.

WEST COAST UTILITY – ELECTRIC OPERATIONS An Electric Operations department from a major West Coast Utility conducted three Leadership Alignment Dialogue sessions of one day each, with the sessions separated by six weeks so that participants could complete follow-up assignments.

Directors, managers, and supervisors all attended the sessions to ensure direct communication. An audience response system was used to poll all participants regarding shared beliefs, to create an atmosphere where it was safe to share your true perceptions, even if they did not adhere to the “company line,” so that areas of misalignment could be aired in a way that diverse and often “undiscussable” perceptions were shared.

At each meeting, the group identified specific areas of misalignment and created projects to unify around a common set of assumptions. Examples of the issues they worked were “Electric supervisors lack open communication, which leads to hard feelings and frustration.” Officially, all supervisors were supposed to participate in a 6:30 am meeting, but in reality missing the meeting was accepted if you were out with your crew, on a trouble job, or felt that the meeting had no value.

Participants developed group agreements that they would be present, would call in if missing the meeting, and agreed to meet once a month to reinforce the group commitments.

They recognized that the only way to demonstrate to workers that district leadership was on the same page was to look honestly at their management culture and use the group to regularly check themselves and help each other be consistent in their actions and messages. They felt that as long as their crews saw that their actions did not demonstrate that they mean what they say it undermined

W W W. R M EL .O R G

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Does everyone in management and supervision share the same beliefs about what we mean by “safety first”?

“It’s okay to have a ‘cowboy’ attitude about safety because sometimes it’s needed to get the job done.” Our supervisors and managers reject this idea...

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the authenticity of the safety message and inhibited trust and open communication with their workers.

Another problem the group identified was “Managers and supervisors at the district are not aligned around tardy and disruptive employees.”

The organization held safety meetings that included stretching, but it was not uncommon for employees to be late, or to disrupt the meeting because they didn’t find it to be a serious, meaningful activity. Rather than focusing on the employee’s behavior, the leadership group looked at their own responses to the behavior as a key to changing the situation. They realized in the leadership dialogues that they had unconsciously created a norm that it was ok not to be in agreement, not to talk about the issue with each other, and not to address the issue. These norms had arisen because leadership wasn’t aligned amongst themselves about how to respond, and they felt that since all

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ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

supervisors had the power to address it individually it wasn’t a priority to address it as a group. They developed a message to be shared with the crews to define what would be considered tardy, acknowledge those who were on time, and decided as a group what the consequences for tardiness would be. They discussed it at bi-weekly staff meetings and leadership meetings to be sure they were meeting regularly and discussing the issue.

They made other changes, like moving the stretching time and strategically sitting in certain positions at the safety meetings. By taking these actions, and using the power of the group to hold each other accountable for doing it, they effectively changed the norm that supervisors were not aligned in their response to the crews and began showing alignment on a daily basis.

At the third and final Leadership Alignment Dialogue the response system data clearly showed improvement in several key safety beliefs.

PSE&G PSE&G Customer Operations group conducted a Leadership Alignment Dialogue that focused on mixed messages. It was attended by supervisors, managers, and union leaders. The group defined mixed messages as combining contradictory notions or actions that confuse listeners about the real, intended message. A common example of a mixed message is present in the automated phone systems of many customer service systems which continue to tell you, even after lengthy periods spent on hold, “Your call is important to us. Our next available representative will be with you shortly.” The team wrote real scenarios based on what they see as some of the mixed messages having to do with safety and health in their work area, mixed messages that are common in many organizations. Included among those they identified: The official policy is that safety is

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A meter reader identifies and reports an unsafe condition, which then goes unfixed for four months. The group supervisor assigns a different meter reader and the meter gets read. The group supervisor points out to the former meter reader the actions of the new meter reader. The first reader reports the unsafe assignment to a supervisor who says that if it is unsafe it should not be done. The group supervisor makes it clear that the meter should still be read.

Mixed message: Don’t do it if it is unsafe BUT Find a way to get the job done.

first, but things I see tell me that in reality meeting budget is first, safety is second.

The official policy is,“If it’s unsafe don’t do it,” but when unsafe conditions that have been reported go unfixed, or the supervisor asks someone else to do a job that was refused as unsafe, it tells you that the reality is that getting the job done, safe or not, is what matters.

The company says “We care about your health” but when you are judged for taking a sick day or a break after an extremely stressful customer service call, or to come in even if the weather has made road conditions hazardous, it tells you that what is most important is being on the job, no matter what.

The company schedules meetings for safety (including this mixed messages workshop) but if you are criticized by your supervisor or coworkers as unproductive for attending, you learn that being on the job, not spending time on safety, is what is accepted by the group.

SCENARIOS At the beginning of the leadership alignment session, the majority of the group (93%) agreed with the statement “Our messages and actions sometimes give the perception that we do not consistently support the commitment to health, safety, and well-being as our number one priority” as being at least occasionally or more than it should. At the end of the day of processing mixed messages, and aligning around a consistent set of safety assumptions, the group agreed with the statements “The workshop is creating an atmosphere where it is safe to speak up” and “I am being as candid as necessary for us to surface the mixed messages sent in this organization.” Overall 79% of the attendees rated the day as very valuable, while acknowledging that there were still challenges to implementing changes necessary.

CONCLUSION Leadership shapes culture and alignment amongst leaders at all levels is the gold standard in achieving safety excellence, but true alignment

Field telephones with a Nextel option were issued to meter readers to report safety issues they encounter, such as dog problems, meter panel, falling, etc.

When too many people starting making personal calls management took the phone option out, leaving only Nextel but there were Nextel dead zones where it did not work.

Mixed message: We give you phones to ensure your safety BUT If it costs too much you are on your own when it comes to health and safety.

doesn’t come through top down messaging about the safety values and expectations alone. It comes instead through the hard work of two-way dialogue, where all levels of leadership are in the room at the same time, and have the opportunity to voice their beliefs and air mixed messages. Acknowledging that misalignment amongst leadership exists, that it matters and then bringing leaders together to dialogue about the mixed messages they perpetuate, was a critical step for both utilities described above in creating the type of consistent and aligned leadership culture necessary for them to both achieve the world class safety performance that they now have.

REFERENCES Hogan, R., & Kaiser, R.B. (2005). What we know about leadership. Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 169-180. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from the PsycARTICLES Database.

Kotter, J.P. (1990). Management and leadership. In W.E. Natemeyer and J.T. McMahon ( Eds.), Classics of Organizational Behavior, Ed. 3 (pp. 335-348). Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, Inc. Kotter, J.P., & Heskett, J.L. (1992). Corporate culture and performance. New York: The Free Press.

Schein, E.H. (1992). Organizational culture and leadership (2nd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, Inc. Schein, E. (1990). Organizational culture. American Psychologist, 45(2), 109-119. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from the PsycARTICLES Database. ©2015 Culture Change Consultants, Inc.

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ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

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The Sirens of Performance Improvement “Next, where the Sirens dwell, you plough the seas; Their song is death, and makes destruction please.”

-HOMER (THE ODYSSEY)

BY TIM AUTREY, CEO AND FOUNDER, PRACTICING PERFECTION INSTITUTE

Have you ever

left port on a ship and traveled into the open sea? Casting off, you head outward, slicing smoothly yet deliberately through the calm emerald green harbor waters. If it’s your first time, you think, “This is great! This is calm, this is smooth. Why was I worried about getting sick?” Such is similar sailing for most during initial performance improvement efforts. You decide to cast off, it all seems very simple.

You navigate toward the harbor entrance. Life is good.

“Such a smooth journey!” you say to yourself. “Why do people think that improving performance is so hard?”

Of course you know, you must depart the harbor calm and head into the open sea. It is there that your “next level” awaits! As the harbor opens to the sea, the question becomes, “Heading, Mam (or Sir)?” Bolstered by the ease of your initial movement, you answer as James Kirk after regaining command of the Enterprise, “Out there…that a way!1”

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ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

Safe harbor behind, your wave of initial enthusiasm now turns to the hard work of chasing the horizon. The seas have gotten rough. What is your best course? Day-to-day demands consume your energy. Weariness sets in. Making your way to the stern of the ship, you look backward. Seeing the now distant shores where you once docked, you recognize that you have indeed made progress. This offers only momentary comfort, however, because your travels thus far certainly aren’t ‘good enough’. There are targets to be chased, trends to be analyzed, metrics to be calculated, KPIs to be reported. Racing back forward, to the bow, your gaze is again upon the horizon. How can you ever possibly get there?

In truth, performance improvement is like the horizonan ongoing journey into the sunrise. You never actually “arrive”. There must always be a “next-level”. The secret is to be crystal clear about your current target. This is the only way to intelligently plot your course to get there.

“Just a little more data, and we’ll know exactly how to FIX the ‘people problem’!”

