“That doesn’t count the thousands of volunteer firefighters we train annually in the field through our Extension Service Bureau,” said Curtiss Marbury, Instructor Chief with the State Fire Academy. “We’re extremely busy around here and, as a matter of fact, we’re currently booking reservations for 2011 and 2012.”

The State Fire Academy Executive Director, Reggie Bell, has been involved in training efforts in 36 states. “I’ve seen all their training facilities and to be very honest, we have the best in the nation, right here in Mississippi.”

by Jack Garrett, Director of Regulatory Services, DIG TESS

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept through in 2005, issues with offshore pipelines and the need for a one-call system covering the Gulf of Mexico came to the forefront. GulfSafe was developed to address these concerns in the Gulf and began operation February 16, 2009.

Unlike traditional one-call operations, GulfSafe’s notification process is primarily web-based. Most notifications are requested through GulfSafe.com or by calling 1-888-910-4853 (GULF). Use of the service requesting notifications of activity is free, as all costs are paid by the owners of offshore facilities. Technical and user support is conducted online or by phone at 1-888-910-4853 (GULF).

One of the technical challenges was in building a system that was seamless between state and federal waters. Offshore operators wanted one system to function in all state waters as well as the Outer Continental Shelf. They also needed a system that could process near shore calls to 811 from state one-call centers along the coast and process those request into GulfSafe. This was accomplished by overlaying the GulfSafe database into Louisiana One Call and Mississippi 811 systems.

If someone calls 811 in those states for an offshore request, the local call center processes the request and forwards the information on to GulfSafe. This process will be expanded to Alabama and Florida as new member companies are added in those areas.

Locates in the Outer Continental Shelf are processed directly through GulfSafe. This procedure provides the seamless system that offshore operators desired, and it also provides the flexibility to integrate the 811 message into GulfSafe’s promotions. Typically the system is promoted as “Onshore 811, Offshore GulfSafe.com.”

One of the goals in the development of the system was to provide workers offshore the same safe working environment that we have come to expect onshore. Most workers wouldn’t think of putting a shovel in the ground without calling for locates, just for their own personal safety. Yet offshore, this attention to safety is overlooked. It’s made even more difficult by not being able to see through the water, and at depths that can give workers a false sense of security.

Pipeline companies are often left out of the loop. They may not be aware that work is being done in the vicinity of their line because a vessel operator may be using public maps to assume where subsea systems are located. This would be comparable to having onshore excavators do all their own locates instead of calling for locates. From the operators’ perspective this is not the ideal process.

GulfSafe currently serves four of the Minerals Management Service’s Planning areas for the Outer Continental Shelf; the Western Gulf of Mexico, Central Gulf of Mexico, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Straits of Florida. Expansions into other planning areas are slated as wind and wave energy is developed on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.

As you might expect, offshore damages are extremely costly. With the final tab easily reaching into the millions of dollars, facility owners are finding GulfSafe is a cost-effective way to prevent damage to vital infrastructure. The cost for membership varies on the area of coverage or footprint of a utility company. For information regarding membership or further details contact jackgarrett@gulfsafe.com.

You can also learn more about GulfSafe by attending the Mississippi Summit in November. We hope to see you there.

by Stan Rucker, VP of Safety and Loss Control with Electric Power Associations of Mississippi.

Electric power associations build underground power lines to withstand most damage due to natural causes. But nothing can protect them from the direct impact of excavating equipment – except the operator’s awareness of electrical safety.

Most important, electrical safety measures can help prevent a tragedy: If you strike an underground power line while digging, you could seriously injure yourself, and those around you, and knock out electric service to homes and businesses in the area.

The danger is real: On average, 325 people die, and 4,400 are injured each year because of electrical hazards, according to data published by the National Safety Council. Electricity ranks sixth among all causes of occupational fatalities. The leading cause of fatal electrical incidents while on the job is contact with power lines, both above and below ground.

By calling Mississippi 811 before digging, the electric utility serving your work site will be alerted of your intentions. Utility personnel will determine whether an underground power line or other electrical facilities exist at your work site and, if so, dispatch a representative to mark their location. This is a service that Mississippi’s consumer-owned electric power associations are happy to provide to help protect you and your workers, foremost, but also to prevent power outages and avoid costly damage to underground electrical facilities.

