

Customer
AEP
Location
Virginia
Highlights
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Injury Averted by Situational Awareness in Dense Terrain
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Immediate Escalation and Hazard Marking Protected the Team
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Field Practices Updated to Include Vegetation Risk Sweeps
Hidden in Plain Sight: How Quick Thinking Prevented Injury During a Fiber Pull Operation
The Challenge
The Solution
- Maintained Situational Awareness Observed the depression in time and halted his step mid-motion.
- Escalated the Hazard Immediately Alerted the rest of the team to avoid the area and marked the hazard clearly for visibility.
- Recommended Path Inspection Going Forward Initiated discussion with the site lead to incorporate clearing or inspecting fiber pull paths during job setup and task briefings.
Key Benefits
- Injury Prevention: What could have been a serious incident was avoided due to alertness and timely reaction.
- Crew-Wide Hazard Awareness: By marking the hazard and communicating quickly, the team ensured everyone stayed safe.
- Improved Pre-Task Planning: Reinforced the importance of scouting and clearing work paths—especially in vegetated or off-road areas.
- Demonstrated HPI in Action: Highlighted how human performance behaviors (situational awareness, peer communication) contribute to real-time risk mitigation.
The Results
- No injuries occurred.
- The hazard was neutralized by marking and flagging.
- The crew now incorporates visual sweep practices before fiber pulls in vegetated or off-road ROW areas.
- The event is being shared as a lesson in hidden hazard detection and reaction-based injury prevention.