Looking back, I realize that much of Ohio had a mild winter this year. There were some days when it didn’t feel like winter at all, at least to this Minnesota native. One notable cold snap, though, blew through just before Christmas, with wind chills as cold as minus 33 degrees. High winds caused outages and the strain threatened the electric grid in a dangerous way for people across the country.
Thankfully, on our system, power was restored to all by the afternoon of Christmas Eve. In one way or another, everyone at the co-op is engaged in getting the lights back on when we have outages. But the brave men and women of the line crews must go out, day or night, in every kind of weather, and face the elements, exhaustion, tough physical work, and a host of potential hazards before our members can flip a switch and see the light again.
It takes someone special to be a line worker. You have to be on call 24/7, and be willing to work any of the 365 days of the year. When duty calls, including situations like this past December — when a significant portion of our workforce was in the field restoring power during brutal conditions on Christmas Eve — line workers respond. Line workers have to be strong, sure, and smart. But they also have to commit to a service mindset and, most of all, commit to working safely.
Safety has no holidays. It doesn’t matter if it’s Christmas Eve, or the Fourth of July — our employees have to work safely so they can go home to those they love. No matter who you are, it’s hard to remember to do things the right way 100% of the time. Yet that is what is required of line workers when it comes to safety. Line workers also face risks from things they can’t control, such as the weather, distracted drivers, and more.
Every day when our line workers return safely from the field, it’s a good day. I am grateful to say that this past Christmas Eve, despite potential distractions like the extreme cold and high winds, our line workers returned to celebrate Christmas with their families accident-free. The cooperative has made safety part of our mission, vision, and values because the long-term strategic goal is to imbed working safely into our culture. In fact, last year, all employees participated in a comprehensive survey about safety in our workplace, and we were gratified to see the results. Employees understand how important safety is, and agree with how the organization approaches it.
Still, safety is an area where you can always find ways for improvement. Our safety improvement plan for this year includes a focus on vehicle safety, using safety committees made up of broad cross-sections of our workforce to implement safety improvements, and a focus on our safety-first culture, which touches everything we do. Though line worker appreciation day is in April, we celebrate our line workers all year long, and nothing is more important than their safety.
I hope you will join me this month in saying “thank you” to the line workers who serve our communities. And, remember that we all play a role in keeping them safe. Remember: When you see crews out working, slow down, move over, and give them room to work. It’s the least we can do to thank those who sacrifice so much.
From the April 2023 issue of Ohio Cooperative Living.