• Introduction
• Safety accreditation ensures that your cooperative operates safely
• Inspecting the Engelhard District
• Download the article as a

Inspecting the Engelhard District

When he shows up at a co-op office to do a safety inspection, Tommy Greer is there on serious business.

He arrives at Tideland’s Engelhard district office in Hyde County even before it opens at 8 a.m. Rodney Gibbs, the superintendent, is there, and so is Jennifer Sadler, office manager. Also the linemen: Kane Cox, Kenny Gibbs, Josh Gibbs, Andy Midyette, Joseph Pugh and Vincent Whitfield. Tideland’s safety director Wayne Brackin, who lives in Minnesott and serves all districts, is there, too.

Tommy meets with all the employees and explains the accreditation process, how all equipment must meet national Rural Utilities Service standards, how a national team will conduct an inspection later in the summer and this pre-inspection is a test run to find anything that should be changed. All facilities and equipment will be graded, and then inspectors will follow the official RESAP observation form and apply grades. The form has 135 questions, such as “Are warehouse/storage stairs/docks equipped with handrails and marked.” Inspections include observing linemen at work.

“You know how it’s supposed to be done,” Tommy says. “Just do it the way you’re supposed to. If you need something to do it right, get it.”

As Wayne Brackin takes notes, Tommy inspects inside
and outside the bucket trucks, digger derrick truck and service truck. He looks for documentation that the trucks are examined each morning and at the end of each day. He looks for First Aid kits, fire extinguishers, log books, accident investigation forms, how tools are stored, how the trucks are maintained. He looks over the garage and warehouse and storage areas, checking the shelving, labeling, fire safety, lighting, waste storage, fuel storage, fencing.

“If there’s anything defective or damaged, tag it or get
rid of it,” Tommy says.

Tommy looks at the linemen’s rubber gloves and rubber sleeves and vests to make sure they show the monthly test date. He inspects hand lines, winches, lift equipment, chocks and outrigger pads, head and hearing protection equipment, harnesses and lanyards, safety glasses. Joseph Pugh brings out a sledge hammer and asks if Tommy needs it to test steel-toed work boots.

They go inside the office building looking at storage and filing facilities, lighting, fire protection, furniture placement, lighted exit signs, First Aid kits, emergency plans, safety notices.

In the pole yard, Tommy checks how poles are stacked and the storage of transformers, regulators and other equipment. He looks over the aluminum boat this crew uses (Rodney Gibbs has a captain’s license). He observes Joe Pugh work
a forklift as Vincent Whitfield and Kane Cox load tools and equipment on their bucket truck for the day’s work.

Out in the field, Rodney Gibbs shows Tommy and Wayne underground power line transformers to check for warning labels, locks, cable identification. They go into a substation
and inspect the fencing, locks, grounding, warning signs,
clearances, fire protection and tool storage.

Tideland’s Engelhard district serves about 3,500 members with about 275 miles of line. The area covers mainland Dare County south through Hyde County to Swan Quarter and the Fairfield area south of the Intercoastal Waterway.

Tommy and Wayne observe a crew working in the Swan Quarter area, building a pole to serve a new vegetable storage building. Tommy looks for who’s in charge, traffic control
procedures, proper application of protection equipment,
tools and safe work practices. Kenny Gibbs is in charge here, and he shows Tommy a new type of rope sling they use to
hold the pole while they work on it.

Finally, at the end of the day, Tommy and Wayne review the steps Tideland EMC should take to ensure that the Engelhard district maintains its safety compliance. “The purpose of this is to help bring a co-op’s facilities to a level where it ought to be,” Tommy says. “Then it’s up to you all to keep it at that level.”

Tideland Electric has achieved its safety accreditation
continuously since 1976 without a lapse. The co-op has ex-perienced no loss of life or serious job injury since then either.