Davey Tree Flipbooks

May/June 2016 | 23 CANOPY ABOVE THE "Safety is Davey," says Marvin Hassell, regional vice president of Davey's southern operating group. Hassell, who's worked for Davey for nearly 40 years, would know. "Our goal isn't simply to get the job done – it's getting the job done correctly and safely," Hassell says. Tim Walsh, Davey safety manager, agrees and has seen it enacted first- hand all across the country. "Recently, I along with Tim Cheever, manager of motor carrier safety sup- port, arrived at a job site. While we were still in our truck, we were approached and asked by the Davey crew to review and sign the job plan- ning and briefing form," Walsh says. "To me, that's what a safety culture looks like. Every member of the team, no matter their title, ensuring safety standards are met and exceeded." A critical part of Davey's safety culture and keeping crews safe are job hazard assessments, plans and briefings. "The effectiveness of this process makes it applicable to every crew, every service line at Davey," says Joe Tommasi, Davey's corporate director of safety. "Though, utility crews have a few more action points driven by their electric safety work environment and JOB BRIEFINGS ARE THE DAY'S FIRST DUTY regulations to cover. To make this pro- cess efficient and effective for crews to complete, we developed our job planning toolkit using crew feedback." During the job hazard assessment, the crew leader identifies hazards, exposures to risks and multiple ways to safeguard and control these haz- ards. For utility crews, electrical power lines, determining electrical minimum approach distances, tree conditions, areas tree limbs may fall and traffic are commonly assessed hazards. The crew then recommends required mitigation to reduce exposure to harm and keep employees safe. For example, Davey crews strategically Crews start each day with a detailed job briefing. During job briefings, crews check each other's personal protective equipment (PPE) before beginning work. Here, the team discusses proper harness adjustments to help the crew member in the center. place signs, cones, flaggers, barriers and trucks. Together, these efforts min- imize risks, alert people in the area of their presence and redirect pedestrian or vehicle traffic when needed. To plan properly, crew leaders outline who will do each task, how and when. They also plan for emergencies. Once finalized, this detailed informa- tion is shared in job briefings. "The job briefing is how we start our day – every day," Tommasi says. "If an unexpected change or risk emerges when the crew arrives on site, any member of the team can call for a stop and revisit the plan. All employees are empowered to be the S.T.A.A.R. This acronym means they can Stop, Think, Ask, Act and Review the safety plan." Job hazard assessments, plans and briefings ensure that before any indi- vidual may step foot on the job site, to work or visit the crew on business, they're already informed of potential hazards. "When you know what and where hazards are, you're much more aware, conscious and better able to avoid any possible harm," Walsh says. During daily job briefings, Davey crew leaders always have H.O.P.E, a helpful acronym that outlines the necessary steps of this process. Before beginning any job, crews are to determine and be briefed on the following: • Hazards: Any conditions on the jobsite that have the potential to cause harm to crew members, the public, the property or equipment • Obstacles: Any object or person that could be hurt during the job • Plan: A clear, documented plan shared with the team that details how to safely complete the job along with each crew member's responsibilities • Equipment: A check to ensure all equipment, including personal protective equipment, is safe to use and available on the jobsite ALWAYS HAVE 'HOPE'

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