Have a 360 Degree Policy Before Your Employees Drive

A utility crew discovered a young boy in the wheel well of their truck while conducting a “Circle of Safety” walkaround. It is unthinkable what could have happened if they had gotten in the truck and drove off without doing the required walkaround inspection. By taking 30 seconds to walk around your vehicle looking for hidden and unseen hazards you can protect yourself, the municipality’s assets, and possibly another person’s life.

In the past 3 years Oklahoma municipalities have had 166 claims filed against them for damage to property or persons injured due to improper backing. It is the second most common claim filed against insured municipal vehicles. The sad fact is all of them could have been prevented if cities and towns had a policy and procedure to perform a 360-degree walkaround before getting in a vehicle and driving away. Just a few seconds of looking for potential hazards can prevent a backing accident or maybe save the life of a curious child.

The “Circle of Safety” procedure is a safe practice any driver can follow to ensure the area around their vehicle is safe before departing. Simply walk all the way around your vehicle and check the clearances to the side, in front, behind, and above. When backing into a parking space or work area, look for obstacles such as poles, other vehicles, drop-offs, and trash cans or buildings. Prior to departing, make sure to check if any pedestrians may have entered your path of travel. Whenever possible, back into a parking space or driveway to increase visibility when departing or pull through to a space that leaves your vehicle pointing out. If you must park the vehicle in a position that requires backing, leave the vehicle positioned to maximize visibility to the rear and critical areas adjacent to the vehicle. And finally, always check under your vehicle and around the wheel wells just in case a curious child has gotten stuck in there. This is no joke.  Each year in the United State, 2,400 children are backed over.

Understanding and Avoiding "Failure to Yield" Accidents

Right-of-way laws and regulations are in place to ensure cooperation among drivers and to assist in a smooth, safe flow of traffic on private and commercial roads. People who know, understand, and apply these rules in their driving tend to be more courteous and able to use common sense in dangerous traffic conditions.

Sadly, failing to yield to a person with the right-of-way is the number 1 cause of vehicular liability claims for Oklahoma municipalities insured by OMAG.

Defining Failure to Yield – When a driver, bicyclist, or pedestrian has the right-of-way, it simply means they have the right to proceed before another vehicle. We encounter situations every day in which we yield to vehicles with the right-of-way at four-way stops, intersections, stop signs, left turn lanes, crosswalks, yield signs, traffic circles, and more. Failure to yield is when a driver does not allow a vehicle with the right-of-way to proceed and this sometimes results in an accident.

If a driver fails to yield to you when you have the right-of-way, you should do everything in your power to avoid a collision. You can prevent failure to yield accidents and exercise proper caution by knowing the traffic laws, staying alert to your surroundings, and practicing courteous driving even when others make a mistake.

Ways to Prevent Failure-to-Yield Accidents – The best way to avoid causing or falling victim to a failure-to-yield accident is to know the laws and do your part to prevent them. You can stay out of harm’s way by:

• Slowing down – this gives you more time to react to someone failing to yield. Reduce your speed when approaching an intersection, crosswalk, or yield sign.

• Check the intersection before entering – even when you have the right-of-way, look before you enter because you can’t always trust other drivers to yield to you.

• Drive defensively – be aware of the cars in front of you, behind you, to the sides, and even the vehicles in the immediate vicinity on other roads. If you are keeping an eye on other drivers, you can spot the ones that aren’t driving safely and actively avoid them.

• Don’t run red or yellow lights – when approaching an intersection always slow down and cover your brake; avoid being tempted to accelerate and run through an intersection when the light turns yellow.

• Allow the intersection to clear before entering when the light turns green – many times vehicles will be turning left still or running through a yellow light, so don’t be tempted to jackrabbit out into the intersection as soon as you get a green light.

• Eliminate all distractions while driving – leave your cell phone alone, turn down the music, and stay focused on your driving responsibilities.

Driving is a very dangerous and complex activity. When you are behind the wheel you are responsible for not only your safety, but the safety of everybody else. Stay alert and focused on this very necessary but often taken for granted skill – it  could be what keeps you or someone else alive.

