Recognizing and addressing exposures is the foundation of our Corporate Safety Initiative (CSI). Through the efforts of our CSI Departmental Teams, Program Team, Executive Team, Lighthouse Observers, and the Safety Office, we all work to make zero injuries a reality each day. 

When an injury does occur, one of the most important things we can do is investigate the cause and implement solutions to prevent anyone else from getting hurt. This is exactly what happened recently, after an employee’s finger was injured while obtaining wire from a reel. 

To maintain our utility services, our crews rely on Stores to stock important items that get used daily. Several items, like wire, are stored on various sized reels that have to be lifted off the ground in order to be unwound. At the time of the finger injury, a wire rack was being used that required a pipe to run through the center hole on the reel and then placed onto the wire rack frame. Once in place, crews could freely unwind the reel to obtain the length of wire needed for the job. 

One day, while mounting the wire onto the rack, an employee’s finger got caught between the reel and the pipe. This injury led the Safety Office to conduct a Root Cause Analysis to determine future prevention. In addition, Lighthouse conducted observations to identify where else this exposure might exist. 

“After that, we began to pay more attention to how these reels were being handled and stored,” said Sam Evans, Safety Specialist II/Lighthouse Facilitator. “So, the Safety Office, Lighthouse Steering Team, and Stores came up with a safer, more user-friendly solution.” 

That solution was to replace all large wire racks with the iTool RJ6K Cable Reel Jacks. Relying on a smooth, manual crank mechanism, the new Reel Jacks raise the reel off the ground without the user physically lifting the reel. “These jacks are easy to set up, ergonomically sound, and safer to operate than the old racks,” commented Sam. 

Great work by all involved for noticing the exposure and working to figure out a solution! It’s a good reminder to speak up when you notice a potential exposure so we can work together on solutions to keep each other free from injury.