Then, just prior to arriving at what was your target, you precisely calculate your next one, take what you have learned from your journey thus far, and plot your ongoing course. No matter your industry, or the size of your team, department, or enterprise, this is your pathway to a successful future. This is, as Tony Robbins calls it, Constant And Never-ending Improvement (CANI).

Unfortunately, there are many “sirens” along such a journey, doing their best to lure you off course. In Homer’s Odyssey, listening to the Sirens’ song could not be resisted.

“Firm to the mast with chains thyself be bound,” was the sole means offered for averting the otherwise ultimate doom. From my experience, the lure of analysts, consultants, and salespeople hawking everything from “tool kits”, to prescriptive processes, to expensive software and databases has become irresistible to many in their ongoing search for the “next step”. Unfortunately, the thrust of most offerings, in spite of their bells, whistles, and alluring song, offer (at best) surface-level behavioral influence, while many are merely different forms of attempting to manage people like things. Such are the crags, and rocks, and shoals of doom for many tasked with performance improvement. As described in The Odyssey (just because I cannot resist),

“In verdant meads they sport; and wide around Lie human bones that whiten all the ground” The two predominant Sirens of Human Performance are, analoculitis, and the Shiny Box, presented here lest ye be tempted to wander toward and be captivated by their alluring songs… In other words (getting back to ‘normal speak’), these are the two predominant traps that will tend to pull you off course if you let them. As you read the descriptions that follow, should you find that you are already within their grasp, awareness and admission provide your first step to recovery.

ANALOCULITIS Analoculitis: (1) An acute focus upon the accumulation of massive amounts of data with the intent of extracting insight about obvious behaviors (which could otherwise be immediately reinforced or addressed through direct interaction), thereby drawing conclusions regarding the need, at some point in the future, for corrective action; (2) cranial rectal inversion2 Human Performance is not complicated. Let me re-phrase that: achieving next-level performance, whether your focus be upon Safety Culture, Quality, or High Reliability is not complicated…with a proper focus upon and leveraging of human performance. You simply do NOT need more Six Sigma studies, more matrices,

more databases, or more multi-colored graphs and bar charts to move things in a positive direction.

Yes, measurement is important, but as we discussed previously, measurement is a means, a gage of progress, not the end result. It’s like the oil pressure gage in your car.

While that meter and the information it provides are indeed important, you need the engine to propel you to where you want to go. And that engine, no matter what type of business you’re in, is human performance.

A huge example of the stagnation and lack of progress caused by analoculitis can be seen within the US medical industry. This is an industry currently responsible for the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. In the book published in 2000, To Err is Human, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported, “as many as 98,000 people die in any given year from medical errors that occur in hospitals3.” In 2013, an article in the Journal of Patient Safety, elevated this estimation to between 210,000 and 440,000 hospital patients per year who suffer some type of preventable harm that contributes to their death4.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out why there is not more outrage about this. Either the means of ‘estimation’ have shifted dramatically, or things are getting much worse in the medical industry. I like to believe it’s the former; but either way, there appears to be very slow (if any) industrywide resolution to the problem of medical error. This being said, wonderful rays of hope have emerged, such as the Texas medical system indicated in the Introduction. But even here, you have to ask an obvious question: If someone within the industry has ‘cracked the code’ on solving a significant area of medical error (infections), why in the heck hasn’t their ‘discovery’ been immediately adopted across the industry?

From my experience and my observation, the answer is…analoculitis. To be fair, errors in the medical industry tend to be cloaked in clandestine secrecy for fear of being sued. This is often the case internally within hospitals, let

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alone sharing outside the organization so that the rest of the industry can learn. But in the case of this incredibly effective (and simple) solution to a huge problem that has been ‘discovered’ in Texas, the response by most within the industry appears to be a continued desire for more studies, more data, another survey. This is insanity!

Before I go further, I must say that my experiences with the medical industry have witnessed no lack of desire by those who work within it to make things better. This industry is filled with hard-working staff members who truly want to help people. But for some reason, the “system” grinds along, seemingly resistant to external input and lessons learned, whether such lessons come from outside the industry or simply from another company or institution within the medical community. The predominant focus seems to be upon a need to overhaul the system, which of course requires lots of money, lots of time, more Six Sigma studies, etc. This is totally not necessary to begin dramatically improving performance. Want proof? The ‘miracle’ in Texas that has led to essentially zero infections is...the simple act of doctors, nurses, and technicians washing their hands before touching a patient. A simple [committed] shift in behaviors, and one of the leading causes of patient harm in hospitals has been essentially eradicated.

Achieving amazing results through focus on human performance is not complicated.

Here’s another example of analoculitis from my nuclear days as head of the Technical Support Department. One of our areas of responsibility was management of the “Observation & Coaching” program. The program consisted of two major components: First off, eight hours of documented “observation time” was required of those in the positions of Frontline Supervisor (FLS) and above. Of itself, this was a great concept. Proper and frequent interaction between those who do the work and those who oversee and manage is a critical component to achieving and sustaining next-level performance.

But the second element of the ‘program’ was where it got all screwed up- the focus upon acquiring megabytes of data. During the observation time, each FLS/manager was armed with a “Coaching Card”, providing a checklist of things to look for and grade. “What’s wrong with that?” you ask. Nothing, in and of itself. However, when you pair very busy people (which most employees in defined positions of leadership are) with rote requirements, left-brain bias, and checklists, it becomes an exercise to complete the checklist rather than maximizing the opportunity for quality interaction with the people being observed. It becomes about data accumulation rather than relationships. A great idea gone bad, again falling into the pit of analoculitis 20

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THE “SHINY BOX” In addition to the ever-present pit of analoculitis, we are all susceptible to the luring song of the Shiny Box. There are four primary reasons for this: Our lizard brains5 (the part of our brains that gets ‘first shot’ at processing incoming information and is tasked with our survival) are acutely attracted to anything that appears to be new, novel, and pleasant (this is a fact of Human Nature), AND Our lizard brains seek to conserve energy- we tend to look for simple concrete solutions (such as databases) to solve complex [seemingly] abstract challenges (also a fact of Human Nature), AND We take our focus off of (aka get bored with) the fundamentals of human performance, getting sidetracked by an apparent quick fix, something new and revolutionary, or the charisma of a speaker, consultant, or company seemingly having the cure for whatever is ailing us at the moment, AND/OR We have not taken the time to clearly visualize and articulate our current target (precisely what we’re seeking to achieve), allowing us to be easily diverted from our course How can you defend against these tendencies that make you vulnerable to getting “sucked in”? Relative to the Human Nature of your lizard brain, which is attracted to pleasant novelties and wants to conserve energy by minimizing logical thought, simply be aware of it. This is your first defense.

If you find yourself getting bored with an incessant focus on the fundamentals, patience young grasshopper. If patience is not one of your virtues (it certainly isn’t one of mine), and you’re tempted to dive head first into something you just saw on the internet, read the story of Vince Lombardi in Chapter Three of 6-Hour Safety Culture before you make any decisions.

Finally, if you’ve never truly dug into the underlying why of what you’re doing, which is absolutely necessary if you are to have a clear visualization and articulation of where you’re headed, stop right now and complete the following exercise. Do this now, before you read any further.

This exercise involves completing what we refer to as the Transformation Conversation, developed in its original form by one of my mentors, Dan Sullivan. When you take the time to thoughtfully have this Conversation with yourself, it will help you get to your core. If you are part of a team that is making recommendations and providing direction (especially if “excellence” is in your team’s title), every member of

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the team should complete this exercise, first individually, and then collectively. Watch the short video first, then download the worksheets and complete them: http://ppiweb.com/future-performance-improvement/pursuing-excellence/ All of us must continually guard against Shiny Box temptation. This is true in virtually all areas of life. When it comes to performance improvement, however, you can be a very easy target if you are… a. A very busy senior leader or business owner who feels an acute sense of pressure to improve performance, whether self-induced, because of a client, competitor, or regulator,RMEL or because something really bad just happened, 2015 4.75x7.25

–OR– b. One tasked with performance improvement, and you’re under the gun to recommend solutions or provide results because of perceived negative trends, client/competitor/regulator demands, or the need to respond to something really bad that just happened As humans, we make choices based upon one of two primal motivations: To eliminate pain, or to acquire pleasure. If you find yourself in either the (a) or (b) category described above, you are likely searching in earnest for some means by which to reduce your pain.

This is a very strong motivation.

It may very well be the reason you’re reading this article. Be patient. Allow past decisions and experiences, combined with whatever it is you’re currently facing, to provide you with wisdom and resolve, not reaction and temptation.

Tim Autrey is the Founder/CEO of the Practicing Perfection Institute, Inc. (www.ppiweb.com).

This article is an excerpt from his latest book, 6-Hour Safety Culture- How to Sustainably Reduce Human Error and Risk (and do what training alone can’t (possibly) do), published by the Human Performance Association. The book is available in both Kindle and hard copy editions at Amazon.com.