Electric power associations urge you to devote a few minutes to electrical safety before digging by dialing 811 at least two days before the work is scheduled to occur. For more information, visit www.ms811.org.

by Roger Cox

It’s a fair question. Amanda Russell, GIS Manager for Mississippi 811, explains to those who have asked before, “The first step in making that happen is for the caller to provide GPS readings for the excavation sites. While we aren’t quite prepared to implement automated driving directions, it is a service that we are considering how best to implement.” She continues, “Because it is important to our callers, it is important to us.”

Sam Johnson, President of Mississippi 811, adds, “Whether or not automated driving directions will be a function of GeoCall, the call center software, or some type of plug-in to our software has not been determined.” He continues, “But with the advances in mapping technology, it is certainly one of our priorities as an added value to our services.” He agrees with his GIS Manager that an absolute requirement for making that a reality is for the callers to provide GPS readings when they call before they dig.

There are immediate benefits of providing the GPS readings. It helps ensure that the right companies are notified and that the correct excavation site is located, resulting in a safer excavation. Certainly all the stakeholders benefit from that. Additionally, providing the readings helps the call center process the locate request quickly and efficiently.

Amanda points out, “There are many GPS options for our users, including dashboard, handheld, smart-phones, and PDAs. Some cell phone carriers are now providing GPS navigation that can be accessed through compatible cell phones.” She continues, “These cell phones do not have internal mapping software, but access the information wirelessly over a cellular network. The cost is typically $10 a month.”

When asked about any particular feature recommendations, she replied, “WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) enabled devices provide the best accuracy and are low cost units as well. WAAS is a system of satellites and ground stations that provide GPS signal corrections, giving an average of up to five times better accuracy. It can give a position accuracy of better than three meters 95% of the time.”

The Mississippi 811 preferred GPS setup is as follows:

1. Set primary and secondary coordinate system to Lat/Lon DEG.DDDDD
2. Set primary and secondary map datum to WGS84
3. Set NMEA to V2.1GSA

I asked her, “What if I don’t know how to do that, then what?” She laughed and said, “Just buy youself a unit and give me a call. We’ll help you set it up and teach you how to use it.”

I thought to myself, “That’s a fair deal.” Mississippi 811 will set it up and teach me how to use it. Then by using it now, I can take advantage of some immediate benefits and move all of us closer to the day I don’t have to give driving directions.

Amanda can be reached at gis@ms811.org, or by calling 601-368-1150. Give her a call today.

Finally, Mississippi 811’s landbase map is being developed for excavators.

Mississippi 811’s landbase map is recognized as one of the best in the state, primarily because it receives updates daily, so it is constantly evolving and changing to more closely represent the real world.

This landbase map is also the heart of the ticket software, GeoCall. Mississippi 811’s commitment to accuracy has helped the membership to more accurately place their facilities within a buffered zone to provide protection to their facilities while eliminating unnecessary notices, a problem that plagues many notification systems.

Mississippi 811 is pleased to offer such world class benefits to its membership, and has been willing to share its resources with other organizations that want to help keep Mississippi a safer place to live and work. So when Jackson State University wanted access to the database for a homeland security project to also help protect the citizens of Mississippi, granting the request was an easy decision.

The Mississippi 811 team knew that the 811 landbase maps could be further developed to provide great benefit to the excavators calling in the proposed work. That led GIS Coordinator, Amanda Russell, to ask the Jackson State team about the possibility of creating a special portal that would allow excavators access to the maps while performing an electronic locate request. Her idea is to allow the excavator to more accurately determine the physical address of a work site as well as mark the scope of the request. According to Russell it would be “a special excavator globe” tied directly to the GeoCall landbase information.

“The people at Jackson State were very receptive to the idea,” said Russell. “They think they can have something for us to see in the near future and we’re excited about the possibilities.”

To access the map service, click the button in the sidebar, or go to the MARIS web site.

Mississippi Public Service Commission, Mississippi 811, and the MDPC have committed to take the damage prevention message through a series of six regional meetings to various locations across the state.

Four of the six meetings have been conducted. The committee has been encouraged by the interest and turnout. The last meeting was conducted in Hattiesburg on June 25. There were more than 85 attendees interested in how a stronger and more effective damage prevention program would impact them and their organization.
There continues to be much interest by all stakeholders in the discussion of fair and effective enforcement. Almost all in attendance agree that there must be accountability in the damage prevention process, and most agree that being held accountable is reasonable and fair.

There are two more regional meetings scheduled. Check out www.msdamageprevention.com for the locations and dates. We hope to see you at one of them.
The MDPC members reaffirmed that the training and education of all stakeholders is absolutely the key to having a successful program. Mississippi’s damage prevention program strength will be found in the successful recruitment and involvement of our stakeholders. There will be much discussion over the next months regarding how best to accomplish this goal.