Eleven Steps to a Healthy Sanitary Sewer Collection System

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”- Benjamin Franklin. For far too long we in Oklahoma have been ignoring our sanitary sewer systems. Just like our personal health, if we do not practice a proactive approach to maintaining our aging systems, we will encounter costly consequences to our sewer systems sooner or later. If we take measures to maintain our sewers, we can minimize costly repairs and rehabilitations. It is time to stop putting “band aids” on our sewer lines and get them in shape. Here are 11 steps to help you get started on your sanitary sewer line maintenance program.

1. Use Global Information System (GIS) mapping to understand your system. An effective sewer maintenance program revolves around knowing the location of all infrastructure, pipe sizes, length and depth of lines, types of pipe and materials used in manholes. Accurate GIS mapping can help track completed rehabilitation and replacement work, but it begins with identifying exactly where manholes and lamp holes are located.

2. Inspect manholes on a schedule. Depending on the size of your system and staff availability, this may be once a year or every other year. Inspecting manholes will alert you to issues such as excessive debris and blockages, structural issues, and inflow and infiltration sources. Keep records using manhole inspection forms to track maintenance and rehabilitation needs.

3. Perform Draw Down Tests if you have lift stations. The test verifies proper pump performance and should be conducted annually at every lift station to identify issues with floats, isolate excessive grease, and confirm check valves are functional. You might want to check the Air Relief pits to make sure the ball valves are operating efficiently while you are doing the tests.

4. Verify your municipality has an ordinance requiring grease traps at businesses. Restaurants, gas stations, car washes, and other businesses that discharge fats, oils, and grease (FOG) should install a grease trap to avoid clogging the sewer system. Perform random inspections to ensure proper installation and maintenance of grease traps.

5. Do construction observations on sanitary sewer installations for new developments. Sanitary sewers that are not properly bedded are a major problem that leads to further problems for the municipality down the road. Offset frames and covers, chimney damage, and broken pipe are just a few problems resulting from improper new construction. Make sure your sewer mains are identified prior to trenching, drilling, or boring projects to avoid conflicts with your system. Before a developer passes new infrastructure on to the municipality, make sure to perform mandrel testing on sewer mains, and vacuum tests on manholes to confirm proper construction. Also conduct a warranty inspection prior to the warranty expiration to verify whether issues with materials or workmanship have developed during the warranty period.

6. Establish a routine cleaning and jetting program on sewer mains. This process will remove debris buildup and attached deposits to ensure your system is flowing properly and capacity is not being compromised. Jetting and cleaning at least 30% of your system annually so that all lines have been cleaned on a 3-year rotational basis will save a lot of headaches down the road.

7. Perform closed circuit television (CCTV) inspections. After cleaning and jetting, conduct CCTV inspections of the sewer mains to identify leaks or defects in the pipe system.

8. Conduct sump pump inspections. These residential inspections will identify connections to the sewer system. Have an ordinance prohibiting illicit sump pump connections.

9. Perform smoke testing. Smoke testing is a quick and efficient method for detecting storm water connections, roof drain connections, or defective sewer laterals, all of which are contributors to inflow & infiltration (I&I).

10. Conduct wet weather inspections. These can provide valuable information on how precipitation and groundwater conditions affect the flow in your system. Manholes may appear in good condition when it is dry, but they may exhibit leaking joints, missing mortar, and in-flow lid leaks in low-lying areas during wet-weather inspections.

11. Prepare an Operations & Maintenance (O&M) Manual for your sanitary sewer system. An O&M Manual will contain information on your maintenance schedules, identify how to report sanitary sewer overflows, have an emergency contact list, and spell out inspection procedures which can be helpful when training new sewer staff.  It provides invaluable references for both sewer maintenance workers and administrators when it comes time to budget for repairs, rehabs, and rebuilds.

It is time to stop wasting your time “putting out fires” on all the repairs required due to past negligence.  Maintaining a sewer system takes time and commitment, but just like eating right and exercising helps keep a heart healthy, performing sanitary sewer maintenance regularly will greatly improve the health of your sewer system. And we all know preventing a problem saves time and costs less than fixing it after an SSO event happens.

