News
UAA Safety Committee Update 2016
By Will Nutter, Safety Committee Chair
This article was published in the May/June 2016 Utility Arborist Newsline. Will Nutter is President and COO of Wright Tree Service.
The safety committee is 32 members strong and still growing with excellent participation. After our meetings in Orlando, we restructured some committees and a commitment was made by UAA leadership to make safety a core value of every committee, and to incorporate safety into every meeting.
Our group took a serious look at how we were working with other committees and what we could do to make safety a core value for every UAA Member.
We currently start every meeting with a review and discussion of at least one chapter in the book, Safety 24/7 Building an Incident Free Culture. We review the chapter through open discussion with group question-and-answer dialogue.
The safety committee recently formed a subcommittee that works with the marketing committee to identify and market safety champions within our industry. We had our first joint meeting, established a process to gain feedback from other committees, and are developing a survey for members to help set direction.
The safety committee also formed a subgroup to identify metrics, which helps promote safety as a core value.
In addition, we are working with strategic allies and partners to promote safety as a core value. We have targeted Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA), ISA International, ISA chapters, Utility Line Clearance Coalition, equipment manufacturers, educators, and students.
Recently, the safety committee nominated one of our members, Jeff Racey, to represent UAA and provide a voice within the Z133 committee.
First Energy hosted the April Safety Summit on April 6th and 7th in Akron, Ohio; and the next Safety Summit is in Charlotte, NC on May 23rd–24th. The summit will return to the northeast in early 2017.
If you are not yet a member of a UAA committee, please consider joining one. All committees are looking for volunteers to help improve UAA.
To sign up, please contact Diona Neeser at [email protected]. Many hands make a lighter load.