The Summit, Mississippi’s premiere damage prevention conference and a regional CGA event, will be held in Tunica on November 9 – 11. There will be credit hours offered for those attending the sessions. The sessions and speakers are in the final stages of being confirmed. You can register by going to the MDPC or Mississippi 811 websites.
There will be sessions to discuss timelines and details of proposed legislation. For those of you who want to know the latest, or have a desire to be part of keeping Mississippi a safer place to live and work can go online and register for the event today.

We hope to see you soon.

Just a little respect is something everyone would like – Rodney Dangerfield proved that when he complained that he never got any.

In the push and shove world of utility construction, respect is occasionally in limited supply. In many day-to-day operations, it can be neglected – not intentionally, it just happens, usually when time is short and budgets are tight.

So when respect for others is so much a part of an organization, it is worth noting and at Eubank Construction Company, headquartered in Booneville, Mississippi, respect rules.

“It’s just who we are,” said Eubank Project Manager, Rob Rogers. “It starts with Kevin [Kevin Eubank, company president] and it’s a part of everything we do, from bidding to completion of the project.” It’s obvious they also respect their employees; the most recently hired has been at Eubank for more than three years.
Mississippi 811 was introduced to Rogers when Jerry Kennemur, Mississippi 811 Damage Prevention Coordinator, invited him to the regional MDPC meeting in Tupelo.
That meeting led to this magazine wanting to know more about an excavation company that would care enough about the perspectives of other stakeholders to make time to join them at a damage prevention meeting.

It became obvious that part of the reason for the success Eubank Construction enjoys today is the result of their overall philosophy of “doing the right thing, every time.”

“That’s something we work on everyday, but we make mistakes like everyone else,” said Eubank. “The right thing to do is own up to them, pay for the damages, and learn from them so they won’t happen again.”

Eubank estimates that 90% of their jobs involve organizations and cities with whom they have previously worked. “We’re proud of our record and we get a lot of repeat business even though our type of work slows traffic and creates problems for motorists and surrounding businesses,” said Eubank.

“We’re sensitive to how disruptive our work can be so we work long hours and go above and beyond to make sure we don’t disturb their lives anymore than necessary,” said Rogers. “We have a good reputation and very few utility cuts; we like to keep it that way.”

Most successful companies have a couple of basic philosophies that guide them toward profitability. One is utilize your resources. Mississippi 811 is the best resource for avoiding damages and costly delays and Eubank’s policy is to always call 811 before they begin any work. Planning is an important part of every project and involving the 811 process as early as possible is one of the keys to Eubank’s success.

Another resource that they use well is their employees. They trust them to do what is right and as a result they have extremely low turnover in personnel.
The other basic philosophy for success is treat everyone with respect. Eubank has an excellent reputation for building relationships with utility owners, locators, and property owners. “Sometimes you need to look at things from their viewpoint. We know locators have a lot more to do than just take care of us,” said Rogers. “So we give them a ‘heads up’ and plan our work to help make their life easier. We also involve them early in the process.” As a result, when Eubank needs a little help with a problem, they get responses, not excuses.

Respect earns respect. Rodney Dangerfield knew that and he joked about it to make his point. Everyone at Eubank has worked hard to earn the respect of all those with whom they work and according to Rogers, “we’d like to keep it that way.”

Eubank Construction Company began in 1996 and currently has 25 employees. They specialize in water, sewer, and gas utility construction as well as all types of concrete work.

His parents taught him he could do whatever he set his mind to do. “Can’t never could,” they said. Jeff Patterson’s “can do” determination propelled him to a state championship in track and field in high school, a successful business, a great family, and in 2008, into the office of 2nd District County Supervisor in Alcorn County.

While he is relatively new to the job, Patterson has accomplished a lot in a short period of time. He has replaced $40,000 worth of culverts, and he is working on the third new bridge in his district. The old wooden bridge could not safely hold more than 6,000 pounds. Because of this, school children are riding an extra 2.5 hours each day to get to and from school. The new bridge will also provide access to the area by emergency vehicles. All are costly projects, but Patterson found a way.

He has purchased land for new headquarters and released bids for a new shop building. He purchased a mobile home from government surplus that was left over from Katrina to use as offices. He did all these things because “can’t never could,” and he did these things for the people in his district.

“It’s not about me, or any elected official,” said Patterson. “It’s about what we need to be doing for the people.” Patterson believes in a little government, but an effective government. But doing the right thing is not always easy. “I haven’t always done the most popular thing, but I think I always did what needed to be done. When this country got started, there were a lot of good men in government working to protect the health and welfare of the people, and that’s my job; that’s what I am here to do.”

