ATSSA leading Safety Symposium at Utility Expo

ATSSA is partnering with The Utility Expo to provide roadway safety training—including flagger certification—during its Sept. 26-28 event.

A Safety Symposium offering 30 hours of roadway safety and education training takes place the first two days of The Utility Expo. This includes six morning workshops on Sept. 26 led by ATSSA Director of Innovation & Technical Services Eric Perry, ATSSA Manager of Innovation & Technical Services Melodie Matout and ATSSA Master Instructors Bill Birdwell and Tim Luttrell.

It also includes two ATSSA four-hour courses the afternoon of Sept. 26 and a choice of two eight-hour courses on Sept. 27.

“Safety has always been a front-and-center issue for The Utility Expo. From the equipment that utility professionals use onsite, to the potentially hazardous environments they can find themselves in, safety needs to always be priority number one,” said The Utility Expo Show Director John Rozum. “The people at ATSSA understand that a lot of utility work is done in and around traffic and they have put together a great education agenda to help keep utility pros safe when the traffic cones come out.”

Registration for The Utility Expo is nw open with significant discounts for early registration for the event being held at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville. Use Code ATSSA50 to receive 50% off registration and 10% off ATSSA training through June 17.

Code/ Purpose / Dates

ATSSA50 – 50% off of registration fee + 10% off on ATSSA education – 5/9/23 – 6/17/23

ATSSA40 – 40% off of registration fee + 10% off on ATSSA education – 6/18/23 – 7/21/23

ATSSA30 – 30% off of registration fee + 10% off on ATSSA education – 7/22/23 – 8/18/23

ATSSA20 – 20% off of registration fee + 10% off on ATSSA education – 8/19/23 – 9/25/23

ATSSA10 – 10% off of registration fee + 10% off on ATSSA education – 5/9/23 – 9/28/23

“Utility crews are always safety minded when it comes to getting people’s lights on and water running,” said ATSSA Vice President of Education & Technical Services Donna Clark. “We’re glad the show where the utility industry goes to grow has invited us in to keep utility pros up to speed on not just how to keep their teams safe, but also how to keep everyone who comes near a utility jobsite that impacts a roadway safe.”

“Offering training during The Utility Expo makes it exceptionally convenient for people in the utility and construction sectors to gain critical safety training, including flagger certification,” Clark added.

Below is the full schedule of ATSSA training offered at The Utility Expo.

Morning Workshops (1 hour each), Sept. 26

1. Everything you need to know about PPE, Melodie Matout

2. Worker Safety – It’s Your Responsibility, Eric Perry

3. Emerging Technologies in Safety, Melodie Matout

4. Tort Liability:  Reducing Your Exposure, Bill Birdwell

5. Recent Guidance Updates for Work at Intersections, Tim Luttrell

6. Typical Applications Common to Maintenance and Short Duration Activities, Bill Birdwell

Afternoon Options (4 hours each), Sept. 26

Flagger Certification Training – The flagger’s role is to protect project personnel and provide safe, courteous, and authoritative directions to traffic seeking passage through the work area. This course will teach students standard flagger control references, proper flagging signals procedures, and standard flagger practices for various situations. Upon successful completion of the course, students will receive an ATSSA Flagger Certification card.

OSHA Introduction to Work Zones – ATSSA will provide a 4-hour instructor led training course in English for highway workers. ATSSA will train highway maintenance and utility workers on “Mitigating and Preventing Worker Safety Impacts in Roadway Construction Work Zones: What Everyone Should Know.” These new training materials will include a presentation and the development of a job-aid workbook for students to follow along during the training course. ATSSA’s training is on how to ensure that entities and their employees follow guidelines and safe practices when working in common types of highway work zones through specific example situations.  This training targeted to highway construction workers, maintenance workers, utility workers and other personnel exposed to traffic who will make a difference in ensuring adequate worker safety trainee knowledge.

8-Hour Training Options, Sept. 27

TTC for Utility Operations Course – The Temporary Traffic Control TTC for Utility Operations course provides an introduction to temporary traffic control for utility workers and others whose actions may affect safety. It teaches concepts, techniques and practices in the installation and maintenance of traffic control devices in accordance with the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices MUTCD.

Traffic Control Technician Course – The Traffic Control Technician TCT course is an introduction to temporary traffic control in work zones for individuals who work in the field installing and removing traffic control devices. The course provides concepts, techniques and practice exercises in the installation and maintenance of traffic control devices.  Everyone involved in a construction work zone project should have a basic knowledge of temporary traffic control that allows them to assist in installing traffic control devices, monitoring their performance and recognizing deficiencies during the course of a project.