ENDNOTES 1 Star Trek: The Motion Picture; Paramount Pictures; 1979; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to9HVz793Kc 2 Practicing Perfection Institute, Inc.; Glossary of Terms; 2015 3 To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System; Institute of Medicine; National Academy Press; 2000 4 Journal of Patient Safety: September 2013 - Volume 9 - Issue 3 - p 122–128 5 Phrase attributed to one of my mentors, Seth Godin

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The Role of Vehicle Crash Data Recorders in a Motor Vehicle Safety Program B Y N E A L C A R T E R A N D N A T H A N R O S E , K I N E T I C O R P, L L C

A vehicle collides with another vehicle and leaves a trail of visible evidence. On the roadway sits tire marks where the wheels locked just before impact, gouges past the impact point as the suspension scraped across the asphalt, a trail of coolant spewing from the radiator, and glass and vehicle debris strewn about. The damage to the vehicles gives a clue as to how the vehicles collided and to the magnitude of the impact. And the drivers of the vehicles tell their own version of the events leading up to the crash – each one blaming the other. If you’re a safety manager, and one of the vehicles belongs to your fleet, this is a nightmare scenario. But increasingly, there is more evidence than what is described above, and that evidence is found in the electronic crash data stored on the vehicles themselves. Understanding this data often allows you to understand a crash, and understanding the crash can allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of your motor vehicle safety program. 

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Many modern cars have event data recorders (EDRs) integrated into the electronics that record crash related data. This data can be instrumental in determining the conditions that led up to a crash, including the vehicle speed and the driver’s steering, braking, and acceleration inputs. Vehicle manufacturers use this data to improve their vehicles. Fleet managers, safety directors, and corporate legal counsel can also use this data to evaluate and understand a crash involving one of their vehicles.

Event data recorders on vehicles share similarities with “black boxes” on commercial aircraft. The electronics on a vehicle with event data recording capability continuously receive and temporarily store data. If the recorder senses a crash the EDR may save the data in permanent storage, and continue to record data during and after the crash. This means that after a crash an EDR may have recorded data from a set amount of time before the impact, data during the impact, and data for a set amount of time after the impact.

Of important note is that these systems were not initially designed to aid in a vehicular accident investigation. On passenger vehicles, the functionality to store and record data was added into the system that deploys a vehicle’s airbag, known generically as an airbag control module, or ACM. Initially, the crash data on these systems was used by the vehicle and airbag manufacturers to evaluate airbag performance. As a result, most of the data that was recorded and available to the consumer in early EDR systems consisted of the parameters that the ACM considers when it makes the decision to deploy the

airbags of a vehicle. Some of these parameters are the acceleration of the vehicle at the time that the ACM was making the deployment decision and whether or not occupants were seat belted. Even this limited data can provide valuable insight to the investigation of a crash.

A current federal regulation (49 CFR Ch. V (10–1–11 Edition), Part 563) requires that passenger vehicles and light trucks record the crash data that they monitor and make that data accessible to crash investigators and researchers via commercially available tools. This regulation notes that this data “will help provide a better understanding of the circumstances in which crashes and injuries occur and will lead to safer vehicle designs.”

WHICH VEHICLES RECORD CRASH DATA? If a passenger vehicle is a model year 2013 or newer, it will likely record data in a crash. Before the current federal regulation was in effect, the recording and availability of crash related data was at the manufacturer’s discretion.

General Motors was the first auto manufacturer to equip its vehicles with crash data recording capability – some of their vehicles recorded crash data as early as 1994.

Medium and heavy duty commercial trucks may also have crash data recording capabilities. Although not yet required by federal regulation, many heavy vehicle engine manufacturers have implemented systems that record data if a large enough change in the vehicle speed is detected, or when the vehicle comes to a stop. Caterpillar was the first commercial vehicle engine manufacturer to begin recording crash related data, as far back as 1994.

Model years for which vehicle and engine manufacturers began implementing data recording capabilities to their systems.

passenger vehicles & light duty trucks 26

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The graphic timelines depict the model years that vehicle and engine manufacturers began implementing data recording capabilities on their systems. The graphic on the previous page represents passenger vehicles and light duty trucks (by vehicle manufacturer), and the graphic on this page represents medium and heavy duty trucks (by engine manufacturer). These timelines do not guarantee that a specific vehicle contains data, but rather that the presence of data should be explored or considered in the event of a crash.

WHAT DATA IS RECORDED? 49 CFR Ch. V, Part 563 requires that passenger vehicles and light trucks with event data recorders manufactured after September 1, 2012 record data including the following: the vehicle speed, throttle percentage, and brake application status for 5 seconds preceding the event, the change in velocity experienced by the vehicle during the event, and the seat belt status of the driver.

Recorded data may also include: acceleration during the event, driver steering inputs, the status of the vehicle’s anti-lock brake or stability control system, and seat belt status and seat track positions for vehicle passengers. For vehicles manufactured prior to September 1, 2012, the data available during a crash is highly dependent on the specific year, make, and model of the vehicle, as well as the nature and severity of the crash.

Airbag control modules are not necessarily the only device in vehicles that can record crash data. On certain Ford vehicles crash related data is also recorded and

made accessible in the Powertrain Control Module or PCM. This device controls engine parameters such as ignition, timing, and the air-fuel ratio, and monitors parameters such as engine speed, vehicle speed, and brake status. The PCM also continuously stores data in a circular buffer, similar to the airbag controller, however, for the PCM to permanently save the data it must be powered off directly after a crash, or receive a confirmation of a crash from the airbag control module. If neither of these situations occur or the data is collected in the wrong manner, the data will be overwritten by the circular buffer and lost forever.

There are notable differences in the data that is typically recorded by passenger vehicles and commercial vehicles. These differences can be attributed to differences in the design of these systems. In passenger vehicles, data is typically recorded by the ACM, which is constantly monitoring the acceleration of the vehicle to determine if a crash is occurring and if airbags should be deployed.

Commercial vehicles, on the other hand, rarely have airbag systems, so the data recording functionality and responsibility is most often delegated to the Engine Control Unit or ECU. The main function of an ECU is to monitor and adjust engine parameters, but it may also serve as a recording device for crash related data.

Heavy vehicles ECUs may record the vehicle speed, engine speed, engine load, throttle percentage, brake status (on/off), clutch status (on/off), and cruise control status (on/off). A heavy vehicle ECU typically relies on the speed of the vehicle to decide whether to record data

The timelines do not guarantee that a specific model contains data, but rather that the presence of data should be further explored or considered in the event of a crash.

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or not, and will record data for three types of events.

The first event is a fault in the system. For instance, if the engine coolant is low, a fault code will be produced and sent to the ECU. In this case, some ECUs will record data surrounding a fault event, such as vehicle speed, braking, and engine RPM. The significance is that some crashes may cause faults in the system, such as a low coolant warning if the radiator or coolant reservoir is damaged.

Heavy vehicle ECUs also record data if the speed of the vehicle drops quickly – typically between 7 and 10 mph over a one-second interval. These events are commonly referred to as “hard brake” or “sudden deceleration” events. For such an event, the vehicle will save the data that was stored in the buffer before the speed threshold was met and also monitor and record data after the threshold was met. Crashes often satisfy the speed change criteria, in which case these systems will record data before and after a crash. Many commercial vehicles also record “last stop” events, in which data is recorded in a manner similar to a “hard brake” or “sudden deceleration” but there is no speed threshold. This type of event is simply recorded each time the vehicle stops, and is overwritten the next time the vehicle stops.

DATA PRESERVATION AND COLLECTION METHODS – PASSENGER VEHICLES Safety or fleet managers will benefit from recognizing when crash data will be recorded by a vehicle EDR, and from ensuring that the data gets collected properly.

On passenger vehicles, knowing when crash data is recorded is fairly straightforward. If a vehicle is configured to record crash data, and any airbags deploy during the crash, the data on the EDR will likely be permanently recorded, or “locked”, and will not be overwritten. However, if airbags did not deploy, then any data that was recorded may not be permanently recorded. In this case, powering up the vehicle before the data is retrieved may result in crash data being overwritten. Crash events that are recorded when airbags do not deploy are commonly referred to as “non-deployment” or “near-deployment” events and may be overwritten in a number of circumstances. For instance, most GM vehicles delete nondeployment events after the ignition is cycled around 250 times, and some Ford vehicles that record data on the PCM may overwrite crash data the next time that a vehicle is powered up after a crash.

