Information from October 2009 IBEW Safety Caucus
Brothers and Sisters of IBEW Local 701,
I would like to thank our awesome local, the Safety Committee and LMCC Board for giving me an opportunity to represent our local at the 2009 Annual Safety Conference held in Orlando Florida. What an experience to meet so many other local union brothers and sisters around this great nation and to learn about how they address their safety issues. One safety issue that I learned about and thought it would be good to share with our membership is the dangers of RF (Radio Frequency). The dangers associated with working around cell sites, antennas, satellite dishes and the likes of these high frequency transmitting devices can be very harmful to our health. As professionals and leaders of this great industry we have the resources right at our finger tips, from those who have analyzed these effects, to people who present these findings to me and back to you! I have attached this web site for you it contains some vital information; http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/WorkSafe/Home/. I do hope this information helps make us all aware of the dangers related to RF and enables us to go home at the end of the work day just a little safer!
Fraternally John Giambrone
November 2009
National Safety Council convention report from Jerry McGlynn ( McWilliams Electric Safety Officer and safety Committee member)
I had the great opportunity to attend the National Safety Council Congress & Expo last month. Every time I return from this show I feel a renewed excitement towards safety. I attending courses on electrical safety, keeping training interesting & fun, take your safety training to the next level, and consequences of not having an effective electrical safety program, just to name a few. I also attended some motivational speaker courses that bring the human factor to safety. Some key points from the courses that I attended are that you must get the support from everyone to buy into safety. Not just top management, or the project manager, but everyone. When you talk about safety in a tool box talk or at a safety class, make it knowledgeable, personal, and fun. A good trainer can keep the audience interested by using those three key points. Think of the guy selling the shamwow and use that enthusiasm to sell safety. Another key point came from a key note speaker from OSHA. He said that during the Bush administration OSHA’s enforcement dropped 80%, according to the number of citations. However in this new administration, enforcement is going to increase 10% with 22.5 million dollars in funding. OSHA visits will increase from 38,000 to 48,000. OSHA penalties will also increase for violations. The labor secretary Hilda Solis has said that we are back in the enforcement business. “there’s a new sheriff in town”. I can not confirm that she said those exact words but it does get the point across that OSHA is back to enforcing its laws. At a convention full of safety professionals it is like preaching to the choir. It is our job to pass the message of how important safety is to everyone, on and off the job. We want everyone to return home the same way they left for work, just maybe a little more tired.
February 2009
IBEW Safety Caucus report from John Giambrone ( IBEW 701 member and Safety Committee member)
I recently attended the National Safety Conference in Anaheim California this past September. I must say the turn out of IBEW members was second to none! It really is no surprise to me because after all, the IBEW and its members are one of the pioneers when it comes to many issues. One example being the great wages and benefits we enjoy through all our brothers and sisters of the past making it possible to work a forty hour week, having health care, a pension, and even an annuity. You see we have plenty to be thankful for and we also have the responsibility to carry out and improve all that we have come to enjoy and expect. Now stop and think for a moment how far we’ve come and what it took to get where we are today.
In the same respect look at how far safety in the work place has come. Are we becoming complacent or are we holding our ground when it comes to the guarantee of going home to our families at the end of a workday? Or going home at the end of a workday injury free? I see the IBEW as a primary leader in safety. If it were not for the IBEW’s member’s persistence would the workplace be as safe as it is today? We are the watchdogs of the Labor Unions. On the job we know what it takes to keep it that way and we are passionate about our safety and must always continue to make sure the rights we have, brothers and sisters, from all Labor Unions, from as early as the 1700’s until now have fought for and to remember all Labor Union members who have died on the job or have had disabling or disfiguring injuries. Safety standards in place today are definitely a benefit to us and our members and I think of it as a well-fought benefit we all should be thankful for. But just like any well-fought benefit, we must always strive to keep it or make it better for ourselves and the future generations. We must not lose what was fought so hard to accomplish.
I think you owe it to yourself to go online or call the National Safety Council located right here in Itasca Illinois and buy a copy of “Protecting Workers Lives, A Safety and Health Guide for Unions, Third Edition”. By participating in these safety conferences, I along with many other IBEW members and Labor Unions had a small part in putting this book together.
It really is a must have book in knowing your rights to working in a safe work environment!
Fraternally yours,
John J. Giambrone