In mid-March, Lewis Tree Service and our Duke Energy partners held a two-day training session for all Lewis utility line clearance employees working on Duke Energy Transmission in the Coastal area of Florida.
Day one was classroom-based training on the Lewis Total Safety Culture, Nine to Know, Nine More to Know, and DOT Pre-Post Inspection. In addition, Duke Energy’s Trevis McIntyre presented the Keys to Life and Cardinal Vegetation Rules.
The day two session for the Lewis and Duke Energy teams was held off a Duke Energy transmission right-of-way. This field-based training covered tree felling and utilizing the open-face notch. Bruce Shafter, Curtis Korabek, and Manuel “Manny” Zambrano from Lewis were the principals administering this training which began with a thorough Pre-job Hazard Survey (PJHS) followed by chainsaw training which rolled into tree felling where the Lewis craft workers participated and preformed the actual open-face notches and back cuts to fell the trees.
Vegetation managers from Duke Energy Transmission and Distribution attended, observed and participated in these training sessions.
Participants from Duke Energy included: Todd Fountain, Distribution Vegetation Manager II; Betsy Castro, Distribution Vegetation Manager I; Anthony Coody, Transmission Vegetation Manager; Trevis McIntyre, Transmission Vegetation Management Specialist; Ashley McDonald, Duke Energy Health & Safety as well as several others who were invited by our partners, Duke Energy.
Lewis representation included Marty Robinson, Area Manager; William “Danny” Carter, Supervisor; Juan M. Perez, Supervisor; Dennie Ruiz, Corporate Safety Specialist.
We're grateful to have a partner like Duke Energy willing to work hand-in-hand with us in our safety journey. Together, we will achieve our goal of zero lost-time incidents.