BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
During the event to honour Solomon Power lines women and men on 18th April at SINU Kukum Campus, Solomon Power Health Safety Security Environment Officer (HSSE) Frenold Walter, had put on more emphasis on electricity safety.
Called the Line Mechanic Appreciation Day, the day is to celebrate and mark the hardworking Power lines women and men of Solomon Power which is marked on 18th April every year also in some parts of the World.
The events have attracted students, the general public, and SINU students. It was organised by Solomon Power.
Solomon Power uses the day as an opportunity to raise awareness and live demonstrations about their Line mechanic to participants.
Speaking at the event Walter highlights a few things to refresh participants on safety in terms of electricity.
“Bear in mind that Solomon Power is one of the only companies that generate and supply power to our homes. A lot of these people here in orange uniform are our key people who work out in the field and they do a lot of work. To get them alive and do things safely, what we talk about a lot of time is safety,’’ he said.
He said that electricity is something that we do not see with our naked eyes, or hear, but we can feel it.
‘If your heart is strong you can see the next day, otherwise, you cannot go further from that. So although we know that electricity is a good thing, benefiting every people also bear in mind that it is one of the products that can harm people if we do not use it wisely,’’ said Walter.
He said that there are a lot of assets owned by Solomon Power on the road that requires respect from everyone for safety reasons.
“We have transformers, and pillar boxes, throughout the street of Honiara, from GIPPOL 1 to White River. We always emphasise these assets, not go near them, touch them, or do anything with them, because at the end of the day, these things can harm you.
He said that by looking at all the Solomon Power assets on the street, it is something that Solomon Power want to ensure that those who are not part of the business, like the members of the public, children, students, and farmers are not affected by the way they produce and provide the power supply.
“That’s why our responsibility is to tell the public to look after our power/electricity properties,’’ said Walter.
One of the things he also emphasized is the fact that a lot of Solomon power lines are seen with shoes, clothes and a lot of things thrown on them.
“Down at white river and other outskirts areas of town, we can see a lot of shoes, a lot of clothes, ropes, that people threw onto our power lines. Remember, these things can cause disturbance to power supply where at times power would not reach our homes,’’ he said.
According to Walter, Solomon power discourage such behaviours.
He adds that safety is very important and that Solomon Power doesn’t want to see people attempt to damage assets placed on the road.
“At the end of the day we want the power supply to reach your homes, so you can enjoy it for your convenience and makes what you want to do much easier.
He said that Solomon Power always encourages those who want to wire their homes to seek the right people to carry out the wiring job in their homes or to be supervised by someone qualified to do the work.
“At the end of the day, you can enjoy the power at your homes because it is safely done. Solomon Power is putting a lot of emphasis on our employees that their safety is confirmed before going up the pole, or before cutting any line, or stringing any line,’’ said Walter.
He said that they must ensure that safety procedures are met and at the end of the day Solomon Power does not want to see one of their employees encounter accidents.
“We are doing the best of our ability to ensure we provide a safe power supply or access to your homes and our engineers are trying very hard to make sure that all these lines when working on the road wouldn’t do any harm or injuries to the others,’’ said Walter.
He said that safety is all that matters from where Solomon Power generate the power up to the switch where the lights can be switched on.
“All and all we just like to remind you that, at the end of the day, we do not want to see anyone has been harmed by the service we offer. These are manmade things, sometimes it did not function the way they should work, and sometimes they caused an accident and people get harmed.
“And lastly bear in mind the almighty give us one chance to live, so never touch, never play with any assets of Solomon power either it stationed side of the road, at your homes. Use it right to enjoy it,’’ Walter concludes.
