Why Utilities Need a Reality Check on Safety-First Leadership

Utilities are the backbone of national infrastructure, keeping the lights on, the water flowing, and the internet connected. But that’s not all - utility service providers are also the first to take action when there’s an outage. Frontline workers ensure that water, electricity, natural gas, and sewage services continue to operate, even in the face of disaster.

Unfortunately, natural climate disasters such as floods, cyclones, wildfires, and extreme storms are not only devastating communities but also increasing power outages. Between 1980 and 2024, the annual average of extreme weather events was 9.0. Over the past five years, that number has more than doubled, reaching 23.0 yearly occurrences.

These situations put both communities and the brave utility workers sent for disaster response at risk. The urgency for utilities to ensure a zero-incident industry culture is mounting. However, there are still gaps in safety procedures that need to be addressed to eliminate these incidents.

It’s time for utility leadership to crack down on safety risks and ensure frontline workers aren’t putting their lives at risk. As a former safety professional and now a CEO, I offer the following thoughts for other executives and leaders in the utility industry.

The Realities of Frontline Utility Work

Utilities is a high-hazard industry. The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI), using data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that between 2011 and 2023, contact with electricity was one of the leading causes of fatalities in the workplace, with an average of 150 workplace electrical fatalities occurring each year. That number has remained constant.

The ESFI also found there were 3,260 non-fatal electrical injuries involving days away from work in 2021 and 2022. And long-term injuries also cause devastation in workers' and their families’ lives.

Fatalities and injuries are commonly caused by working in hazardous conditions. For instance, even in routine electrical utility tasks, there’s always risk, from climbing transmission towers, working around live electrical lines, or conducting inspections in remote areas where immediate medical help isn’t available. And the risks are even higher in moments of disaster, when they’re racing against the clock to get the grid up and running again as quickly as possible.

Linemen and electrical technicians are just some of the frontline roles. Each one comes with its own set of risks and hazards, such as:

●     Falls (as many roles involve working on poles).

●     Being hit by an object, such as a moving vehicle, if a job site is by a busy road.

●     Extreme weather conditions.

One real-life example includes a lineman on a routine service call for a ‘no power meter’ issue. In this instance, the lineman inspected nearby transformers and discovered that an elbow connector had backed off the primary bushing and was floating loose inside the transformer.

The key risk here was electrocution if the component had become live during inspection. While this hazard was mitigated in this particular instance, the situation exposed a critical weakness in elbow installation procedures and inspection protocols, highlighting the electrocution risk for technicians in routine call-outs.

Another risk involves lone call-outs. While safety practices are often second nature, it’s not a guarantee that these are always completely followed or even 100% sufficient in certain instances, particularly after extreme weather events. 

Moreover, this specific risk is exacerbated by the addition of new recruits. While these fresh hires will receive safety training, certain steps may be overlooked in situations they haven’t been exposed to before. Additionally, there is the issue of overstretched crews. Even veteran ones, who are racing against tight deadlines, face such hurdles. These circumstances increase the likelihood of safety precautions being overlooked or slipping through the cracks.

The bottom line is that human error is always a possibility, and this must be accounted for in all call-outs. However, for inexperienced or overworked linemen and crews, these risks can sometimes be unavoidable.

Opportunities and Measures to Take

Excellent leadership is grounded in leading by example. It’s easy to say that accidents are caused by linemen not following safety protocols to the letter. However, the root causes of these errors include insufficient training, unclear instructions, inadequate supervision, and a workplace culture that fails to address these issues.

These concerns are exemplified when leadership takes a backseat approach to fortifying safety. Waiting for disaster to strike to reconfigure protocols leads to a ‘too little, too late’ situation. Additionally, a detached stance from what happens on the ground and what’s decided back at HQ fosters mistrust and resentment between frontline workers and supervisors, ultimately creating a hostile work environment. That, in turn, exacerbates stress levels, which pose a danger to overstretched crews.

Leaders need to take ownership of all aspects of providing a safe working environment by embedding comprehensive safety protocols from the top down. As one article points out, injuries are only one part of the puzzle. Every incident, minor or major, is a learning opportunity. And office-based management roles can’t be disconnected from frontline realities. Managers must be familiar with the frequent hazards encountered and the most appropriate response from a safety standpoint.

I know that it is painful for executives, but they should also undergo proper safety training so that they understand the risks of the utility workers in the field. Continuous skill development is essential for everyone, and it is particularly crucial for leaders to stay up-to-date on relevant safety skills, including communication management, hazard response, awareness of safety regulations and compliance, and emergency response planning. 

Leadership also sets the stage for how safety is resourced. Before any work begins, safety requirements should be explicitly outlined in Master Service Agreements and terms and conditions, ensuring they are properly budgeted and not treated as an afterthought. From there, it’s up to field teams to put those commitments into practice through proven measures, including:

●     Design for safety before executing fieldwork

●     Pre-job briefs

●     Job safety analyses

●     Field compliance audits

●     Training

●     PPE utilization

●     Two-way communication

●     Signage

●     Event reporting

●     Stop work authority

Additionally, new technologies and AI platforms are being widely adopted by utilities to strengthen grid response. However, for these tools to deliver real value, leaders must become fluent in their processes and operations. That fluency drives smoother adoption across the organization, helps leaders anticipate practical challenges, and sharpens decisions about resource planning and efficiency. Just as importantly, it gives executives visibility into how digital tools influence safety in the field, ensuring innovations support, rather than complicate, the daily realities of frontline crews.

Transparent Reporting Culture

Traditional reporting relies on crews filling and filing paper-based forms. Accurately logging that information can take significantly longer to process. In that time, more incidents and hazards can occur.

Field crews report on events like:

●     Accidents and injuries

●     Damage to job sites

●     Weather events

●     Equipment and safety gear used

●     Time spent on the particular job

●     Safety measures undertaken

With so much data to log and track, information that’s hugely valuable to inform future linework and safety measures can easily slip through the cracks. This means clearly reporting every measure undertaken and observation from a job is a priority from an operations and safety standpoint.

Leaders must champion transparent reporting and information sharing to strengthen central protocols, track their performance on the ground, and guide training and skill development.

Fostering an environment where field employees feel comfortable reporting near misses and incidents without fear of retribution is imperative to the program's success.

Regular Check-ins and Touch Points

Safety is as much a mental concern as it is a physical one. Emotions like stress cloud judgment and the ability to critically and clearly assess a given situation. This is when mistakes are easily made, such as forgetting to flag a key detail about a job site or failing to communicate an observation to crew companions.

Utility leaders need to have guardrails in place to support the well-being of their workers. This not only helps them flag potential threats to workers’ safety but also enables them to effectively allocate resources so crews aren’t under continuous stress and fatigue. It’s also an excellent way to monitor performance and identify where improvements to safety management can be made among individuals. 

Check-ins are an integral part of accountability and open communication, both of which are crucial to zero-incident safety management. It can enhance procedural clarity, which can ultimately save lives. 

The Bottom Line

With more than 37 years of experience in Environmental, Health, Safety, Sustainability, Security, and Operations, I have seen my fair share of accidents, most of which were avoidable had the appropriate leadership, processes, and safety culture been rooted in place. At the end of the day, safety in utilities isn’t about ticking boxes on a form; it’s about protecting the people who climb poles in the rain and repair transformers in the dark so that communities can continue their lives without interruption. Those crews aren’t just part of a system; they are the system. When leaders ensure that safety is built into every contract, every training program, and even the tools they choose to adopt, they’re not just following compliance; they’re making sure those workers return home safely. What do you think?