Bosch Diagnostics designs and manufactures a system called the Crash Data Retrieval (CDR) tool that enables the retrieval of crash related data stored on passenger vehicles. This tool serves as a translator between the vehicle and the investigator. Saving an image of the data in the vehicle involves connecting the CDR tool to the On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) port of the vehicle, typically 28

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

TOP: Inside an airbag control module. CENTER: Data retrieval setup for a heavy truck. BOTTOM: Data retrieval setup for a passenger vehicle.

located beneath the steering wheel, and to a laptop equipped with the CDR software. The CDR software then reads the data from the vehicle and produces a report.

Complications can arise when crash damage interrupts the power network between the vehicle battery, the OBD port of the vehicle, and the module that records the crash data. In this case, the investigator may have to connect directly to the module. This process requires a vehicle specific cable to connect the CDR tool to the module. Kia and Hyundai vehicles provide an extra layer of complication. These vehicles will record data, but are not supported by the Bosch CDR tool. To retrieve the crash data, the investigator must purchase a separate tool directly from Kia or Hyundai.

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DATA PRESERVATION AND COLLECTION METHODS – COMMERCIAL VEHICLES Preserving data on commercial vehicles is more complicated than on passenger vehicles. Unlike passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles do not have criteria, such as an airbag deployment, to permanently lock data. And since the memory to store the data on the ECU is limited, all events will eventually be replaced when newer events are created. The easiest event to overwrite is the last-stop event. Sometimes, simply driving a commercial vehicle onto a tow truck will overwrite a last-stop event and any crash data associated with it. To ensure preservation of any last-stop events in a commercial vehicle, the investigator will need to access and save the data before the vehicle is moved or tow the vehicle without turning the vehicle on.

Collecting crash data on commercial vehicles differs from passenger vehicles in both the hardware and software required. Rather than a standard OBD connector, heavy vehicles use a 6-pin or 9-pin data link connector for vehicle communications. There are several commercially available tools to connect to the data link connector. The most common is the Nexiq USB link.

This connection tool performs a task similar to the CDR

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tool – that is, translating vehicle data for the investigator. Rather than using one software suite to access data from multiple manufacturers, such as the CDR tool, commercial vehicles require separate software for each engine manufacturer.

The necessary protocol for accessing and saving the crash related data for commercial vehicles varies by engine manufacturer, but of important note is that accessing this data has the potential to create new fault codes within the system and an inexperienced investigator could potentially overwrite crash related data if proper precautions are not taken.

DATA USE AND LIMITATIONS Proper retrieval and interpretation of crash related data requires experience and a thorough understanding of the event data recorder system at hand. There are specific limitations to using crash data and instances where crash data can be misleading. For instance, one of the major limitations involves the speed that is reported by a crash recorder. This speed is most often measured at the transmission output shaft or at the anti-lock brake system wheel speed sensors, and is a representation of the speed at which the wheels are turning. Situations arise in which there is a discrepancy between the speed of the wheels and the speed of the vehicle. Consider, for instance, a vehicle without anti-lock brakes that is travelling down the road under heavy braking. In this case, if the wheels are locked and skidding, the speed of the wheels, and thus the speed recorded by the EDR, would be zero. But the vehicle is actually moving. Another example of this discrepancy is a car stuck on a patch of ice with its wheels spinning; the car has zero speed but the wheels are moving faster. Finally, if a vehicle is in the midst of a loss of control event, it may be spinning, such that the direction it’s travelling is not the direction that the vehicle is facing. In this case, the actual speed of the vehicle is probably greater than the recorded speed of the wheels, but may be less than the speed of the wheels, depending on the driver’s inputs.

Crash related data can often provide investigators and safety managers with timely, useful, and inexpensive information about the circumstances surrounding a crash. However, crash data is merely a singular piece of evidence to determine what actually happened in a crash, and the data itself is subject to interpretation, anomalies, and limitations. Crash data should serve as a supplement, and not a replacement, to a proper accident investigation that relies on principles of physics and accepted methodologies. Roadway evidence, vehicle evidence, and witness statements may provide additional insight into the crash. To ensure proper data preservation, retrieval, and analysis, contact a qualified accident reconstruction professional.

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ARE YOU READY FOR UPCOMING OSHA CHANGES?

By Bruce Penas, Market Manager-Industry, Border States Electric

Latest OSHA regulatory change includes complex calculations for utilities

T

HE AUG. 31 DEADLINE FOR 1910.269 is right around the corner. For those in compliance, it will be just another day on the job site.

Many of those who have not finalized their arc rating calculations and purchases of personal protective equipment (PPE) for employees, are having to invest significant effort to meet the deadline.

With Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) 1910.269 changes, employers must assess workplace risks, measure potential electrical arcs and equipment 32

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

ratings needed and pay for the PPE necessary to protect employees.

Nearly 20 lives will be saved and 118 serious injuries will be prevented annually because of the revisions to the 40-year-old electric power generation, transmission and distribution work standard, estimates the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

In a nutshell, the revised OSHA 1910.269 requires employers: Ensure employees exposed to hazards from flames or electric arcs are properly protected. Make sure employees do not wear clothing that

could melt onto their skin or that could ignite and continue to burn when exposed to flames or the estimated heat energy; Ensure that the outer layer of clothing worn by an employee is flame resistant under certain conditions; and With certain exceptions, ensure that employees exposed to hazards from electric arcs wear protective clothing and other protective equipment with an arc rating greater than or equal to the hazard/risk category.

The rule change is nothing new for

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utilities such as Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy, which has purchased PPE gear for its employees for years.

“Xcel Energy has been providing FR (flame resistant) shirts for the last 1011 years, so this isn’t any big change for us,” said Tony Leeling, electric operations manager at Xcel Energy in Littleton, Colo. “There’s a different calorie value to calculate, but we’re really ahead of the curve on this.”

Employers will be required to perform a visual check of employee clothing, to look for tears and replace that clothing. Those checks are routine for Xcel Energy.

“It’s always been required that we make crew visits to check for FR clothing, to make sure it’s not worn out and make sure it’s being used,” says Leeling. “We proactively replace torn up clothing throughout the year.”

At Ozarks Electric in Fayetteville, Ark., the OSHA changes are already part of their safety program, as well.

“The commitment to safety comes from the top and we are very proactive in our safety program,” says Roger Stegeman, Ozarks’ job training and safety coordinator. “The changes that came about in the construction and general industry standard were not changes for us because we were

already implementing them.”

Safety leaders at American Electric Power (AEP), a major investor-owner electric utility based in Columbus, Ohio, testified at OSHA hearings when the rules were being created and helped the government entity determine the feasibility of the changes.

As members of Edison Electrical Institute (EEI), AEP was part of a larger group voicing its concerns to OSHA. “Through EEI, we were fortunate to comment as an organization and get more attention as an industry,” says Ken Frazier, AEP’s vice president of safety and health. “We were able to implement it without too much to-do.”

Not everyone is ready for the rule revision, however, says Hugh Hoagland, senior consultant at ArcWear, which performs 95 percent of the industry’s arc testing, and a partner at e-Hazard.com, an electrical safety training company. ArcWear provides consulting and testing of PPE, fall protection and arc flash clothing.

Hoagland has been busy hosting training sessions and attending statewide safety conferences to educate employers about the rule change.

While these utility companies are in compliance with the rule changes, there are others that have not yet

adopted the revisions.

Depending on state rules, it’s probably in the range of 25 percent that are not ready for the deadline, Hoagland says. “However, there is still some liability to not following it,” he says.

CALCULATING THE RISK. While much of the attention on 1910.269 has focused on employers paying for PPE, utility experts say it’s the new calculations that are the greatest challenge with the rules revisions. Employers must measure the arc exposure risk and inform employees of those risks.

Ozarks Electric’s Stegeman, considered by many to be an expert on utility-related OSHA rules, said the simple answer to whether the new calculations have been a challenge, is “yes.”

“OSHA has provided an appendix to aid employers in the determination of minimum approach distances in Appendix B to 1910.269 and Appendix B to Subpart V of Part 1926,” Stegeman says. “In the preamble to the regulation from page 20480, OSHA states that ‘The Agency understands that estimating incident heat energy demands some electrical engineering expertise.’”

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We require our students to do more than learn their program of study. Our students live it - through internships, research, and hands-on experience in our state-of-the-art labs. Our teachers know what you need for your workforce.

ArcWear’s Hoagland is seeing the same from the companies with which he consults.

“There are so many modes of operation in electric utility, so they have to make a lot of assumptions; it’s really a difficult task,” says Hoagland. “We have several engineers who help do those. There are a lot of consultants out there. The problem is that most of the consultants who provide these kinds of services use software packages that are designed for industrial applications. So they can wind up being high-mark calculations that are not reasonable from the standards perspective. We recommend that companies look at OSHA recommended software, or they look at the National Electric Safety Code, NESC, and use those tables.”

PPE CLOTHING.

success starts here.

Norfolk, Nebraska 402-371-2020 | northeast.edu 34

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

Once arc risks have been calculated, employers need to determine the PPE needed by employees.