Doing the right thing also involves Mississippi 811. Patterson believes in damage prevention and not only uses the 811 service, but promotes the benefits to others and attends the local Damage Prevention Coordinating Council meetings. He learned the real value of damage prevention not long after he took office.

About three months after he became supervisor, a lady told Patterson that she saw a hole in the road near her house on the way to the county meeting that night. After the meeting, Patterson went to investigate and found a large, rusted culvert about ready to collapse. It needed immediate attention and he secured the area for the night.

Early the next morning Patterson hesitated about calling 811 because there was only two feet of earth between the road and the headwall of the culvert. Not enough he surmised to contain any buried utilities. But to be on the safe side, he made an emergency locate request. When the notified utilities arrived to mark their lines, they located a phone cable, a three-inch, pressurized sewer line and a six-inch water line all in the same small space.

“That taught me a lesson,” said Patterson. “Common sense told me there was not enough room for utilities, but I’m glad I didn’t listen. If I had damaged that sewer line, and it contaminated the water, the people in my district would have been in serious trouble. I would have been in serious trouble!”

There are approximately 150 miles of roads in Patterson’s district. That translates to 300 miles of road ditches. “Your road ditch is the most important part of the road,” Patterson said. “If you keep the water off the road, it’s going to last longer, so we spend a lot of time maintaining the ditches.” This routine maintenance most often puts buried facilities in conflict with the work.

“Actually, the worst place to put a utility line in is the ditch,” said Patterson. “But we have a lot of roadways that have been here for many years, and most of the time, we have no way of knowing what’s in the ditch or what’s in the easement.” So Patterson calls Mississippi 811 before he begins any work, and he does it for the people in his district. “I don’t want to see them without water, gas, or phone service because of something I neglected to do. Once again, my role is to protect the health and welfare of the people in this district.”

Patterson, however, suggested that a set of standards or guidelines establishing a certain depth for buried utilities would help protect them.

Patterson campaigned for the job with a goal of preparing the county for the future. “When I leave this office, I want this district to be ready for whatever comes our way,” he said. “And who knows what that might be, but I want us to be ready. I believe we have the right personnel. Providing them with the right tools and developing the proper plan for success are critical elements in being prepared.”

When asked what he would like the people in Alcorn County to say about him at the end of his tenure, he paused for a moment and replied with a smile, “That I treated everybody fairly, and that I did the best I could do. Even if they couldn’t agree with my position, I would like for them to be able to say that Jeff Patterson is a fine Christian man.”

The superintendent stated, “The corporate office believes we’re hiring the wrong person because our accident rate is so high on this job!”

The prevailing notion, at one time, was to hire the “safe personality type.” That notion has died a slow death. Today, the focus is on the impact that leadership has upon the safety climate. Research shows that leadership plays a crucial role in creating a workplace environment that promotes safety, thereby reducing accident rates as summarized in the illustration below.

Fortunately, leaders can learn the characteristics which are attributed to creating a safe work environment. Listed below are behavioral examples of two different leadership styles. Which one do you think is more apt to have a higher rate of safety incidents?

Leader A: Instills pride in me for working safely, acts in ways to promote safety, displays a sense of confidence that we can work safely and goes beyond self-interest for the safety of the team.

Leader B: Focuses attention on irregularities, mistakes, and deviation from the safety standards; concentrates full attention on dealing with mistakes, complaints, and other safety failures; directs my attention toward failing to meet safety standards, and is absent when needed to work on safety issues.

Your choice is correct if you chose Leader A. There are more leadership behaviors than we have space to list in this article, but you get the point.

The bad news: In spite of knowing the importance of being the Leader A type, there is research showing that many supervisors cling to Leader B behaviors. And the bad news gets worse. Ed Lawler, a management guru, reports that only about 5% of the leaders implement the best practices after learning about them.

The good news: You can be in that 5% group if you approach leadership development systemically. By that I mean training. Telling employees or displaying signs is not going to result in a behavior change. At best, only about 10% of the leadership training automatically transfers to the workplace. That is the reason best selling authors (e.g., Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence) state that billions of training dollars are wasted every year.

The better news: That percentage can be increased markedly when you approach leadership development from a systems approach. The advantage of the systems approach is the ease of holding the change process accountable. I’ve underlined accountability to highlight the fact that the lack of accountability is usually the weakest link in the change chain.

