Mr. Hal Peryea-watch Engineer at Big Bend Plant Operations, celebrated 40 years of employment without a lost time accident. Congratulations to Hal for this significant achievement and his many years of support to his Union. 

Brothers and Sisters,

Let me open by saying I greatly appreciate the opportunity to serve this local in the capacity of Safety Director. I have with great pride represented this brotherhood in the National Safety Council Labor Division for five years, serving on professional and special interest committees.

Through these committees I have been informed and shared various safety and environmental issues with brotherhoods across this nation. The labor division is made up from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union, the Transportation Workers Union (TWU), the Utilities Workers Union (UWU), the United Auto Workers (UAW union, the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) union, and the United Steel Workers of America (USWA) union.

In my last meeting a utilities safety and health presentation was made on the effects of exposures to hydraulic hose leaks, and what a small pin hole can do to the human body. Let me just say that if you are injected with fluids under high pressure it can cause a tremendous amount of damage to the under lying soft tissue. Surgery may be required to remove this tissue.

 Never run any part of your body along a hydraulic hose under pressure to check for leaks. Discussion on fall protection with regards to suspension trauma was also discussed. Miller has an adapter that will fit any of their harnesses that can be stepped into if a fall has occurred. Hopefully other manufactures will follow with similar adapters. AED’s were talked about as to which makes have had the least problems in various conditions. The Hear Saver model is highly recommended. Employees at TECO have these in Energy Supply.

At the Occupational & Environmental Health and Safety meeting there was discussion about forklift safety qualification frequency and swivel seats to facilitate backing forklifts. It makes ergonomic since. There was talk about female workers in the work force in regards to safety equipment. Most equipment is made to fit males, but some manufacturers are making equipment for female workers. A list of these manufactures will be at the upcoming fall meeting. There was also discussion about hazardous materials in the workplace and worker’s right to this information.

In solidarity,
Jeff Woodlee