Employee clothing must have an arc-rated caloric value that is equal to or more than the caloric value of the risk.

Most companies are tackling this issue with a multilayer clothing system, Hoagland says.

“From the utilities’ perspective, they often think about a threetiered or a four-tiered system. Tier one is a base layer, t-shirt that’s arc rated and possibly high-vis, so they’re in compliance all the time with FR. Second notch up would be have that as a system with a shirt, that usually gets you somewhere between 8–12 (calories). The next step is to add a coverall to the shirt or shirt and t-shirt and that will usually get you to 25 and then add a winter wear on top of that will typically get you to 40 or more, or you could put on a flash suit.”

Companies are making a couple different mistakes when it comes to providing employees PPE, including

overprotecting with values, mixing brands, offering too many clothing choices and not making sure highvisibility vests are arc rated.

“If you get that vest and it’s flame resistant polyester and it’s not arc rated, which are still common out there, they’re not really flame resistant,” Hoagland says. “Just make sure that your vest, if you’re exposed to arc flash potentials, that it absolutely is an arc-rated vest.”

He suggests sticking with one company, such as Bulwark or Carhartt for workers’ PPE needs. Mixing brands can make calculations more difficult and even lower protection.

Layering arc-rated t-shirts and shirts with coveralls to increase the caloric value is best, instead of outfitting workers in flash suits or winter wear, Hoagland recommends.

“One of the big mistakes I see is people trying to overprotect,” he says. “Looking at the research we’ve collected, sweaty coveralls drop their protection by about 50 percent. So you don’t want to overprotect, but you want to protect to the hazard. That’s one of the things I see people doing, is they pull in extra PPE and then either the guy or gal doesn’t wear it because it’s too hot, or they try to say, ‘the outer shell’s got to have the arc rating and we don’t care what you wear underneath.’”

Face shields and arc-rated gloves are another part of the updated rules.

“There is now a requirement that they have to provide a face shield for open-air arcs that are 9 calories or greater. They have to provide protection for any other arc where there is 5 calories or greater. So it’s going to be a lot more face shields and hoods that will be used for that new legal requirement,” Hoagland says. “You need to make sure that if you’re doing work that has a shock hazard that you actually have shock protection in your glove and additional arc rating if needed.”

U.S. companies are projected to spend $60 billion to $100 billion on transmission development by 2020.

The United States has seen minimal investment in the transmission infrastructure over the past 40 years.

With the growing demand of electricity and new generation coming into the grid there is an immediate need for upgrades and new transmission development to support the needs of the country.

Providing Solutions Surveying ROW Inspection Mapping Project Management

Encompass Energy Services is here to support the needs of transmission projects around North America including Canada. We provide preliminary design survey, high resolution LiDAR, aerial mapping, easement preparation, siting and right of way acquisition, boundary surveys, ALTA/ACSM Land Title Surveys, title research, crossing exhibits, construction staking, and as-built surveys to meet all of our client’s development requirements.

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BOILERMAKER LODGE 101

Phone: (303) 477-1063 Fax: (303) 477-1054

International Brotherhood of BOILERMAKERS • IRON SHIP BUILDERS BLACKSMITHS • FORGERS & HELPERS www.boilermakers101.com

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35

ALLOWANCE MANAGEMENT Search Users

IMPORT ACCT SETUP FILE SEARCH

EXPORT ALLOWANCE ACCOUNTS

CLEAR

14 CUSTOMERS

Per Page:

8

1

UserName

Name

User Status

Account Status

Expiration Date

Balance

w****01

Warren

Active

Active

1/13/2016

$500.00

k****5

Kris

Active

Active

12/31/2015

$500.00

j****13

Joe

Active

Active

12/31/2015

$500.00

t****11

Trevor

Active

Active

12/31/2015

$500.00

of 2

An example of BSE’s Employee Allowance Service.

DISTRIBUTORS.

coordinating industry training, leverMany distributors and manufacturaging relationships with manufacturers of PPE clothing and equipment are ers and providing guidance to help assisting utilities with the change, procustomers deploy a comprehensive viding a number of different services.

FR-clothing solution in conjunction Bulwark, for example, has hosted with their overall safety program. Last training seminars for year, BSE piloted an customers, where online compliance manArcWear’s layering clothing has agement system with a compliance tips been a hot topic. local electric co-op. for 1910.269 “The new stanIn Minot, N.D., dards are requiring customers’ logoed PPE Don’t mix brands end users to be more clothing is stocked at the unless you have detailed in their aplocal BSE branch. The proper data proach to potential program began a year Don’t overprotect exposure, and that ago, includes a website is the reason for the created for the client and Use OSHA focus on layering as ensures one-day delivery recommended software for it provides an avenue for in-town orders. calculations to meet protection “We fill in-town requirements without orders today and outMake sure your the hassle of “bee of-town orders tomorhigh-vis vest is arc keeper” suits which row,” says Chad Schell, rated are cumbersome and manager for BSE’s Minot, Don’t have too uncomfortable to N.D., branch. many PPE choices work in,” says Zeke This summer, the for employees, Mader, a certified company launched a it complicates layering systems trainer for Bulwark. company-wide version Border States Elecof the system, which tric, one of the counallows customers to use try’s largest electrical distributors, BSE’s e-commerce website to mansells safety products from 52 different age employees’ PPE compliance. vendors, ranging from safety glasses “We’ve really dug into it during the to lockout/tagout devices. BSE sales past year,” says Kyle Schmidt, BSE’s teams have assisted customers with safety market specialist.

36

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SUMMER 2015

TRAINING. Bulwark isn’t the only company to provide training to utilities on the rule changes.

Groups such as EEI and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NREA) have sponsored events, as well.

“We have done several information sessions; a webinar and four day-and-a-half-long classes taught

by David Wallis, the author of the new rule, recently retired from OSHA,” says Martha Duggan, NREA’s senior principal of regulatory affairs. “We’ve also had sessions at TechAdvantage earlier this year on the new rule. In addition, two groups of co-op folks came together as a working group to read and digest the rule. The first group (safety professionals) created a large spreadsheet summarizing the rule. The second group, co-op attorneys focused on the information-sharing portion of the rule and developed tools for co-ops to use during implementation.”

The training, calculations and procedural changes are worth the effort, utilities and utility partners say.

“We care about each other and also care about our customers and we want them to get home safely at night,” BSE’s Schmidt says.

NEBRASKA

Energy Generation Operations Fast Facts:

wAssociate of Applied Science degree in 18 months. wFace-to-face at SCC’s Milford, NE campus. Some courses online. wGraduates are trained to operate nuclear, fossil fuel, biofuels, wind, solar, and other types of energy generating facilities, including electrical and fluid fuel systems. wFive quarters of common core curriculum for several types of processing operations. wIn sixth quarter, specific types of operations are covered in detail, preparing students for careers in the type of processing plant they’ve chosen. wFocus areas: Nuclear, Industrial Process Operations or Energy Generation Operations Military focuses. Other focuses can be added as needed in Solar, Geothermal, Hydro, Fuel cells, etc. wTransfer agreements with Bismarck (N.D.) State College and Thomas Edison (N.J.) State College allow SCC graduates to pursue a bachelor’s degree. wGraduates have found jobs in fossil, nuclear, wind, biofuels, and pipeline operations. wNumerous SCC students are receiving Nuclear Uniform Curriculum Program (NUCP) certificates when they complete the Nuclear focus with grades of B or higher in certain courses.

Want more information?

What employers say about SCC’s program:

“LES appreciates the foresight at SCC that drove investing the time and resources to bring the Energy Generation Operations program online. Having a local program that Nebraska utilities can help mold to fit their specific needs is a valuable resource that LES is proud to be a part of. The desire to source locallyeducated and skilled operations staff for our generation facilities has been met by SCC with this program.”

Brian McReynolds, Generation Operations, Lincoln Electric System

John Pierce, jpierce@southeast.edu, 800-933-7223 ext. 8394.

Or, if you are interested in hiring graduates, contact Shelly Tolle at 800-933-7223 ext. 8242 or stolle@southeast.edu.

www.southeast.edu/EnergyAtSCC

A Commitment

to safety

“How can we Become Better Tomorrow Than we are Today?

BY JEFF MERRELL, SAFETY DIRECTOR, SAVAGE SERVICES

S

AVAGE SERVICE’S HISTORY is a classic example of a great American company with humble roots. Kenneth Savage returned from WWII and with nothing more than a truck, a shovel and a lot of integrity, he set out to provide a respectable income for his family. Together, with his brothers Neal and Luke, they used hard work and ingenuity to establish the standard for delivering supply-chain solutions to the industries we serve.

