Iraqi labors in northern governorate of Erbil receive ladder safety training. (Photos courtesy of PCO)

Iraqi personnel responsible for working on power pole lines receive appropriate training. (Photos courtesy of PCO)

Iraqi personnel responsible for working on power pole lines receive appropriate training. (Photos courtesy of PCO)

Baghdad, Iraq – While western construction companies have long recognized that employee safety is paramount to their success, the concept of a safe work environment is novel to most Iraqi crews. During Saddam’s reign, safety training was rare or virtually nonexistent and workers were unfamiliar with safety mainstays such as protective goggles, enclosed footwear, or hard hats.

Recently, in an effort to prevent work-related injuries at electricity project sites, Washington International, Inc. (WII), a contractor for the Project and Contracting Office’s (PCO) Electricity Sector, provided refresher safety training to Iraqi laborers. The training focused on numerous topics such as site safety, grounding, ladder safety and fall protection, knot tying, scaffold erection, inspecting for hazards, and inspecting fall-protection equipment. In addition to supplemental training, all work sites instituted daily and weekly safety meetings.

The WII commissioning engineers also presented a course on basic electrical safe-work practices, after which, Iraqi workers were required to pass an exam testing their safety knowledge levels.

According to WII, their Erbil pole-line workers gleaned positive results from recent refresher training and by the corrective actions taken by Iraqi superintendents and safety inspectors. The contractor reported that the 11-kilovolt crews working there are performing quality work in a safe manner, thereby avoiding on-the-job injuries.

“Safety in the workplace is definitely our top priority,” said Thomas Waters, Electricity Sector Deputy Program Manager and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civilian. “People are the most important asset we have. We want everyone to go home to their families at the end of the work day free from injury or harm.”

“The idea of having to wear closed-toed shoes instead of flip-flops on a work site is foreign to many Iraqi workers. They are not used to wearing hard hats at project sites, goggles when using a circular saw, protective eyewear when welding, or safety harnesses when working on scaffolding.

“All of these things might seem quite natural to a construction or electrical worker in the U.S., but here, these things have to be taught and then reinforced. That’s an important part of our job: to make sure our Iraqi associates are performing work in the safest manner possible,” said Waters. They can then take that knowledge with them to other jobs down the road. Maybe it will even save someone’s life one day.”

This type of knowledge building, known as capacity development, prepares Iraqis for the future and is an important facet of the Electricity Sector program.

“These are all little steps on the way to building a modern nation that can meet international standards for safety and quality,” said Waters.

The Electricity Sector is one of four PCO sectors managing reconstruction projects throughout Iraq. The other sectors are Oil, Public Works and Water, and Facilities and Transportation.

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