Electricity Today T&D Magazine

In a perfect world, we could all work in weather-controlled environments where heat wouldn’t be a factor and comfort could be maximized. Many workplaces however, deal with very high temperatures and heat stress is a year-round risk that requires serious consideration. For many years the standards addressing the prevention of heat stress-related issues went untouched. Recently the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) released an evaluation of the available data on this subject (criteria for a recommended standard), with the goal of setting a new standard. The report; Occupational Exposure to Heat and Hot Environments, contains detailed...

For many utilities, scheduling each day’s construction and restoration work means manually organizing and keeping tabs on ever-changing crew schedules and resources. Managers meticulously update whiteboards dotted with color-coded magnets representing crews and trucks. Augmenting the whiteboards are often schedules pulled from a PC-based project management tool and a database management product. Adding to this challenge is the fact that different departments concentrate on restoring outages, while other groups manage day-to-day construction.

The process is a daily fight to stay ahead of projects and restore outages for customers. While utility company managers and crews always complete this work, according to...