In 1999, the Savage Brothers created the “Vision and Legacy” document which continues to drive our culture today. It instills a sense of stewardship to all team members regardless of position. It places the foundation 38

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SPRING 2015

for safety – and ownership of safety - across our 200+ operations and approximately 3,500 team members. We continually ask the question, “How can we become better tomorrow than we are today?” Savage’s distinctive safety programs were built and designed through this spirit of innovation and by “relentlessly seeking improvement.”

A CULTURE OF SAFETY Savage is often recognized by safety councils, regulatory agencies, third party auditors and customers for our commitment to safety. It’s not the thickness of our procedure manual that sets Savage apart; it’s our people and their commitment to always work

safely and provide reliable service.

Savage empowers frontline team members to take ownership and lead their local safety program. This sense of stewardship directly impacts safe behavior. Savage’s Executive Leadership and Safety, Health and Environment (SH&E) professionals are specifically tasked to train local team members on how to implement a safety program through our Safety Specialist, Lead Safety Specialist and Safety Stewardship programs. This training is reinforced by an experienced Operations Manager who is also trained as a Lead Safety Specialist.

Safety Specialists are team members selected by their Operations

Manager to attend a three-day course focused on the aligned principles of safety and the Savage culture. In addition to obvious safety topics, such as equipment inspection, hazard identification and completing job hazard analyses, Safety Specialists are taught how to be safety leaders among their peers. Topics include: empowerment, principles of praise, effective behavior correction and analysis of the fundamentals of the company’s strategy.

When an operation has fully implemented the Safety Specialist program, our data shows the operation is much more likely to have a strong safety culture where safety events don’t occur. Safety Specialists work jointly with the rest of the team as leaders in implementing safety at the operation and across the company. Our operation at Xcel Energy’s (“Xcel”) Cherokee power plant operation in North Denver, CO is a great example. The team consists of twelve frontline team members responsible for the operation and maintenance of the coal-handling system at Cherokee Station. Of these twelve team members, five are Lead Safety Specialists, four are Safety Specialists, and the remainder of the team contributes daily, weekly and monthly to ensure safety items are corrected.

This operation is approaching six years without an OSHA-recordable injury and scores high on internal safety assessments.

When a Safety Specialist returns from class, they are part of the Safety Specialist team. This team partners with the Operations Manager in the overall safety strategy, but often works independently on day-today implementation. They are given ownership over an area of safety.

Common assignments include: facility safety inspections, behavioral observations, procedure creation and evaluation, leading safety meetings, incident investigation and playing a key part in safety training of newly hired team members.

Proven Safety Specialists may receive an additional three days of training and leadership responsibility over a Safety Specialist team, and subsequently are given the Lead Safety Specialist (LSS) title. Each operation has at least one LSS, and often more depending on the operation’s size. Now that they’ve mastered the skills of a Safety Specialist, this course teaches participants how to disseminate their knowledge and further motivate, encourage and organize their team to accomplish the operation’s safety goals. They are often a liaison between the Operations Manager and the frontline team members, helping implement practices that will make the operation safer and a better place to work. They also join the Operations Manager in being accountable for the success and mistakes of the team, providing participants with a sense of empowerment and responsibility for safety.

The Safety Specialist and Lead Safety Specialist programs are excellent examples of Savage’s implementation of the company’s Vision and Legacy to “provide our people with opportunities for personal growth – to do things they never dreamed possible.” Savage is a service provider, but we know providing safety training, leadership and – most importantly – vision, is worth every dollar spent while these team members are in training. Dividends are found in the result of a safe workforce.

An ancillary benefit of Savage’s Safety Specialist and Lead Safety Specialist programs is its natural development of the company’s next generation of leaders. Great examples of this are found in our Comanche operation, where we provide complete operation and maintenance services for the coal-delivery system, including unit-train piloting and railcar switching, at Xcel’s Comanche Station in Pueblo, CO. In the past three years, maintenance and operations supervisors have succeeded in their roles,

and subsequently taken on management roles at other Savage operations.

Savage believes all leaders must have safety as a core value in order to be successful. They must also be able to follow through on assignments. As long as these attributes exist, we have been able to utilize a mentoring and leadership development program to teach the other skills and abilities necessary to become a successful leader and manager at Savage.

MANAGEMENT’S COMMITMENT TO SAFETY Kirk Aubry, Savage’s President and CEO, considers himself the Chief Safety Officer of the company. He feels personally responsible to ensure safety is in the hearts and minds of his managers and team members. When someone becomes a manager at Savage, he or she attends a three-day Savage University class called Savage Leadership and Culture. Much of the first full day of class is taught by Kirk. The remaining days are taught by other company executives and directors from various departments including Risk, Safety and People Solutions.

It’s their chance to teach the Savage Culture to those who ultimately operate the business and have the greatest impact on frontline team members; including an emphasis on how safety dictates their success or failure.

Each manager will also attend their own safety leadership course called Safety Stewardship. The focus of Safety Stewardship is to teach managers how to effectively utilize and engage their Safety Specialists and Lead Safety Specialists. It’s also proven to effectively refresh a manager’s safety spirit and renew their commitment.

Savage managers also hold themselves accountable to the “S7,” a key feature of the Savage Delivery System and roadmap toward a successful operation. The S7 provides managers with standards, metrics and tools to focus a team on the areas that drive a successful operation. It’s a quality

W W W. R M EL .O R G

39

assurance program that ensures consistent delivery in seven areas: (1) Customer, (2) Employees, (3) Safety, Health and the Environment, (4) Planning and Productivity, (5) Asset Management and Maintenance, (6) Professionalism and (7) Performance.

The SH&E focus area contains 25 leading indicators of success. Managers, along with Safety Specialists and Lead Safety Specialists perform regular self-audits and invite managers from outside their operation to audit them on an annual basis.

TRAINING TEAM MEMBERS TO WORK SAFELY AND RECOGNIZE HAZARDS Safety starts with hiring the right people. We utilize the “Hire Right” process to identify people we believe give us the best chance to succeed.

These are people who have safety as a core value, are teachable and would be a positive contributor to the team. We use a series of interviews, assessments, reference checks and background searches to determine whether a person’s values align with ours.

We also recognize that even the best new hires have a lot to learn in their new role. Savage utilizes a variety of platforms to provide effective training to operations, whether they have two employees or 200 employees at their location.

Upon joining Savage, each team member is provided with the foundational knowledge needed to do their work and keep them safe. This generally includes regulatory coursework in the areas of OSHA, MSHA, FRA and DOT. Each operation will complete an independent evaluation to determine where it makes sense to receive this training – a local provider, online training or a Savage instructor. Often times Safety Specialists play a key role in task and on-the-job training, while helping them become acclimated to the work environment.

On this foundation, we build site-specific training. No two Savage 40

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SPRING 2015

operations are the same. Hence, each operation has a training plan that is unique to their site. A new employee is assigned a trainer/mentor who will introduce them to the procedures and will teach the new hire how to complete each task through a series of demonstrations and hands-on instruction. Ultimately, the new team member will demonstrate their mastery of the procedures through a knowledge and proficiency exam.

An important element of a team member’s training is in Savage’s Hazard Analysis Prevention System (SHAPS). SHAPS recognizes that hazards will show up throughout the course of the day that could never be identified in a procedure. SHAPS teaches team members how to identify potential hazards and take the appropriate action before it becomes a problem. All operations managers within Savage’s Power Plant Solutions Unit understand the value of having their teams complete SHAPS on a daily basis so we can constantly manage the changes and eliminate the risk where possible.

Any safety success and innovation we have had in the past, and any innovation we are likely to have in the future, is dependent on our ability to implement these principles: Hire Right! We need people who will embrace our culture and never settle for the status-quo.

Training: A strong training program that teaches new-hires everything we know today about doing the work safely and takes into account all lessons learned from the past.

Empowerment: Empower team members with the principles of the Savage Brothers’ Vision and LegacyStewardship and establishing a “find a better way” mentality.

Implementation: Implement SHAPS, S7 and observations so it’s natural for all team members to look for workplace hazards and places the responsibility for finding a solution square on everyone’s shoulders.

SAFETY THROUGH EQUIPMENT INNOVATION It was Neal Savage who routinely taught, “There is a better way - Find it!” The following are examples where our team members utilized the aforementioned principles to make our operations a safer place to work: With a background in underground coal mining, Savage pioneered efforts to install carbon monoxide detection systems throughout coal-fired power plants as a means to detect the early stages of spontaneous combustion, before it becomes a problem.

Customers often rely on Savage for the installation, troubleshooting and calibration of these systems.

Established best-practice standards for Housekeeping in the control of combustible dust. As a result, Savage and Xcel have jointly been awarded the PRB Coal User’s Group “Plant of the Year Award” twice for their efforts at Xcel’s Tolk and Harrington Generating Stations.

Savage has improved and updated control systems in simple yet effective ways to reduce or eliminate dangerous tasks including improved alarm and notification systems. Many of these updates have been done in-house with experienced team members who understand the specific operation’s needs.

