Continuous Hours Worked Survey and Findings Ben Bella, Safety & Compliance Eau Claire, Jackson, Oakdale & Riverland Electric Cooperatives

ASKING ME TO OVERLOOK A SIMPLE SAFETY VIOLATION IS LIKE ASKING ME TO COMPROMISE MY ENTIRE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE VALUE OF YOUR LIFE. ̴ Author Unknown

Continuous Hours Worked Project Intro to project What is the purpose

Try to prevent forgetting things….

18 Questions 214 Respondents Survey 18 Questions 214 Respondents

Survey Participants Included: Foreman / Leads /Lineman Line Superintendents Operations Managers Staking /Engineering Safety / Training Dispatch / Operations

How many years have you / did you work as a lineman? 1 – 5 Yrs. 11% 6 – 10 Yrs. 11% 11 – 15 Yrs. 20% 16 – 20 Yrs 24% 21 or more 35% 79 % of participants worked more than 11 years as a lineman

What is the longest continuous stretch of time you have worked as a lineman? Under 12 Hrs. 1% 12 – 20 Hrs. 13% 21 – 28 Hrs. 34% Over 29 Hrs. 53% 87 % of participants have worked over 21 consecutive hours

Approximately how many times have you worked over 24 consecutive hours? 0 – 5 times 43% 6 – 10 times 25% 11 – 15 times 15% 16 or more times 16%

What symptoms have you experienced while working overtime Fatigue 82% Sleepiness 77% Reduced Alertness 54% Problems Driving Home 53%

Try to make sure employees are always aware of their surroundings…

Typically, at what hour of work would you begin to notice symptoms? Hour 8 – 16 11% Hour 17 – 24 61% Hour 25 – 32 16% Hour 33 – 40 5 % Don’t notice symptoms 7%

Quality of work High quality Acceptable Low quality 8 – 12 hr. 198 5 0 24 or more 17 103 78

Have you or an employee been injured on the job as a result of being tired? Yes 14% No 86%

How / why did accident happen? Decreased reaction time Near miss Poor decision / judgment Vehicle accident Fell off pole Clumsy

Blind Zone Backing

Has your company offered training to employees on fatigue awareness? Yes 42% No 58%

Fatigue has been a factor in the following Employee injury 30% Poor quality 65% Property Damage 45% Near miss / close call 73%

Does your company have a policy in place regarding maximum allowable hours to work? Yes 21% No 79%

Should there be a limit on consecutive hours worked? Strongly Agree 25% Agree 29% Depends 36% Disagree 6% Strongly Disagree 4%

How many consecutive hours do you think a lineman can safely work? Less than 16 hours 10% 16 – 20 hours 43% Less than 24 hours 27% Greater than 24 hours 6% Depends 15% Percents identify percentage of participants responding. Not all participants responded to question.

Results 40% believe quality of work after 24 hours is LOW. 72% of respondents notice symptoms prior to 24 hours. 73% believe fatigue resulted in a “close call”. Symptoms include: 82% Fatigue 77% Sleepiness 54% Reduced Alertness

(Near miss / Close call) Safety Pyramid 300 Incidents (Near miss / Close call) 1 Major Injury 29 Minor Injury

Results Continued… 79% don’t have a policy in place Only 10% of respondents believe there should NOT be a limit. 79% of people who answered believe the limit should be less than 24 hours.

Recommendations Limit work times to less than 24 consecutive hours. Poor Quality Work Short cuts / Rushing Verifiable increase in close calls and symptoms Soft Policy 16 Hours Must meet three requirements to continue

Recommendations Cont… Fatigue Awareness Training 73% Indicated fatigued related close call Close Call / Near Miss Program

Additional Comments from Survey “Every person and situation is unique” “Persons should know their abilities” “There are a lot of factors to consider…” “ …weather, age of employee, work load, experience.” “ There is not a right answer for this problem”

Additional Comments Cont… “ Age is starting to be a factor…” “ This is a very subjective topic…” “ No matter how long you work, the hardest time is right around sun up” “ I believe the quantity and quality drops a lot during extended outages” “ You can regain alertness after a break, meal or short nap”

Try to prevent a bad day….