14
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
January/February 2020
SAFETY TRAINING FOR ALL DTE ENERGY CREWS IN MICHIGAN
More than 200 Davey employees
working on the DTE Energy account
attended a three-day safety training
session covering a range of topics
from chipper operation to addressing
dog bites.
Historically, the client has asked all
of its line clearance contractors to
attend a joint, one-day session for
all crews working on DTE
Energy properties. This
year, Davey conducted its
own training facilitated by
staff from the Davey
Institute, the corporate
safety department and local
operations team members.
"Our idea was to focus
on major safety topics
that affect us locally here
that are our main industry
and local concerns," said
John Tokarczyk, operations
manager, Eastern
Utility services.
The training spanned
three days with Davey
More than 200 Davey employees took part in a safety training session this summer for client DTE Energy.
employees split into groups to receive
their own full-day session. Spanish-
speaking employees attended one
day and were assisted by interpreters
and Davey instructors who speak
Spanish. The remaining employees
on the DTE Energy account were
split into groups and taught over the
following two days.
Fred Riedel, regional safety specialist,
was among the 12 Davey employees
who organized and led the training.
Riedel said this year's training session
provided more opportunities for
interaction with the employees
receiving instruction.
"Instead of just having everybody
in a classroom and talking at people
for 8 hours straight we
tried to come up with a
better system to
promote retention and
get everyone more
involved," Riedel said.
"We broke employees
down into smaller groups.
I feel like they retained
a lot more and were a
lot more engaged."
Tokarczyk said both the
client and employee
response was
overwhelmingly positive.
"They also suggested
topics for future training
sessions," Tokarczyk said.
IMPROVEMENT
The training, held at the DTE Energy training
facility in Canton, Michigan, focused on
five topics:
1. Factors & Forces, taught by Eduardo Medina
2. Struck-bys, taught by Jon Schmidt
3. Slips, Trips, and Falls, taught by Roy Montan
4. Chipper Safety, taught by Glen Olsen
5. Dog Bites, taught by Fred Riedel and
Mike Horneber
Training Topics