WHAT SAFETY IS REALLY ABOUT In many Savage operations there is a “Why I am Safe” board. Team members post reminders of why they choose the “safe way.” For some, they post a picture of their pet waiting to greet them at the end of the day. For others, they hang up a picture of themselves doing their favorite weekend activity such as fishing or hunting. For most, there is a picture of their family. We believe the real reason people come to work is to provide a secure means for supporting those they love and care about most.

To that end, we are dedicated to making sure each of our team members goes home safe every day.

MANAGE FR

and

PPE

ALLOWANCE ONLINE Employee allowance service is now available to help you meet OSHA’s FR and PPE requirements. Contact your Border States sales team for more information.

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MEMBER LISTINGS

RMEL Member Companies 1 ABB, Inc. 2 ABCO Industrial Sales, Inc. 3 ADA-ES, Inc. 4 Advanced Motor Controls 5 AECOM 6 Alberici Constructors Inc. 7 Alexander Publications 8 Altec Industries, Inc. 9 AMEC Foster Wheeler 10 American Coal Council 11 American Public Power Association 12 Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Inc. 13 Arizona Public Service 14 Arkansas River Power Authority 15 Asplundh Tree Expert Co. 16 Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. 17 ATCO Emissions Management 18 Atwell, LLC 19 Austin Energy 20 AZCO INC. 21 Babcock & Wilcox Company 22 Babcock Power, Inc. 23 Basin Electric Power Cooperative 24 Bear Valley Electric Service 25 Beckwith Electric 26 Beta Engineering 27 Black & Veatch Corp.

28 Black Hills Corporation 29 Black Hills Electric Cooperative 30 Boilermakers Local #101 31 Boone Electric Cooperative 32 Border States Electric 33 Bowman Consulting Group 34 Brooks Manufacturing Company 35 Burns & McDonnell 36 Butler Public Power District 37 C.I.Agent Solutions 38 Carbon Power & Light, Inc. 39 Casey Industrial, Inc. 40 CDG Engineers, Inc. 41 Center Electric Light & Power System 42 CH2M HILL 43 Chad Hymas Communications, Inc. 44 Chimney Rock Public Power District 45 City Light & Power, Inc. 46 City of Alliance Electric Department 47 City of Aztec Electric Department 48 City of Cody 49 City of Farmington 50 City of Fountain 42

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SPRING 2015

51 City of Gillette 52 City of Glenwood Springs 53 City of Imperial 54 City of Yuma 55 Cloud County Community College 56 Clyde Bergemann Power Group 57 Co-Mo Electric Cooperative 58 CoBank 59 Colorado Energy Management, LLC 60 Colorado Highlands Wind LLC 61 Colorado Powerline, Inc. 62 Colorado Rural Electric Association 63 Colorado Springs Utilities 64 Colorado State University 65 Commonwealth Associates, Inc. 66 ComRent 67 Corporate Risk Solutions, Inc. 68 CPS Energy 69 CTC Global Corporation 70 Culture Change Consultants 71 D.C. Langley Energy Consulting, LLC 72 Davey Utility Services 73 Delta Montrose Electric Assn.

74 DIS-TRAN Packaged Substations, LLC 75 E & T Equipment, LLC 76 E3 Consulting 77 El Paso Electric Company 78 Electrical Consultants, Inc. 79 Electrical Reliability Services 80 Emerson Process Management Power & Water Solutions 81 The Empire District Electric Company 82 Empire Electric Association, Inc. 83 Encompass Energy Services LLC 84 Energy & Resource Consulting Group, LLC 85 Energy Education Council 86 Energy Providers Coalition for Education 87 Energy Reps 88 ESCÂ engineering 89 Evapco - BLCT Dry Cooling, Inc. 90 Exponential Engineering Company 91 Fairbanks Morse Engine 92 Finley Engineering Company, Inc. 93 Foothills Energy Services Inc. 94 Fort Collins Utilities 95 Fuel Tech, Inc. 96 Gallup Joint Utilities 97 GE Power & Water

98 Genscape, Inc. 99 Golder Associates, Inc. 100 Grand Island Utilities 101 Grand Valley Rural Power Lines, Inc. 102 Great Southwestern Construction, Inc. 103 Greer CPW 104 Gunnison County Electric Association, Inc. 105 Hamilton Associates, Inc. 106 Hamon Research - Cottrell 107 Harris Group, Inc. 108 Hartigan Power Equipment Company 109 HDR, Inc. 110 High Energy Inc. (HEI) 111 Highline Electric Assn.

112 Holy Cross Energy 113 HOT/SHOT Infrared Inspections, Inc. 114 Hubbell Power Systems 115 Hughes Brothers, Inc. 116 IBEW, Local Union 111 117 IEC Rocky Mountain 118 IMCORP 119 Incorporated County of Los Alamos Department of Public Utilities 120 Independence Power & Light 121 Intercounty Electric Coop Association 122 Intermountain Rural Electric Assn.

123 ION Consulting 124 Irby 125 Irwin Industries, Inc.- Power Plant Services 126 James Industries, Inc. 127 Johnson Matthey Stationary Emission Control 128 Kansas City Board of Public Utilities 129 Kansas City Power & Light 130 KD Johnson, Inc. 131 Kiewit 132 Kit Carson Electric Cooperative 133 Kleinfelder 134 Klute Inc. Steel Fabrication 135 La Junta Municipal Utilities 136 La Plata Electric Association, Inc. 137 Lake Region Electric Coop Inc. 138 Lamar Utilities Board 139 Laminated Wood Systems, Inc. 140 Lampson International LLC 141 Las Animas Municipal Light & Power 142 Lauren Engineers & Constructors

143 Leidos 144 Lewis Associates, Inc. 145 Lincoln Electric System 146 Llewellyn Consulting 147 Longmont Power & Communications 148 The Louis Berger Group 149 Loup River Public Power District 150 Loveland Water & Power 151 Luminate, LLC 152 Magna IV Engineering Inc. 153 Marsulex Environmental Technologies 154 Merrick & Company 155 Missouri River Energy Services 156 Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Inc. 157 Monk Engineering Inc. 158 Morgan County Rural Electric Assn.

159 Morgan Schaffer Inc. 160 Mountain Parks Electric, Inc. 161 Mountain States Utility Sales 162 Mountain View Electric Assn.

163 Mycoff, Fry & Prouse LLC 164 NAES Corp.

165 Navopache Electric Cooperative, Inc. 166 Nebraska Public Power District 167 NEI Electric Power Engineering, Inc. 168 New Mexico State University 169 Nooter/Eriksen, Inc. 170 Norris Public Power District 171 Northeast Community College 172 Northwest Rural Public Power District 173 Novinium 174 NRG Reliability Solutions LLC 175 Omaha Public Power District 176 Osmose Utilities Services, Inc. 177 PacifiCorp 178 Panhandle Rural Electric Membership Assn.

179 PAR Electrical Contractors, Inc. 180 Peterson Co. 181 PIC Group, Inc. 182 Pike Electric, LLC 183 Pine Valley Power, Inc. 184 Pioneer Electric Cooperative, Inc. 185 Pipefitters Local Union #208 186 Platte River Power Authority 187 PNM Resources 188 Poudre Valley Rural Electric Assn.

189 Powder River Energy Corp.

190 Power & Industrial Services Corp 191 POWER Engineers, Inc. 192 Power Equipment Specialists, Inc.

193 Power Pole Inspections 194 Power Product Services 195 PowerPHASE LLC 196 PowerQuip Corporation 197 Precision Resource Company 198 Provo City Power 199 QuakeWrap, Inc. 200 Quanta Services 201 Quantum Energy Storage 202 REC Associates 203 Reliability Management Group (RMG) 204 Reliable Power Consultants, Inc. 205 RES Americas 206 Rkneal, Inc. 207 RRC Power and Energy 208 Sabre Tubular Structures 209 Safety One Inc. 210 San Isabel Electric Assn.

211 San Marcos Electric Utility 212 San Miguel Power Assn.

213 Sangre De Cristo Electric Assn.

214 Sargent & Lundy 215 Savage Services Corporation 216 Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories 217 Sega Inc. 218 Sellon Engineering Inc. 219 Siemens Energy Inc. 220 Sierra Electric Cooperative, Inc. 221 Solomon Associates 222 South Central PPD 223 Southeast Colorado Power Assn.

