July 29, 1999. Saskatchewan, Canada. Curtis Weber, 17, working his third day at his first job outside his family’s grain bin business. The crew gathered under overhead power lines to discuss moving a steel hopper with their picker truck.
**๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ธ.** He said, “This is going to be an issue. We need to get this hopper over here and if we’re not careful somebody could be injured or killed.”
Fifteen minutes later, they made contact with that overhead line.
Curtis became the ground point as 14,400 volts surged through his body in three separate cycles. He suffered 3rd and 4th degree burns over 65% of his body and became a double amputee at age 17. Doctors gave him a 0% chance of survival.
**๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ’๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ธ๐ฒ:** This wasn’t a failure of hazard identification. They literally stood under the power line and discussed the risk.
**๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น.**
Curtis reflects: “We had a brief chat about the hazard but didn’t spend any time on how to control it.”
NFPA 70E Section 110.3(H) requires risk assessment procedures that don’t just identify hazardsโthey demand implementation of risk control according to the hierarchy of controls. Yet how often do we see JHAs that become paperwork exercises?
**๐’๐๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐น๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ:**
“Hazard: Overhead power lines”
“PPE: Hard hat, safety glasses”
“Proceed with caution”
**๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐’๐ ๐บ๐ถ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด?** The critical question: “What engineering or administrative controls will eliminate or reduce this risk?”
Proper controls might have included:
โข Requesting utility de-energization
โข Using non-conductive equipment
โข Establishing exclusion zones
โข Implementing a dedicated spotter system
**๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ต:** Identifying hazards without implementing controls is worse than doing no JHA at all, because it creates a false sense of security.
**๐ช๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐’๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐๐** we teach, from Amazon Web Services (AWS) to Exxon-Mobil to Salt River Project (SRP), as a sobering reminder that hazard identification without control implementation isn’t safety, it’s documentation theater.
Your JHA isn’t complete until you’ve answered: “How will we prevent this hazard from causing harm?” Not just “What’s the hazard?”
The difference between those two approaches? Sometimes it’s the difference between going home to your family and spending six weeks in a coma.
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๐ช๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ธ-๐๐ต๐ฒ-๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ฒ: ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐น