5 Defensive Driving Strategies

In the past decade road rage incidents have increased in the USA by 600%. People are getting downright nasty on America’s roadways. We all make mistakes while driving and we can’t control what other people do on the roadway. However, we can control what we do on the roadway. Let’s look at 5 Defensive Driving strategies to stay safe while driving, and perhaps keep from losing our cool and raging on somebody.

1. Space Management – Be aware of what’s going on all around you: What’s in front of you, behind you, to the sides of you, above you, and under you. Keep your eyes moving looking a block or two ahead of you and looking in your side and rearview mirrors. Notice low hanging branches or signs, bumps and potholes, and traffic coming up to intersections from other streets. See and make mental notes of potential hazards.

2. Situational Awareness – Identify potential hazards and formulate a plan to deal with them should a situation arise. Since you have managed the space around your vehicle you should be able to see potential hazards and can make decisions to keep you from becoming involved in an accident. Things like changing lanes, slowing down or turning down another street can help you avoid the hazard. Staying focused on your driving situation can save your life or the lives of others.

3. Mapping & Tracking at Intersections – Looking at other vehicles’ situations while sitting at or approaching an intersection can protect you and others from having to deal with a traffic accident in an intersection. Notice turning lanes, sidewalk crossings, pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, people distracted by phones or passenger conversations. Give yourself extra space between you and the car in front of you by stopping where you can completely see their tires touching the pavement. Wait a few seconds when the light changes and give the opportunity for the intersection to clear before entering it. Proceed slowly with your eyes scanning for potential danger, like a child running out into the street or a car in the wrong lane deciding to make a left turn. Again, focus on your driving and making plans for the unexpected.

4. Parking – Where should you park and how do you park? Avoid parking close to stores and building entrances, as there is usually too much going on there with vehicles, pedestrians, loading and unloading, and cars vying for that closest parking spot. Instead, park away from entrances and walk in: it’s safer for you and your vehicle. Avoid parking next to someone that has parked crooked and made a tighter space for your vehicle. Use pull through parking if you can so that your first move out of the parking space when leaving is forward. If you can’t pull through into a space, consider taking the time to back into a space, again so your first movement when leaving is forward. Backing into a space when you are not in a hurry makes it much easier to leave when heading out on a call or just being in a hurry to get home.

5. Attitude – “Check yourself, before you wreck yourself,” is a good way to prepare yourself for the responsibility of driving before you take off. When you get behind the wheel of a vehicle you are in charge and totally responsible for your attitude, actions, and what is going on with your vehicle and in your vehicle. Get your emotions in control. Know your vehicle is in good working order, make sure you and your passengers are buckled up properly, and control unruly children or mischievous adults while your vehicle is stopped. That vehicle is a weapon that can kill you and/or others in just a moment of distraction. Take the job of driving seriously.

Municipal Government Microsoft 365 Emails Getting "Hacked"

Oklahoma municipalities and municipal partners are actively getting “hacked” within the past 24 hours. You might receive an email with a suspicious link.

An email, often purporting to be from someone you trust, will arrive in your inbox with the following:

Clicking on the “View Doc” image will take you to the following web page (don’t do it, but just for your own edification):

Trying to “login” to any of those links will simply give your username and password to a hacker. Don’t do it.

What’s insidious about these emails are the complete lack of other tells, like poor grammar, unrecognized from addresses, and other easy to identify phishing hints. In fact, these are clever. They often have the user’s recognizable email signature. The email address is legitimate and is often trusted. We’ve seen a variety of cities, towns, and municipal partners sending out the same or similar emails. And, what’s more, all of these are utilizing Microsoft Office 365. The sample image above doesn’t do it justice. These are designed to be sneaky and fool you. The hackers are clever this time. Don’t fall for it.

Every one of these is most likely coming from a hacked user account. Someone, somewhere, is logging into city email accounts with compromised usernames and passwords and sending from Microsoft, which of course will always show as legitimate, these phishing emails to trusted partners and colleagues across the State of Oklahoma. This is a clever, coordinated attack and is reminiscent of other, similar attacks in other States over the past couple of years.

