General Order 95
Section I
General Provisions
18 Reporting and Resolution of Safety Hazards Discovered by Utilities
For purposes of this rule, “Safety Hazard” means a condition that poses a significant threat to human life or property.
A. Resolution
of Safety Hazards And General Order 95 Nonconformances
(1)
a)
Each company (including utilities and
CIPs) is responsible for taking appropriate corrective action to remedy Safety
Hazards and GO 95 nonconformances posed by its
facilities.
b) Upon
completion of the corrective action, the company’s records shall show, with
sufficient detail, the nature of the work, the date, and the identity of
persons performing the work. These records shall be preserved by the company
for at least ten (10) years and shall be made available to Commission staff
upon 30 days notice.
c) Where a
communications company’s or an electric utility’s actions result in GO
nonconformances for another entity, that entity’s remedial action will be to
transmit a single documented notice of identified nonconformances to the
communications company or electric utility for compliance.
(2)
a) All companies shall establish an auditable
maintenance program for their facilities and lines. All companies must include
a timeline for corrective actions to be taken following the identification of a
Safety Hazard or nonconformances with General Order 95 on the company’s
facilities.
The auditable
maintenance program shall prioritize corrective actions consistent with the
priority levels set forth below and based on the following factors, as
appropriate:
·
Safety
and reliability as specified in the priority levels below;
·
Type
of facility or equipment;
·
Location,
including whether the Safety Hazard or nonconformance is located in the High
Fire-Threat District;
·
Accessibility;
·
Climate;
·
Direct
or potential impact on operations, customers, electrical company workers,
communications workers, and the general public.
There
shall be 3 priority levels.
(i)
Level
1:
·
Immediate
safety and/or reliability risk with high probability for significant impact.
·
Take
action immediately, either by fully repairing the condition, or by temporarily
repairing and reclassifying the condition to a lower priority.
(ii)
Level
2:
·
Variable
(non-immediate high to low) safety and/or reliability risk.
·
Take
action to correct within specified time period (fully repair, or by temporarily
repairing and reclassifying the condition to a lower priority).
Time period
for correction to be determined at the time of identification by a qualified
company representative, but not to exceed: (1) six months for nonconformances
that create a fire risk located in Tier 3 of the High Fire-Threat District; (2)
12 months for nonconformances that create a fire risk located in Tier 2 of the
High Fire-Threat District; (3) 12 months for nonconformances that compromise
worker safety; and (4) 59 months for all other Level 2 nonconformances.
(iii)
Level
3:
·
Acceptable
safety and/or reliability risk.
·
Take
action (re-inspect, re-evaluate, or repair) as appropriate.
b) Correction times may be extended under
reasonable circumstances, such as:
·
Third
party refusal
·
Customer
issue
·
No
access
·
Permits
required
·
System
emergencies (e.g. fires, severe weather conditions)
(3)
Companies
that have existing General Order 165 auditable inspection and maintenance
programs that are consistent with the purpose of Rule 18A shall continue to
follow their General Order 165 programs.
B. Notification of Safety Hazards
If a company, while performing inspections of its
facilities, discovers a safety hazard(s) on or near a communications facility
or electric facility involving another company, the inspecting company shall
notify the other company and/or facility owner of such safety hazard(s) no
later than 10 business days after the discovery. To the extent the inspecting
company cannot determine the facility owner/operator, it shall contact the pole
owner(s), who shall be responsible for promptly notifying the company
owning/operating the facility with the safety hazard(s), normally not to exceed
five business days after being notified of the safety hazard. The notification
shall be documented and such documentation must be preserved by all parties for
at least ten years.
Note: Each
pole owner must be able to determine all other pole owners on poles it owns.
Each pole owner must be able to determine all authorized entities that attach
equipment on its portion of a pole.
Note: Added
August 20, 2009 by Decision No. 09-08-029 and revised January 12, 2012 by
Decision No. 12-01-032, December 21,
2017 by Decision No. 17-12-024, May
31, 2018 by Decision No. 18-05-042.