WORKER SAFETY
Safety of Lone Field Workers in the Urban Environment
Phil Reimer, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Safety Advisor
Phil Reimer is the Safety Advisor for the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District where he leads the safety programs for all departments. MMSD services 28 communities in a 411 square mile area and deploys workers throughout the area. Phil began his career at MMSD as a field worker in the role of Monitoring and Sampling Technician. He holds a B.S. from University Wisconsin – La Crosse and M.S. from UW-Milwaukee in Public Administration.
Editor’s Note: This article was elicited for TPG by Christine Lilek, CPG-10195 in response to the murder of 49-year-old hydrogeologist Ben Christianson, while he was on the job collecting soil samples, by a teenage man in Greenfield, a southwestern suburb of Milwaukee, WI.
https://fox6now.com/2019/08/28/its-pretty-sad-greenfield-pd-identifies-victim-of-random-fatal- stabbing-suspect-in-custody/ See also David Abbott’s column for more details and comments. Thank you, Christine and Phil.
substations and lift stations to make crucial preventative maintenance visits. We drive around their traffic signs and cones as they work on various infrastructure projects. When we take a step back to observe, it becomes clear our society depends on these lone workers.
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www.aipg.org
No supervisor or safety professional enjoys sending work- ers out into the field by themselves. We are taught to use the buddy system. Work in pairs. Use a spotter. However, whether it’s budget constraints or lack of qualified workers, it is not always feasible to send two people out into the field to do a job one person can perform. When we send workers out into an urban environment on their own, we are exposing them to endless possibilities of risk. Unfortunately, these include not only job-specific risks, but also potential harm from people in the location that a worker is assigned to.
he lone worker in the field is not confined to the great outdoors, wandering the forests, deserts, or savannahs. They exist right in our backyard. They are surveying future digging spots or taking soil samples. They are walking down our streets, delivering the mail, reading meters, and visiting
in the field. It is good practice to include safety into the regu- lar morning huddles when the supervisor meets with their employees to discuss the work of the day. Discuss the location they will be working in. Is it a safe neighborhood? Have there been problems there before? It is important to remember that even though a neighborhood may seem safe, or have a positive reputation, there is always a possibility of danger. To avoid allowing complacency to creep in during these conversations, seek out new material from professional resources. Utilize your safety professional or insurance carrier to recommend topics of discussion. Discuss current events or news stories that have the potential to impact the safety of your lone workers.
What is the task at hand? What are the hazards? How can the hazards be mitigated? Is there anything the employee needs that could possibly make their jobs safer? Completing a Job Hazard Analysis is an effective method for identifying and reducing hazards in a work environment. This is a popular tool for breaking down the tasks to be completed during the workday and framing it in the perspective of employee safety.
Communication from the field is another important tool to prevent unnecessary harm to workers. Employers must ensure that their workers have a means of communication.
When we send workers out into an urban environment on their own, we are exposing them to endless possibilities of risk. Unfortunately, these include not only job-specific risks, but also potential harm from people in the location that a worker is assigned to.
When our workers have to go into the ‘urban field’ alone, it is important for us as supervisors to take an active role in our employee’s health and safety. Good communication between the supervisor and employee are key to keeping workers safe
In addition to smart phones, many employers are turning to smart devices. These include a variety of apps, wearables,
Continued on p. 42
Jul.Aug.Sep 2020 • TPG 39
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