LABOR RESOURCES FOR UTILITY MANAGERS

• Systems-Based Hazards Analysis Integrates Human Factors

  “STAMP” out occupational hazards using the Systems Theoretic Accident Model and Processes approach.

• An Evergreen Process Hazard Analysis Will Help You

  Those who work in high hazard industries are familiar with the OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) standard requirements for Process Hazard Analyses (PHA) for their covered processes. These studies are required to be completed initially, then revalidated, typically on a five-year schedule. Good practice implemented at many companies is to follow a similar scheme for processes containing hazardous materials that are not covered by the standard.

• Safety Culture In The Workplace: How Generational Differences Present Challenges, Opportunities

  In this article, explore how you can create an effective safety culture in the workplace when you have a diverse employee base. 

• Service And Conservation Programs Can Lead To Infrastructure Careers

  Funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) is starting to flow across the country, accelerating thousands of transportation, water, energy, and other projects. But those are just the beginning of the $860 billion in investments over the coming years that will reach transportation departments, water utilities, and other infrastructure owners and operators at a state and local level.

• 3 Ways You Shouldn't Save On Maintenance Operating Costs

  No matter what industry you work in, you'll always be looking for ways to reduce your costs and keep maintenance as reasonably priced as possible. There's always so much you'll need to be paying for though, such as parts, labor, energy, vendor costs, and more. Of course, you'll be looking to keep those costs down.

• Protecting Personnel And Plant With Facility Siting

  Process industry history is sprinkled with catastrophic incidents that acted as drivers of regulatory change, such as the 1974 Flixborough explosion, the 1984 Bhopal toxic release disaster, and the 2005 Texas City Refinery flammable material release and explosion. Lack of process safety management, damage, and deaths were the commonalities among these incidents. The OSHA Process Safety Management (PSM) Standard and EPA Risk Management Plan (RMP) regulations were promulgated in response to these types of devastating accidents.

• WWEMA Window: Challenges For The Construction Market In The Water Industry

  I have been in the water industry since 1981 and have seen a few ups and downs in the economy that were created by fuel shortages, wars, labor shortages, inflation, etc. This is the first time I have seen the impacts on the economy that were caused by several of the aforementioned occurring all at once.

• Lean Techniques Can Help Improve Water and Wastewater Operations

  All the rage in the private sector, ‘lean’ principles — smoothing out processes to remove non-value-add parts — can also bring greater efficiency to utility operations.

• The Labor Shortage: Examining The What, Why, And How Behind An Ever-Growing Problem

  Dr. Rachel Sederberg didn’t mince words when describing the seriousness of the labor shortage in the United States. It’s long been a problem, and now it’s getting (much) worse. When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in February of 2020, there were 7 million job openings and 5.9 million unemployed people in the U.S. Two years into the pandemic, the statistics paint a dire picture of the workforce landscape as it stands presently.

• It’s Time To Put Water On The Main Stage

  During the pandemic, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) released the 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Of the 17 categories, three were dedicated to water. Drinking Water, Stormwater, and Wastewater received grades of C-, D, and D+, respectively. ASCE’s accompanying Failure to Act study summarized that by 2029, funding for the three combined categories needed to be $1.045 trillion. As a reminder, $611 billion is currently funded, leaving a gap of $434 billion. The recent Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) helped that gap a little more, with $55 billion in funding. Unfortunately, that still leaves a gap of $379 billion in additional funding needed by 2029.