It’s no secret that Shree Engineering is a leader in quality manufacturing of feeder pillars, control panels, and enclosures. The engineering sectors that we work with have high standards for safety and quality, and we work hard to meet those standards. Our clients – primarily utilities – also understand that there are incentives for keeping their workers safe and healthy, as well as keeping their equipment and infrastructure in safe, effective working order. Our clients appreciate the best preventive safety measures available, and we provide them the best engineering solutions we can. That’s why we spend a lot of our time developing and implementing the safest and most effective system control and feed pillar standards possible.
But even with these efforts, safety incidents do sometimes occur. On the job, equipment, workers, and families can all be put at risk if these systems are not implemented properly. We have products that are certified by ISO, certifying that they meet specific safety, efficiency, and quality benchmarks. But what happens on a global scale when governments, regulators, and other interventions fall short? How can engineering companies like Shree Engineering emulate effective legal interventions to keep our clients’ employees and loved ones safe? Given that, a program called Kentucky’s Casey’s Law, an evidence based route to intervention, is of interest to both Shree Engineering and our client base.
Casey’s Law KY allows a family member or friend of an individual suffering from drug addiction to petition a judge for access to a drug treatment program. Casey’s Law is a civil procedure started in Kentucky in 2004 as a way to help those addicted to drugs. The individual suffering from addiction first undergoes an assessment from a specialist who then decides if he or she is clinically eligible for a drug treatment program. If determined appropriate, a judge must have the individual enter a drug treatment program, following the approved procedures for either inpatient or outpatient treatment. It is not a voluntary process, but rather a court ordered action regardless of the individual’s own opinion on the effectiveness of drug treatment.
Legal interventions such as these have parallels in the engineering and industrial sectors in that they provide the highest level of motivation for individuals to act. These goals are concrete and concrete is something that cannot be ignored. In the long-term, what is the result of Kentucky’s Casey’s Law is that those suffering from addiction get the treatment they need. The parallels between legal interventions such as Casey’s Law and engineering interventions are obvious; services, equipment, and standards must be implemented to the fullest degree possible to ensure the highest safety standards. They cannot be voluntarily ignored, but rather must be strongly encouraged and if necessary, enforced.
How can programs like Casey’s Law provide inspiration for engineering, industry and social interventions? Laws and regulations provide the strongest motivation for action possible, which is to say that without intervention, bad things will happen. This is something that cannot be ignored. For example, on an individual level, addiction becomes unmanageable when it goes untreated. On a larger level, manufacturers will never address the safety issues in utility systems and electrical enclosures without intervention from regulators. In both instances, however, positive enforcement leads to positive behavior.
It’s already happening in the industrial sector. For example, regulatory models affect everything from the way that engineers design systems, to the way that power is divided along interconnection points, to the way that utilities maintain their equipment. All of these can seem relatively abstract, but they do carry the force of law. Their goal isn’t to punitate, but rather motivate stakeholders to be as safe and effective as possible. In our case, we have invested in ISO certifications for our engineering practices. ISO certifications all have their own specific frameworks by which manufacturers and suppliers must abide. They affect everything from the supply chain to sourcing to the way that feasibility studies are executed.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to keeping people as physically safe as possible while providing the highest quality products possible. That’s why ISO certifications are so important to us. Those frameworks allow us to implement preventive measures against industrial accidents before they have a chance to cause harm to workers or damage to property. The more that we can make safety a priority, the more we can lend our voice to advocates for preventing industrial hazards before they occur.
In this, cases is the most effective method, which is something that advocates for intervention in other sectors can learn from. The most obvious method for implementing Casey’s Law for energy companies would be to produce a law that requires certain safety measures to be met in order for the system to pass inspection. That would be difficult as the interlocking components make it impossible for each system to have the same safeguards, however, what one might do is create a compelling argument for utilities to use energy equipment manufacturers that already adhere to the highest standards possible.
The most compelling argument, however, may perhaps be client testimonials. There are real-world examples of our clients reaping the benefits of efficiency and safety by using quality control panels and feeder pillars. In all cases, we are helping our engineering clients prevent and eliminate hazards before they have a chance to cause harms to their workers or damage to the infrastructure and communities they serve. The more that legal frameworks can provide the motivation for these preventative measures, the more we can keep our systems as safe as possible. It is this marriage of intervention and engineering that is, perhaps, the strongest model yet for achieving success. After all, the best case scenario means fewer workers and civilians end up owing their lives to utility companies. If you are an industrial client looking for proven and reliable means for achieving ISO certifications, contact us today.