9
July/August 2019
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THE DAVEY BULLETIN
EDUCATING CREWS ON THE VALUE OF SAFETY
When it comes to productivity, zero is the most important
number. That's a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of
zero. In other words; no accidents.
Every day, every Davey operation strives for a TRIR of zero,
and the Chattanooga Electric Power Board account was
among the operations to achieve
that rate for all of 2018.
For Earl Blevins, supervisor, they
emphasize education and training
to keep crews on the account
focused on safety.
"If you can keep safe, you'll get
your productivity," Blevins said.
"We stress that to our crew leaders. Take care of your
people first, and the work will get done."
Every workday morning the crews on the account meet
to discuss safety. Seasoned bucket operators and climbing
veterans such as Chris Martin, Edward Daniels, Fred Allison,
Wade Kilgore and Danny Nelson work with employees
who are new to the operation to teach them the safe
and proper way to climb a tree or work a bucket truck.
Several times a year, Blevins and fellow account supervisor
Mitch Durham arrange for training sessions to review proper
Employees on the Chattanooga Electric Power Board account
pose for a group photo following one of their morning meetings,
which focus on safety.
SAFETY
tree felling, chainsaw operation and notching techniques.
Every employee on the account knows they each have
the right to call an all-stop if they see something unsafe.
And, most importantly, the client partners with Wolf
Tree, Inc., a Davey company, on emphasizing safety. Wolf
Tree manages the account.
"Our client recognizes safety
is important," Blevins said. "They
don't want any of our employees
hurt. They want them trimming
trees and keeping the lines
cleared. You don't want to push
people to the point where
all they think about is productivity."
Furthering the education focus, Durham said they also
encourage crews to share close calls during the morning
meetings. And he and Blevins share similar close-call
reports they might hear during their weekly supervisor calls.
"Education is the biggest part," Durham said.
Chattanooga Electric Power Board
• 64 employees
• 24 crews
• Primarily urban line clearance
