Event Summary
Most safety professionals and operations managers in the Utility industry would likely agree on some key points regarding employee safety. First, hazard recognition is essential for the safety of any crew or employee activity. Hazards cannot be prioritized or controlled if they are not first identified. Second, despite decades of efforts to improve work practices within the industry, there has been little progress in reducing serious injuries and fatalities. Researchers have identified a potential improvement in the construction industry that could significantly impact the safety of employees in at-risk environments. This opportunity involves high energy-based hazard recognition and using a tool known as the Energy Wheel (or, in some circles, the STKY Wheel – Stuff That Can Kill You).
We will spend our time in this short course examining why high energy hazards go unidentified or unrecognized before work begins and, maybe more importantly, what we can do to correct that problem through the utilization of a tool called an Energy Wheel. This short course will be based on the research of Dr. Matthew Hallowell and team. Furthermore, we’ll have an engaging discussion on how you can learn to use this tool in a relatively short period of time with your maintenance and construction teams to assist with hazard ID during job briefings and safety observations.
Attendees will receive 2 Professional Development Hours (PDH) upon completion.
Learning Objectives:
- Develop an understanding of why we can’t seem to move the needle in a positive direction when it comes to reducing significant injuries and fatalities in the utility industry.
- Develop an understanding of why even very experienced utility professionals often fail to identify all high-energy hazards present before work begins.
- Develop an understanding of how to use the Energy Wheel to improve job briefings and safety observations.
- We will also show you how a Safety Classification Model (SCL) can be used in conjunction with High-Energy Hazard Information to effectively learn from significant events.
Who Should Attend
Leadership, Managers, Supervisors, and Field Level Employees
Meet Your Instructor
Paul S. Hurysz, Jr., MBA, CSP
Manager, Human Performance Safety Consulting Services | Davey Resource Group
Paul has earned multiple degrees and honors throughout his 36-year career, including a BS in
Forestry Wildlife from La. Tech University, MBA from the University of Houston Clear Lake, and a BS in Occupational Health and Safety from Columbia Southern University. Other certifications
and honors include ISA Certified Arborist and Utility Specialist, BCSP Certified Safety
Professional, the UAA Will Nutter Safety Shield Award, and the UAA Utility Arborist Award.
Paul’s operational and industry experience spans more than 3 decades of efforts. Those
experiences include working for CenterPoint Energy and Duke Energy. After retiring from Duke,
Paul now serves the industry by managing Davey Resource Group’s newly formed Human Performance Safety Consulting Services team, where his primary goal is to find ways to make safety simple while solving problems that matter. Lastly, Paul is also well known in the industry for his volunteer efforts to make a difference by having served on 3 different UVM industry boards as a director, committees, and in leadership roles over the span of his career: SGA,
UAA, FVMA, and the TVMA.