In cybersecurity we talk about the cyber “kill-chain”, the tools we can use to stop the progression of these attacks. Part of this is user education, in other words, this loss bulletin right here. But there are other steps your city or town needs to take. Simply using Microsoft’s Office 365 solution is not enough. If you re-use your password across multiple sites (and let’s be honest, most people do since dozens or hundreds of passwords are hard to remember), you must turn on multi-factor authentication. Sometimes this is something you can do for your own account within Microsoft.

Multi-factor authentication is when a system sends you a 6-digit code or requires that you “authorize” your login from an app. You probably already use this for your bank, and maybe even Facebook or Twitter. If you can you should always turn on multi-factor authentication, as it is one of the easiest ways to stop someone from using your password.

Watch the following video on how to activate Multi-factor authentication for your account. If you’re confused on the link to use, visit:

https://aka.ms/mfasetup

Here’s a link (which includes a helpful video!) to send to your IT staff or consultant that will instruct them on how to turn it on for all Microsoft staff:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/business-video/turn-on-mfa?view=o365-worldwide

Safety Awareness While Driving

Let’s face it, accidents happen, but many can be prevented if we are safety aware when behind the wheel of a vehicle. The cost of an accident can be “mind-blowing.” There’s the cost of vehicle repairs, injuries possibly deaths, costs of property repairs, and probable increases to your insurance premium. Safe driving and training drivers to be safe can go a long way to keeping you and your coworkers safe and your premiums in check. Here are 7 common vehicular accidents and tips on how to avoid them:

Rear-End Collisions - These are common auto insurance claims. Whether you are the driver who hits a vehicle in front of you or the driver who gets hit from behind, these accidents can often be avoided. Consider these tips:

Keep your distance. Drive far enough behind the car in front of you so you can safely stop; especially in inclement weather, give yourself plenty of reaction time.

Drive strategically. Avoid situations that could force you to suddenly use your brakes. Keep your head on a swivel looking for potential hazards.

Don’t be distracted. Keep your eyes on the road and watch your mirrors. Know what’s going on all around you. Avoid eating, drinking, grooming, or rocking out to your favorite tune on the radio. Do not text or even talk on the phone while driving. If the phone conversation is really that important, pull safely off the road.

Don’t drive while drowsy or under the influence. You are more likely to make driving errors when you are sleepy or impaired by alcohol or drugs (including over the counter cold/flu meds). Have someone else drive who is sober and alert.

Parked Car Damage - Parked cars being hit by other vehicles are another common claim. Whether you are leaving your car in a parking lot or on the curb, take steps to avoid having your parked car damaged by:

Going the distance. Don’t look for the closest spot in the busiest part of the parking lot. Instead select a space away from the crowd and heavy traffic. Park out where no one else is parking.

Maximize the space. Always park in the center of the spot. Reposition if your car is too close to one of the parking lines. Avoid taking two spaces.

Back into your parking space or pull through so your first movement when leaving is forward. Backing out of parking spaces is hard and dangerous. Vision is greatly limited when backing. On the other hand, when pulling forward to exit a space you can easily see any hazards in front of or to the side of you.

Use street-smarts when on-the-curb parking. Try not to park near busy intersections, tight turnarounds, hills, or driveways. Others may not see your vehicle and sideswipe it.

Single-Vehicle Accidents - running off the road, hitting road barriers, debris, animals, or trees. Pay attention to your surroundings, don’t drive too fast. These can help you avoid a single-vehicle accident:

Drive right for the weather. Even if you’re the only vehicle on the road during rainy, icy, snowy days, drive at speeds that allow you to maintain control. Know how to avoid hydroplaning on flooded roads. Don’t drive into flooded roadways. Take time to refresh your winter driving knowledge and skills before inclement weather season begins.

Always pay attention. Don’t talk on the phone or text while driving especially in inclement weather. Turn off the radio and don’t eat or drink. Stay completely focused on your driving and don’t get complacent when the weather makes driving hazardous. Be cautious of wildlife especially early in the morning or in the evening.

Don’t drive too fast. Speeding has been a factor in approximately one-third of all motor vehicle fatalities for the past two decades. Even if you’re on an isolated roadway, keep to the speed limit.

