Focus on Safety Saves Lives

The electrical transmission and distribution construction industry reduced worker fatalities and injuries by working together and partnering with OSHA. Read this article in the Harvard Business Review by Dr. David Michaels, former OSHA Assistant Secretary, to learn how.

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To some employers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is best known for its surprise inspections, checking to see if an establishment is complying with the agency’s standards, and issuing fines when it fails to do so. But to the firms who build and maintain the U.S. power grid — the nation’s electrical transmission and distribution infrastructure — OSHA has become a partner in a collective enterprise that has prevented hundreds of serious injuries and saved dozens of lives.

The hazards facing the workers who construct and repair live electrical lines, often at great heights or even while hanging from helicopters, are enormous. Following hurricanes or other disasters, many work very long hours, often far from home, increasing their risk of injury. Following Hurricane Ian in September 2022, for example, more than 44,000 workers from at least 33 states were temporarily relocated to Florida to help bring power back to the more than three million people whose homes had gone dark.