Industry Report

May is National Electrical Safety Month

by Jeff Kunkel, EA Chair

Hello, friends. Happy Electrical Safety Awareness Month!

The construction industry is responsible for 21.2% of all workplace deaths and 10% of all workplace injuries (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics). While this is well known by those of us in construction, it is not anything we are proud of.

Who is most responsible for your on-the-job safety? This is a question we ask in our second-year apprenticeship program. Is the answer: 
(a) your company’s CEO
(b) OSHA
(c) the General Contractor
(d) YOU? 

Of course the answer YOU. While other entities may have an interest in keeping us safe, ultimately, we are each responsible for our own workplace safety. All the safety programming, training, and equipment in the world won’t matter a bit if YOU ignore it. 

Hopefully as contractors, we have developed in ourselves a commitment to personal safety. We all have things we want to come home to like family, friends, and hobbies. We also care about our employees and the other people we work with, so let’s commit this month to making sure that our attitudes toward safety are on display for others to see. 

Last week we had two days in a row where it topped 90 degrees here in the southern part of the state. As I write this article, the hard-fought-for green grass is wearing a thick white coat again. This reminds me that weather in Minnesota can also be a factor in safety. Frostbite can damage skin and high temperatures can lead to heat stroke. There aren’t a lot of other places where both dangers could occur in the same week!

I wish you all a profitable and safe summer. I have said it before, and I will continue to say it: “Work hard, but work safe.” 




Congratulations to the 2023 graduates who put in the time and dedication to make it through another year of EA's Apprentice Training Program! And thank you to the electrical contractors who are supporting their efforts on-the-job!