A very basic change system includes the following: (1) Define the desired leadership behaviors, which become performance standards, to achieve a safe work environment. (2) Discuss the importance of safety at the beginning of every team meeting. (3) Cite examples of safety at work at every team meeting. (4) Communicate success throughout the organization. (5) Implement leadership accountability.

The traditional thought is that leadership accountability is quantified through the number of “near misses” and “reportable accidents.” Review the figure presented in this article again. Such measurements represent the end of the chain. If you want leaders to use the behaviors to create a safe work environment, you want to introduce a measurement process at the beginning of the chain to quantify the degree leaders are being effective. Yes, that can be done. Measuring leadership behavior gives you the opportunity to coach and help struggling leaders to become more effective. Now that’s a safety win for everyone!

To learn more, plan on attending Larry’s session on this subject at the MS 811 Summit, Tunica, MS, November 9 – 11, 2009.

Larry Cole, Ph.D., founded TeamMax�, Inc. and the TeamMax� methodologies to improve employee performance to maximize financial success. He is the author of People-$mart Leaders: Maximize People, Performance & Profits. Each year he speaks to thousands of people on personal development, change management and measuring behavioral change. He can be reached at: larry@aligningchange.com

by David Dow

SURFACE ENCUMBRANCES

These are described as telephone poles, trees, fire hydrants, street signs, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and similar objects adjacent to an excavation. They should be removed or supported to ensure their stability and safeguard employees.

UNDERGROUND INSTALLATIONS

These include underground utilities such as sewer, gas, water, telephone and electric lines. Utility companies must be contacted within established or customary local lead times, advised of the proposed work, and asked to establish the location of the utilities prior to the start of actual excavation. All underground utilities must be protected, supported, or removed to protect workers.

ACCESS & EGRESS

These are just fancy words for getting in or out of an excavation. Trenches and excavations deeper than four feet require a means of access and egress. Each worker must be within 25 feet of a ladder, ramp or stair. The means of access and egress must be within a protected area.

FALLING LOADS

Workers are not permitted underneath overhead loads. In addition, employees must stand away from equipment being loaded or unloaded from vehicles.

WARNING SYSTEMS FOR MOBILE EQUIPMENT

When equipment is operated near the edge of an excavation, and the operator does not have a clear and direct view of that edge, warning systems – such as barricades, spotters or stop logs – are required.

HAZARDOUS ATMOSPHERES

This section of the OSHA Standard is designed to protect workers from so-called “bad air.” Concerns include too little oxygen, too much oxygen, flammable gases such as methane and natural gas, and toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide or carbon monoxide. Testing and the use of ventilation equipment are two of the most common, and important, methods of addressing hazardous or potentially hazardous atmospheres.

WATER ACCUMULATION

Employees must not work in trenches or excavations where there is accumulated water, or where water is accumulating, unless adequate precautions are taken. If the excavation work interrupts the natural flow of surface water, then diversion ditches, dikes or other means may be required to keep water out.

ADJACENT STRUCTURES

The stability of sidewalks, streets, adjoining buildings, walls and other structures can be endangered by excavation operations. Specialized shoring systems, bracing, or underpinning may be required to ensure the stability of these structures and protect employees.

LOOSE SOIL OR ROCK

Spoils and equipment must be set back at least two feet from the edge of the trench or excavation.

INSPECTIONS

A properly trained and authorized “Competent Person” must inspect the excavation daily, prior to the start of work, as needed throughout the shift, after rainstorms, and following other hazard-increasing occurrences. The “Competent Person” must check adjacent areas, protective systems (before and during use), for indications of possible cave-ins, and hazardous or potentially hazardous conditions.

VEHICULAR TRAFFIC

Workers exposed to traffic must be provided with, and must wear, warning vests or other highly visible garments. Signs, signals, barricades and/or flagmen may also be required.

FALL PROTECTION

Walkways with standard guardrails are required when employees or equipment cross over excavations. Wells, pits, shafts, etc., must be barricaded or covered. Paying close attention to each of these important potential dangerous circumstances will help insure worker safety, as well as help contractors and utilities “stay legal” with OSHA.

Editor’s Note: This is the second of four articles in this series that discusses specific steps that contractors and utilities can take to help insure the safety of their personnel. Obviously, this is an overview of the subject. It is impossible to properly cover the topic in just four relatively short articles. Contractors and utilities involved in underground work will need additional training to insure worker safety.

David V. Dow is co-founder and Vice-President of TrenchSafety and Supply, Inc. Learn more about his company at www.trenchsafety.com.