Windshield Damage - Chips and cracks in vehicle windshields are a common auto claim that most drivers don’t realize they can help prevent. Most windshield damage happens when rocks are thrown up in the air by other vehicles. Avoid this damage by maintaining a safe distance from other cars and trucks. Stay back from snowplows and dump trucks. Stop well back of a railroad crossing barrier when stopped for trains.

Crashes at Intersections - Intersections are another place where accidents frequently happen. Distracted drivers may miss traffic signals or attempt to speed through a yellow light, or they don’t notice vehicles pausing before making turns. Practice defensive driving to avoid accidents. Allow a few seconds after the light turns green before entering an intersection. Watch out for drivers speeding through a yellow light. When you are approaching an intersection with a yellow light, stop. Be cautious rather than take a chance.

Parked vehicle theft - No matter where you park your car, there is always a chance of a break-in.

Never leave valuables in your car. Having them in view is an invitation for crooks. Take expensive things with you or store them in your trunk or glove compartment.

Never park in a dark location. Find spaces in well-lit areas. Plan ahead if you are going to leave your car parked after sunset.

Don’t leave your vehicle running or the keys in the ignition if you’re just going to “pop into a store for just a moment.” Always turn off the vehicle, take the keys, and lock the doors. Don’t make it easy for the bad guys.

Backing Collisions - Whether backing out of your driveway or out of a parking space, backing collisions are the most common type of vehicular accident. The best thing you can do to avoid backing accidents is to avoid having to back up in the first place. When possible park in a way you don’t have to back up into traffic, such as pulling through or backing into a parking space. Use your mirrors, keeping your head on swivel checking all mirrors and blind spots while backing. Back up slowly. If you have a backup camera use that too, but don’t totally rely on the camera - use those mirrors.

Some other suggestions to prevent backing accidents:

Walk around your vehicle before you even get in to identify hazards that you could back into like buildings, signs, trashcans, other cars, or people.

Back out using the shortest, most direct route possible.

Reverse in a straight line, turning only when clear of parked cars or other obstructions.

Back up slowly, while constantly looking for traffic behind you.

Use your mirrors and brake until you are completely out of the parking space and moving forward into traffic.

Never do anything distracting while backing, like talking on the phone, searching for something, or dialing the radio.

OMAG has a partnership with OSU-OKC’s Precision Driving School. They provide both in-class instruction and a hands-on driving course for your employees who frequently drive as part of their jobs. OMAG pays for your employees to attend these courses. There are courses for Law Enforcement, EMT, Fire, and Public Works. If you would like more information about how to sign up for the Precision Driving program, contact OMAG Risk Management Services at (800) 234-9461.

Hierarchy of Safety Controls

The hierarchy of control involves the following steps: Elimination – removes the cause of danger completely. Substitution – controls the hazard by replacing it with a less risky way to achieve the same outcome. Engineering Controls protect workers by removing hazardous conditions or by placing a barrier between the worker and the hazard. Administrative Controls are fairly simple: warning alarms, for example, are just that – alarms that let you know when something isn’t right. The last control is PPE, Personal Protective Equipment, which really is exactly what the name implies: protection you use personally.

Elimination, the top of the hierarchy, is the complete elimination of a hazard, the most effective way to protect workers. For example, bad housekeeping. The best practice would be to eliminate the hazard by picking up or moving what’s in the walking path to prevent a slip, trip or fall. Establish travel paths or walkways through work areas. The concept of elimination isn’t as simple as it sounds. If elimination fixed every hazard, everyone would be doing it. However, if elimination is on the table and is available to an employer, they should use elimination for taking care of the hazard. If elimination doesn’t work, you move on down to the substitution.

Substitution identifies a hazardous situation and uses a different product or piece of equipment that is not hazardous. An example would be, instead of sandblasting, use a non-silica containing abrasive material. The downfalls of substitution are the quality and cost, such as replacing lead-based paint with titanium white. The product must not produce unintended consequences, such as airborne dust, due to inhalation and accumulation of particles in the lungs that can lead to occupational lung disease. Basically, if you can substitute a smaller product with a larger product, that has a larger particle, then that should be your aim.

