May is National Electrical Safety Month, and for my team it's a reminder of something we live every single day: the work we do carries real risk, and taking that seriously is non-negotiable.
We operate across industrial facilities, chemical factories, food processing plants, grain elevators, grease refineries, and more, all environments where a moment of complacency can have serious consequences. Safety isn't a talking point on a poster in the break room. It's the first conversation we have before anyone touches a tool.
Whether we're pulling cable in a low voltage environment or working inside an electrical panel, every job starts with a Job Hazard Analysis, a JHA. That means looking at the task in front of you, assessing the environment around you, and identifying every risk before a single work order is opened.
For our teams working at height, that means lift inspections, proper harness tie-offs, and never taking shortcuts on fall protection. Housekeeping on the job site matters too, a cluttered floor is a hazard as much as any live wire.
On the electrical side, things go a step further. When one of our electricians earns their journeyman's license, we put them through NFPA 70E training, the industry standard for electrical safety. This is what qualifies someone as a 'qualified person,' meaning they've been trained to identify electrical hazards, verify that equipment is de-energized before touching it, and suit up in the proper PPE when the situation demands it. Our standard is simple: we don’t work on live electrical equipment.
One of the things I stress most to my teams, and I think it's the thing most people overlook, is that safety is a team responsibility. If you see a co-worker doing something unsafe, say something. Stop the work. Nobody on my crew is going to get in trouble for pumping the brakes when something doesn't look right. We will always find a better way to get it done.
A lot of people hesitate to speak up because they don't want to slow down the job or ruffle feathers. But I'd rather lose an hour on a schedule than make a phone call I never want to make. The goal of every job is the same: everyone goes home the same way they showed up.
There's a reason safety is so front of mind for us. The facilities we work in aren't climate-controlled offices. We have 40 electricians working a single grain facility, a plant so large you could fit several city blocks inside it. Some of our crews are in grain elevators. Some are in chemical plants. Some are in food processing facilities where there's constant movement of heavy machinery around them.
Working in those environments requires a level of awareness and discipline you can't fake. The general safety principles apply everywhere, JHAs, fall protection, and housekeeping, but the nuances of a specific environment demand that your people actually understand what they're walking into. That's why we invest in training, and that's why experience matters so much on our crews.
The NEC code that governs electrical work gets updated every three years, and our licensed electricians are required to complete continuing education hours, typically 8 to 12 depending on the state, just to keep their license current. On the low voltage side, certifications have their own renewal requirements. Safety credentials like CPR, first aid, and qualified person status also have to be maintained.
We pay for all of it. If someone on my team wants to train on a new technology, whether that's a new cable standard, a security platform, or something else entirely, we'll fund that training. The knowledge that comes back benefits the whole team.
This month, as the industry pauses to talk about electrical safety, I'd encourage anyone who works in or around electrical systems to revisit the fundamentals: do your JHA, verify before you touch, and look out for the people working next to you. The work matters. The people doing it matter more.