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

2. 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

3. Continuous Hours Worked Project
Intro to project
What is the purpose

4. Try to prevent forgetting things….

5. 18 Questions 214 Respondents
Survey
18 Questions 214 Respondents

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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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%

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

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

12. 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%

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

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

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

19. Blind Zone Backing

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

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

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

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

25. 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.

26. 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

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

28. 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.

29. 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

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

31. 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”

32. 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”

33. Try to prevent a bad day….