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Engineering controls are designed to get as close to eliminating the hazard as possible, without eliminating it completely. This is done by designing something in the facility or a piece of equipment to reduce the hazard or employee’s exposure to the hazard. The design must be used properly and be certified by ANSI. A glove box for handling hazardous material and chemicals is an example of isolation and engineering control. The box allows the employee to do the work while not being exposed to the material/chemical due to the material being in the box. Engineering controls don’t work out for everyone, they must be used perfectly if used. Engineering controls are the best option when the hazard cannot be eliminated.

Administrative controls (written policies & procedures) are at the point where you identify the hazard and recognize the hazard as one that can be tolerated or lived with as long as there are boundaries and precautions in place, so levels of exposure are not exceeded. Administrative controls can be used in conjunction with engineering controls or PPE such as planning the day job in the evening time in the summer due to heat stress and dehydration of workers.

Finally, PPE. Of all of the controls in the Hierarchy of Controls, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is the one most people are familiar with.  Why?  Well, PPE is quick, easy, often less expensive than other options, and readily available. You should know that PIOSH and OSHA consider PPE a “last resort.” So while a personal fall arrest system is considered PPE, a guardrail is not. While a respirator is considered PPE, ventilation is not. PPE includes material that must be worn on a job site such as earplugs, gloves, hard hats, safety glasses, steel toe boots, or reflective vests. PPE is not a game of guesswork. You must know what PPE is sufficient and insufficient such as earplugs rated for noise reduction. There must be a noise survey done to determine what kind of earplugs will reduce the noise to acceptable levels. PPE must be taken care of and used properly. A full-body harness could save your life, but also could cause serious internal bodily harm if it’s not worn properly.

In a nutshell, take your time and observe the areas around you. If you see a hazard go through the steps of the hierarchy of control to see which level will best suit the hazard to prevent the worker from getting injured. Safety is common sense and we can learn to manage hazards better by using the hierarchy of controls.

Know the Facts About Hardhats

Recently I received a call from a municipal safety coordinator about whether to change their policy and procedures to allow workers to wear bump caps rather than hard hats. Upon researching the issue, I recommended the municipality keep their current policy and procedures regarding hard hats for several reasons. They are safer, less hassle for supervisors and safety personnel to manage, they are cheaper, and they can be just as comfortable for the wearer if you purchase high quality equipment. If your municipality is having a debate about this issue and you would like a recommendation from OMAG’s Risk Management Services, just give us a call.

Here are the basic facts about hardhat safety. In just about any given year more than one thousand workers are killed in the US from head injuries sustained on the job. Workers complain that hardhats are hot and uncomfortable to wear. They state they “have never been hit by anything while doing their job, therefore wearing a hard hat is dumb.” They complain that wearing a hardhat makes them look silly so they don’t wear it. Regardless, employers must ensure their workers wear head protection if they are at risk of being struck by falling objects, bumping their heads on fixed objects, or encountering electrical hazards.

OSHA states that hardhats must: resist penetration by objects, absorb shock from a blow to the head by an object, be slow to burn, and be water-resistant. All hardhats must have a label inside the shell listing the manufacturer, ANSI designation, and class of the hat.

Hardhats must feature a hard outer shell and a lining that absorbs shock and incorporates a headband. Straps should suspend from the shell about 1 inch to 1 ¼ inches away from the worker’s head. Hard hats must meet ANSI standard requirements. Workers must wear the proper type for their job task. The classes for OSHA approved hardhats are as follows:

Class G – General Helmet - provide protection against impact and object penetration. Their voltage protection is limited to 2,200 volts.

Class E – Electrical Helmet - delivers the most protection against electrical hazards (up to 20,000 volts). They protect against impact and penetration hazards form falling objects or objects flying through the air.

Class C – Conductive Helmet - for lightweight impact protection and offers more comfort, however OSHA points out that these offer no protection against electrical hazards.

The “bump cap” is intended for workers in areas that have low head clearance. OSHA states they are not designed to protect against falling/flying objects and have no electrical hazard protection. Bump caps are not ANSI approved. Since most public works jobs require protection from potential falling/flying objects and some require electrical hazard protection, it would not be a best risk management practice to allow workers to wear bump caps.

