Northern Electric Line Foreman Jerry Weber has worked as a lineman for the cooperative for nearly 35 years, but he knows safety is one job ticket he will not close during his career. At an electric cooperative, employee and member safety programs are never finished and are always evolving and improving.
In January, however, Northern Electric received recognition (pictured below) for working toward enhancing its safety program by participating in the Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program (RESAP).
“Overall, it’s a good review to have someone come into your co-op and look at your facility,” Weber said.
Northern Electric received the recognition following an unannounced assessment of its facilities by safety professionals from the South Dakota Rural Electric Association (SDREA) and peers from neighboring cooperatives. The RESAP observation at Northern Electric was conducted in July and involved an assessment of the facilities and equipment in both Bath and Redfield along with observations of crews working in the field. It is the first time Northern Electric has participated in RESAP which is supported by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and SDREA.
“Safety has to be a priority. This is one way to measure if our safety is at a high level and if our safety program is remaining at a high level,” SDREA Manager of Loss Control Services Mark Patterson said.
The RESAP observation teams include statewide safety professionals - like Patterson - and employees from other co-ops - like Weber – so electric cooperatives can learn from each other and share best practices. Following the unannounced observation at Northern Electric, Weber was a member of a five-person RESAP team which performed an observation at Lake Region Electric Association in Webster.
“With five of us there were five sets of eyes and everyone saw something different,” Weber said. “It’s a good experience for other co-op employees to go to other co-ops and bring ideas back to your co-op.”
Lake Region, Northern Electric, and Oahe Electric Cooperative in Blunt, South Dakota, were the three new cooperatives to enroll in RESAP in 2017. There are now 22 electric cooperatives across South Dakota participating in the safety program.
“Due to the industry we are in we focus on safety and we determined RESAP was something we should participate in,” Northern Electric CEO and General Manager Char Hager said.
The combination of safety professionals and cooperative peers who make up the observation teams was one of the main reasons Northern Electric joined RESAP.
“They see things differently and have suggestions for changes or improvements,” Hager said. “You’ve got people who are doing those jobs day in and day out and know what to look at.”
Northern Electric regularly conducts safety assessments and trainings and holds monthly safety meetings for all employees, however, RESAP aims to take a co-op’s safety program to the next level. RESAP not only includes on-site observations by industry professionals and peers every three years but it also requires co-ops to submit annual safety improvement plans and self-assessments.
“RESAP does a much better job of continuing to keep safety at the forefront in the daily operation because there are requirements that need to happen before and after the on-site observations,” Patterson said.
“At the end of the day we want everybody to come home to their families.”
RESAP is not a requirement for electric cooperatives but it is a voluntary program to give co-ops feedback on the status of their current safety programs and ideas on how to improve those programs.
“It gives each co-op something to shoot for as far as safety issues,” Weber said.
The 200-point checklist that is reviewed during an on-site RESAP observation also looks at the co-op’s infrastructure by performing field inspections to make sure it is safe for members and local residents.
“It’s not just for the employees, it’s for the members too to make sure our facilities are safe,” Weber said.
Because co-op employees and managers across the state know building a culture of safety is crucial at an electric cooperative.
“We work in an unforgiving industry,” Hager said. “At the end of the day we want everybody to come home to their families.”