'Just Don’t Ask' Campaign Launch
June 12th 2009 - Two years worth of hard work was finally realized, the campaign to create awareness about the dangers of working live was successfully launched. The ‘Just Don’t Ask’ campaign was created by the Electrical Safety Coalition and comprises industry partners; The Electrical Contractors Association of Ontario (ECAO), The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Electrical Safety Authority (ESA), Electrical & Utilities Safety Association (E&USA), and the Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA).
Hosted by the E&USA at the Centre for Health and Safety Innovation in Mississauga, ON, the launch began with an introduction by E&USA’s CEO and President, Dr. Ted Vandevis. Dr. Vandevis provided an overview of the difference between necessary and unnecessary demands to work live, as E&USA represents utility and line workers who work live as conditions of repair and outage dictate. The focus of this campaign was to address those instances where there is another choice; working on live or energized equipment should not be performed out of a desire to avoid inconvenience. This issue was further elaborated on by Al Beattie of E&USA who illustrated the complex and in-depth training that apprentices of line and utility contractors receive at E&USA’s own world class training facility in Mississauga.
John Pender, the Executive Secretary Treasurer of the IBEW Construction Council of Ontario spoke of the real-life human consequences that can occur when an electrician decides to work live. Mr. Pender’s speech described a traumatic time when he, as a young apprentice, watched as his mentor suffered grave injuries from working live. In this situation the repair could have easily been made after de-energizing the unit, but the mentality at the time dictated that to be a good electrician you did what was necessary to be fast, efficient and keep the client happy.
Maureen Shaw, President of IAPA and Peter Marcucci Vice-President of ESA both relayed the commitments of their organizations in creating workplaces devoid of accident. The statistics of electrical injury provided by the Ministry of Labour collected from 1998-2006 illustrate that of 1058 incidents causing electrical injury 50 percent were from workers working live. ESA has developed a ‘working live’ video to encourage electricians to work de-energized, especially with panels. This video will be featured on the electrical safety coalition’s website.
Executive Vice-President of the ECAO, Eryl Roberts made final remarks at the launch. Mr. Roberts pointed to the ‘authorization form’ of the campaign as the key item. This authorization form, as developed by the coalition partners, asks clients, general contractors or consulting engineers to acknowledge the serious implications of asking an electrician to work live, and re-consider the request. The Authorization Form clearly outlines the responsibilities and liabilities that will be assumed by each party if an agreement to work live should be made. The intent is to create awareness, among those who would ask electricians to work live, just how severe the consequences may be; perhaps a better, safer way can be realized.