Finally, OSHA offers some tips for caring for hardhats:

• Clean and inspect hardhats daily. Replace hardhats with cracks, perforations, or other deformities immediately.

• Know that some paints, paint thinners, and some cleaning agents can weaken a hardhat’s shell as well as reduce its electrical resistance.

• Do not apply labels or drill holes into the hardhat – doing so can damage its protective capabilities.

• Keep your hardhat out of direct sunlight when not in use. Sunlight and extreme heat can damage a hardhat and make it ineffective protection against object impact.

The bottom line is employers and supervisors must be sure to have written policies and procedures as to when hardhats are required for a job. You must manage workers and make sure they are following proper procedures and wearing hardhats. Finally, you should purchase the approved type of hardhat for the job, making sure it is approved by ANSI and is quality equipment.

Maximizing Jetter Hose Life

How long will a typical sewer line jetter hose last? That is about as easy to answer as trying to estimate when a jetter’s pump will break down.

A hose is a consumable; it’s not going to last forever. There is no hard-fast rule for how long a hose will last. Hoses are subjected to a harsh environment. Operators often don’t know what they are getting into, and can destroy a hose the first time they put it into a pipe.  On the other hand, there are some simple and relatively inexpensive things you can do to prolong the life of your hose. First and foremost – shield your hose from sharp edges on things like manhole covers, corrugated pipe or broken pipes using a protective sleeve, generally known in the industry as a tiger tail.

Every time you use a hose without a tiger tail, you run the risk of tearing the outer jacket of the hose. Once you get a nick in the outer jacket it reduces the hose’s effectiveness. Tiger tails come in various diameters and lengths. Each one includes a tie-off rope that workers attach to a fixed object near a friction point, like the edge of a broken pipe in the opening of a manhole trough. The tiger tail stays in one place while the jetter hose moves through it, unimpeded by sharp edges. Another useful tool is a manhole roller guide, which also protects the hose from sharp edges as it passes through the manhole opening. Some companies make manhole rollers for use both at street level and down inside the manhole where the hose enters the pipe at the trough.

Regularly cleaning hoses helps extend their life, so operators should wipe down a hose as it is being pulled back to the hose reel. Hoses can come into contact with damaging chemicals and waste gases. You don’t want residue from waste eating away at the hose. Having a clean hose also minimizes odors when storing in a closed space. Also, it is difficult to detect nicks and cuts on a hose that is grimy and dirty.

Another suggestion is for operators to use a leader hose, typically a 10-15 foot long rubber hose that attaches to the front end of the jetting hose at one end and the jetter nozzle at the other end. This hose is also called a sacrificial hose because it takes the brunt of the load as it goes through the pipe. Because it is rubber, a lead hose is more flexible than the thermoplastic-coated jetter hose, so it can make its way through bends in pipes easier. The leader hose is cheaper to replace than the jetter hose and you can afford to have 2-3 extras on hand in case you damage one in the field. Just grab a spare from the shop, unscrew the old one and screw on the new one and you’re up and running again. The leader hose also boosts jobsite safety. When operators see one emerge from the line they know the end of the hose will follow shortly, alerting them to power down the pump.

Finally, another way to increase the life of your hose is to regularly inspect every inch of the hose for nicks and cuts. It is suggested that you perform an inspection at the start or end of a job, or even both. Some supervisors have their crew take the hose completely off the hose reel every week laying it out in the parking lot for a thorough inspection. If a worker finds a defect, they tag it out and the hose gets repaired or replaced. This is very time consuming but may well be the most valuable half-hour that the operators spend each week. There is a lot at stake when a hose goes. The braid on a jetter hose is like a suspension bridge; when the strands starts to break away, eventually the bridge is going to fail.

It is understandable that operators may not want to take the time to inspect their equipment and especially the hose. This inspection can help prevent costly damage and terrible accidents though. Also note that hose repairs can not be done with a hose clamp and duct tape. There is no way that’s going to hold back water at 3,000 psi. Take the time to inspect and be safe.

OMAG has a grant for Sewer Maintenance Equipment. To learn more about this grant go to www.omag.org, click on “free services” then “grants and scholarships” and look for Sewer Maintenance Equipment Grant.

July 2021 Risk and Safety Newsletter