The Powerful Impact of Apprentices

It's been a great summer so far. Beautiful weather, fun with family and friends, vacations, and Bar-B-Qs. There will be more to come. It is also a busy and exciting time of year. Some projects are coming to an end and others are just getting started, and we are just three weeks away from the start of the Wireman's and Lineman's school year. Starting September 8 and 9th, we will be returning to school in the evenings. On Monday, September 8th, freshmen and juniors will register and receive orientation, as well as the first night of school, and on Tuesday, September 9th, sophomores and seniors will register, receive orientation, and attend the first night of school.  Wiremen and linemen will attend registration and orientation together this year. Be sure to check your class discord channel regularly for announcements, the syllabus for the upcoming year, and school information. There have already been postings done and there are more to come. There is a separate channel for each year of each program, wiremen and linemen.    

This is also a great time to remind everyone of the incredible impact that apprentices can have on our safety culture. As apprentices you are required to be sponges and listen to instruction and training, follow instructions and learn the trade. There is so much to learn in four years and sometimes it can seem a little overwhelming. Always remember that if you are motivated and show it always, if you listen and demonstrate you want to learn and you demonstrate with your actions that you really want to be a qualified electrician, you will be successful. 

It is easy to fall into a mode of listening to instructions and just doing what you are told. At the same time you are also in school and actively learning about safety, the policies and procedures of the company and the reasons for those policies and procedures. As upper classmen ( Juniors and Seniors) you are learning about leadership, developing JHAs, being a competent person, and more.

In other words, all apprentices have the most recent exposure to safety policies and procedures, accident analysis, hazard recognition and mitigation than any of the employees. You need to apply that by using your stop work authority. When you see something that is not right, or you observe someone doing something they shouldn't be doing, or a process that is not right and not in alignment with our policies and procedures.......then say something. Talk about it. Make it a teaching and learning moment. You not only have that right, but you also have responsibility according to our policies. You can help all of us be better and have a real impact on our safety culture.   

Upper classmen, Juniors and Seniors,  help write JHAs, volunteer to do JHA briefings and safety meetings, ask if you can help with writing installation plans. Teach other apprentices. Be a leader and help both your supervisors and you to learn and improve. We are a team, and we can all help each other be safe, efficient and produce quality products.