July 2010 Issue #1220

On The Job

• Summer Time Bids

  There’s some really positive energy brewing in the construction industry, and I’m seeing a lot of good bid opportunities throughout the country. Though this is typical of the summer bid season, I’m hoping it’s not just a seasonal fad and is more a solid indicator the construction industry is springing back to life.

• How Long?

  Knowing how long an arc flash could last is the most important piece of information in predicting its severity. The duration is usually dependent on how fast an upstream protective device will trip. The longer it takes, the greater the incident energy and resulting hazard.

• The Risk of ‘Good Enough’

  A disaster on the scale of the BP oil spill is unlikely to happen to the average electrical contractor and, therefore, provides little reason to perform catastrophe analysis. Even the experts know that the existing models are imperfect. After all, how can we predict the unpredictable?

• Threats and Predictions

  For most contracts, a contractor’s application for final payment must be accompanied by final waivers of lien and verified statements that all amounts due are accounted for. Where there are outstanding claims, the request for final payment becomes problematic.

• Job Hazard Analysis How-Tos

  Simply stated, a job hazard analysis (JHA) is an organized look at what could cause harm to employees in the workplace and work activities. It’s a way to determine if you have taken sufficient precautions to keep your people safe or if more needs to be done. It is important to decide if a hazard is significant and whether it has been dealt with appropriately so that the risk is acceptably low.