From Bees to Bears:
Navigating Biological Hazards
Crews on the job face hazards day in and day out – it’s an expected part of the job. The Energy Wheel helps us understand these hazards and create controls on our job sites to protect us from the inevitability of something happening with that energy. One interesting spoke on The Energy Wheel is “Biological” hazards – anything that’s living on our job sites and could cause harm.
It’s all part of building capacity for failure. We’re lucky when, on occasion, those biological hazards make our days interesting, fun, and or even a little bit cute.
Dexter Allen had an interesting run-in with a bear cub on his job site in Salem, SC. Crews were working on the Jocassee Hydro Station for Duke Energy when a young black bear cub began exploring the area surrounding their truck.
Crews kept their distance while the little guy stuck around for about an hour.
And remember this encounter with a black bear in the mountains from 2023?
In Charleston, SC, Robert Williams and Drew Harrison received a unique work request. Their crew works with the Lighting Maintenance group, and were called out because honey bees had made a hive inside of two fiberglass lighting poles.
As it turned out, Robert is a honey bee hobbyist, and knew exactly what to do. He retrieved his bee suit and vacuum to safely remove and relocate the Bees.
Whatever critters we encounter on the job, Sumter’s approach to safety means we’ve built capacity for failure, so in the end the encounters are cute and entertaining stories, and not tragic incidents.