224 Southeast Community College 225 Southern Pioneer Electric Company 226 Southwest Energy Systems LLC 227 Southwest Generation 228 Southwest Public Power District 229 Southwest Transmission Cooperative, Inc. 230 Southwire Company 231 Springfield Municipal Light & Power 232 SPX Transformer Solutions, Inc. 233 SRP 234 St. George Energy Services Department 235 Stanley Consultants, Inc. 236 Stantec Consulting 237 STEAG Energy Services LLC 238 Storm Technologies Inc. 239 Sturgeon Electric Co., Inc. 240 Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative 241 Sundt Construction 242 Sunflower Electric Power Corporation

243 Surveying And Mapping, LLC 244 Switchgear Solutions, Inc. 245 T & R Electric Supply Co., Inc. 246 Technically Speaking, Inc. 247 TestAmerica Laboratories, Inc. 248 Towill, Inc. 249 Trachte, Inc. Buildings & Shelters 250 Trans American Power Products, Inc. 251 TRC Engineers, Inc. 252 Trees Inc 253 Tri-State Generation and Transmission Assn.

254 Trinidad Municipal Light & Power 255 TurbinePROS 256 U.S. Water 257 UC Synergetic 258 Ulteig Engineers, Inc. 259 United Power, Inc. 260 Universal Field Services, Inc. 261 University of Idaho Utility Executive Course College of Business and Economics 262 UNS Energy Corporation 263 Utility Telecom Consulting Group, Inc. 264 Valmont Newmark, Valmont Industries, Inc. 265 Vanderbilt University 266 Victaulic 267 W채rtsil채 North America, Inc. 268 Wave Engineering, Inc. 269 WESCO 270 Westar Energy 271 Western Area Power Administration 272 Western Electrical Services 273 Western Line Constructors Chapter, Inc. NECA 274 Westmark Partners LLC 275 Westwood Professional Services 276 Wheat Belt Public Power District 277 Wheatland Electric Cooperative 278 Wheatland Rural Electric Assn.

279 White River Electric Assn., Inc. 280 WHPacific, Inc. 281 Wichita State University 282 Willbros 283 Wilson & Company, Engineers & Architects 284 Wyoming Municipal Power Agency 285 Xcel Energy 286 Y-W Electric Association, Inc. 287 Yampa Valley Electric Association, Inc. 288 Zachry Group TOTAL NUMBER OF MEMBERS: 288

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

2015 Calendar of Events January 15, 2015

March 26, 2015

July 29, 2015

Introduction to the Electric Utility Workshop Lone Tree, CO

Electric Utility Workforce Management Conference and Roundtable Lone Tree, CO

Generation Vital Issues Roundtable Kansas City, MO

January 20-21, 2015 Physical and Cyber Security Conference Lone Tree, CO

January 29-30, 2015 Utility Flight Operations Safety Workshop Denver, CO

February 10-11, 2015 Utility Financing for NonFinancial Personnel Workshop Phoenix, AZ

February 27, 2015 Safety Roundtable February 2015 Westminster, CO

March 5-6 Power Supply Planning and Projects Conference Lone Tree, CO

March 6, 2015 Generation Vital Issues Roundtable Lone Tree, CO

April 7-8, 2015 Introduction to Transmission Protection and Relaying Workshop Austin, TX

April 21-23, 2015 Safety and Technical Training Conference Lone Tree, CO

April 23, 2015 Safety Roundtable - April 2015 Lone Tree, CO

May 17-19, 2015 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference St. Louis, MO

June 9, 2015 Customer Service Conference Lone Tree, CO

June 16-17, 2015 Grid Modernization Workshop Austin, TX

August 11-12 Distribution Protection Workshop Lone Tree, CO

August 28, 2015 Safety Roundtable August 2015 Golden, CO

September 1-2, 2015 Electric Utility System Operations Workshop Fort Collins, CO

September 20-22, 2015 Fall Executive Leadership and Management Convention Kansas City, MO

October 1, 2015 2016 Spring Management, Engineering and Operations Conference Planning Session Lone Tree, CO

October 7-8, 2015 Distribution Engineers Workshop Lone Tree, CO

March 10-11, 2015

June 25, 2015

Transmission Planning and Operations Conference Lone Tree, CO

Transmission Operations & Maintenance Conference Lone Tree, CO

March 11, 2015

July 7, 2015

Renewable Planning and Operations Conference Lone Tree, CO

Transmission Vital Issues Roundtable Lone Tree, CO

RMEL Foundation Golf Tournament

November 4-5, 2015

March 12-13, 2015 Distribution Overhead and Underground Operations and Maintenance Conference Lone Tree, CO

March 13, 2015 Distribution Vital Issues Roundtable Lone Tree, CO

July 28-29, 2015 Plant Management, Engineering and Operations Conference Kansas City, MO

October 15, 2015

Electric Energy Environmental Conference Lone Tree, CO

November 13, 2015 Safety Roundtable November 2015 Fort Collins, CO

CONTINUING EDUCATION CERTIFICATES

Continuing education certificates awarding Professional Development Hours are provided to attendees at all RMEL education events. Check the event brochure for details on the number of hours offered at each event.

44

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SPRING 2015

AN MYR GROUP COMPANY

YOUR BEST ELECTRICAL CONNECTION

SINCE 1912

Since 1912, Sturgeon Electric has been one of the region’s top specialty contractors providing quality electric utility construction including overhead and underground distribution, transmission, substations, service and maintenance and emergency restoration.

STURGEON ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. | 303.286.8000 | STURGEONELECTRIC.COM MYR GROUP INC. AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES ARE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYERS. M/F/DISABLED/VETERAN ©2015 MYR GROUP INC.

E-LAM® laminated wood switch structures have been the proven, preferred choice by utilities since 1992.

Never-Twist® switch structures are pre-drilled and include all mounting hardware for easy installation. Crews simply need to align it, and forget it!

Visit www.lwsinc.com for a price quote and discover why E-LAM® is the preferred, industry leader today!

• • • • •

Feasibility Studies Siting & Permitting Power Plant Design Plant Upgrades & Retrofits Air Quality Control Systems

• Transmission & Distribution • Substations & Switchyards • Construction Management & Inspection Services • Owner’s Engineer

Connect with us: www.stanleyconsultants.com/energy 800.878.6806 |

GENERATE DELIVER

LAMINATED WOOD SYSTEMS, INC. 800-949-3526 www.lwsinc.com SEWARD, NEBRASKA • 800-949-3526 Photo Courtesy of Matanuska Electric Association

W W W. R M EL .O R G

45

ADVERTISER’S INDEX

AMEC

Inside Front Cover

(770) 810-9698 (303) 477-1045

Boilermakers

35

www.boilermakers101.com

Border States Electric

41

www.borderstateselectric.com

(701) 293-5834

Burns McDonnell

31

www.burnsmcd.com

(816) 333-9400

CoBank

21

www.cobank.com

(800) 542-8072

Commonwealth

45

www.cai-engr.com

(360) 466-2214

DIS-TRAN Packaged Substations

41

www.distran.com

(318) 448-0274

Encompass

35

www.encompassservices.com

(503) 471-1348

ERG Consulting

15

www.ERGconsulting.com

(203) 843-0600

Fuel Tech

24

www.ftek.com

(630) 845-4500

Great Southwestern Construction, Inc.

10

www.gswc.us

(303) 688-5816

HDR, Inc.

29

www.hdrinc.com

(402) 399-1000

Kiewit Laminated Wood Systems, Inc.

Back Cover

www.kiewit.com

(913) 928-7000

45

www.lwsinc.com

(402) 643-4708

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Americas, Inc.

17

www.mhpowersystems.com

(407) 688-6100

Nebraska Public Power District

22

www.nppd.com

(402) 564-8561

Northeast Community College

34

www.northeast.edu

(402) 371-2020

5

www.powereng.com

(208) 788-3456

Sega, Inc.

41

www.segainc.com

(913) 681-2881

Siemens

Inside Back Cover

www.siemens.com

(303) 696-8446

POWER Engineers

46

www.amec.com

Southeast Community College

37

www.southeast.edu/EnergyAtSCC

(800) 933-7223

Stanley Consultants, Inc.

45

www.stanleygroup.com

(303) 799-6806

Sturgeon Electric Co. Inc.

45

www.myrgroup.com

(303) 286-8000

Switchgear Solutions

23

www.switchgearsolutions.com

(800) 349-7947

T & R Electric Supply Co., Inc.

46

www.t-r.com

(800) 843-7994

Trees Inc.

30

www.treesinc.com

(866) 865-9617

TurbinePROs

11

www.turbinepros.com

(877) 363-5702

Ulteig Engineers, Inc.

3

www.ulteig.com

(877) 858-3449

Young & Franklin

7

www.yf.com

ELECTRIC ENERGY | SPRING 2015

(315) 457-3110

Powering the Future.

An industry innovator, Kiewit Power has extensive experience in the gas-fired, air quality control systems, power delivery, renewable and nuclear markets.

As a full EPC provider, our in-depth market knowledge and industry-leading projects show how Kiewit is committed to clients and to remaining a power pioneer.

Kiewit Power Group Inc. 9401 Renner Boulevard Lenexa, KS 66219 (913) 928-7000

Leader in EPC installations for

TODAY’S ADVANCED GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES