Co-ops, industry experts help revise safety manual

A diverse group from nine of our co-ops, including safety personnel, linemen, managers of operations, safety and loss control personnel and vegetation management specialists, gathered recently at Central Alabama EC to review recommended updates to the AREA safety manual.

Also present were Tracy Moon and Danny Raines, who are experts in the field and who helped the group navigate the new OSHA regulations that took effect this year.

The group made recommendations that AREA’s Michael Kelley has compiled and sent out for review to the group and their managers.

Now, a national webinar on the revisions, set for 12 p.m. CT Dec. 11, offers the chance for co-ops to present questions to David Wallis, retired director of regulatory standards with OSHA and now a consultant, and Martha Duggan, legal counsel, about regulatory changes and changes to our safety manual. All questions submitted will be anonymous.

Kelley will take the revisions to the managers, and eventually to the executive committee and the full AREA board for approval. The goal is to have the process completed by early spring, before the annual meeting.

AREA hopes to provide the safety manual not only in written form, but also as an app for mobile devices. There is also discussion of a searchable digital edition.

Coosa Valley, Central, Cullman, Covington, Clarke-Washington, Baldwin, Pioneer, Sand Mountain and Dixie co-ops participated in the revision discussion. The last revision was published in 2012.