Ertel Construction recently mobilized overhead power line crews to Arkansas in support of the power restoration efforts due to the ice storm that devastated the state on December 25, 2012. At the peak of the storm, Entergy Arkansas reported close to 300,00 outages. The Ertel crews were mobilized from North Carolina and South Carolina with minimal notice. The crews reached the hardest hit area of Pulaski County Arkansas in less than 48 hours from time of mobilization. The crews worked in cold, wet conditions to restore power in difficult terrain. Entergy Arkansas reported that 99 percent of the power restoration efforts were completed by the morning of January 1, 2013.
Click here to view Entergy Arkansas Thank You video
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Safe Work Habits
“Habit is the deepest law of human nature” Most of us would probably agree with that. People are quite often influenced by habit. Habit and job safety is also closely related. If you form safe work habits, it’s going to reflect positively in job safety. There are seven (7) common “human factors” related to developing safe work habits. Let’s review them.
Hazard Recognition — Recognition of hazards is an important factor. By constantly being on the lookout for hazards you enhance your own safety. In watching for hazards you must consider not just the obvious ones, but also hazards which might suddenly appear through some action of another person or a chain of unusual circumstances. Whenever a hazard is detected, report it to someone who can make the change.
Avoiding Indifference — Avoiding indifference on the job is important to safety. An individual might know the right way to do his or her particular job, and just ignore it. Sometimes the most experienced person who has had the safety related training might tend to avoid doing the job the right way. Or there may be the employee who does not know the safety procedures and instead of finding them out chooses to also ignore them. These kind of indifferences on the job can and do lead to trouble and accidents.
Eliminating “Daredevil” Behavior — Ok admit it, have you ever done or known anyone who has done a daredevil stunt or taken a quick chance? How about standing on the top rung of a ladder? Everyone knows you should not do that, sometimes the ladder is even posted “do not stand above a certain level” but we do it anyway. Eliminating “daredevil” behavior is another human factor that can prevent injury on the job and at home.
Setting a Good Example — Setting a good example is another factor to consider. We have all heard this statement before. “If you set a good example then others will follow”. Think about how your actions at work and at home may affect the attitudes of others. The actions of all of us have an influence on the safety-mindedness of others. Think of it this way, when you are in your car traveling to one place or another do you leave room between cars or do you have a tendency to tailgate? Think how the other person may feel, stressed, I bet. If a veteran employee follows the safety rules then the newer employee may follow their lead but on the other hand if we condone the unsafe acts of others then that behavior may be what we now call the culture of the company.
Avoiding Impulsiveness — Another link in the chain of job safety is avoiding impulsiveness or being in a hurry. Haste is a trait that often leads to accidents. We are using our time foolishly if we don’t take the time to be safe. Many valuable time-saving suggestions are contributed by employees each year, but, these time-saving suggestions should be reviewed and approved before they are used. Haste can result in injury!
Controlling Impatience — Controlling impatience and temper is equally important to job safety. If we let emotions get out of control, an accident can easily occur. Statistics prove that on the job violence is on the increase in our country. Do you have programs in place that identifies potential problems before tempers get out of control? And, what kind of programs do you have established to get help for your employees.
Proper work habits can assure job safety. Overall, the responsibilities for developing safe work habits really belong to each of us. By being aware of the “human factors” we’ve just reviewed, safe work habits can be formed and job safety assured. This can and does affect your bottom line.
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Electrical hazards exist in some form in nearly all occupations. However, those hazards multiply for workers involved in cleanup and recovery efforts following
major disasters and weather emergencies. One particular life-threatening danger exists around downed and low-hanging electrical wires.
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Ertel Construction, Inc., has been invited by SCE&G to participate in this year’s Benefit Golf Tournament for Gift of Life and other Rotary Programs hosted by the Rotary Club of North Charleston. The event will take place on October 4, 2012 at The Golf Club at Wescott Plantation. The proceeds from this tournament go towards helping children born with life-threatening conditions. Ertel Construction, Inc., is proud to be a sponsor for the event this year.
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Ertel Construction’s Safety Team and Managers will attend the LUCC Contractor’s Seminar on November 7th, 2012 at the Sand Dunes Club on Sullivan’s Island in Charleston, SC. This event is open to all area utility contractors, utility personnel, excavators, landscapers, engineering firms and locating firms. During the seminar, SC811 (PUPS) will be presenting a Contractor/Excavator/Locator/Consultant of the Year Award to the company who, through their scope of work, has done an exceptional job of preventing damages to utilities.
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A focus on accident prevention benefits everyone, improving productivity, service quality, public safety and job satisfaction. At Ertel Construction, safe and professional work practices rank at the top of issues we consider every day. All employees own responsibility for working safely and making sure their teammates do the same
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Ertel Contruction, Inc., has continued to provide public utility construction to a Fortune 500 company since 1980, which includes all aspects of overhead, underground, natural gas and boring construction.
We have established other continuous relationships with Municipalities and Cooperatives since that time as well in the Southeast.
We have now expanded our base to West Virginia, Virginia, and Tennessee providing Overhead Power Utility Maintenance to that area.
During the Ice Storms of 2011 and early 2012 our crews provided restoration services to North Carolina, Virginia, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania with flawless restoration of utilities. By partnering with other utility companies we restored outages to thousands of customers.
Ertel Construction, Inc., established a Storm Management Team to facilitate our fleet in moving safely to the areas with widespread outages. As soon as crews arrive to the assigned area, a safety assessment is conducted to insure public safety and that all provisions are in place to insure the safety of our crew. This daily safety assessment is the crew starting point of each day on any job.
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