In 1996, Rodney Walker was severely injured in an electric flash. He suffered first-, second- and third-degree burns to his head, face, neck and arm and sustaining internal injuries. His accident and journey to recovery is a compelling story that inspires, educates and empowers his audience to understand human performance, recognize hazards and strive to create a safe, injury-free work environment
Walker is a 27-year employee of one of the largest utilities in the country and will be presenting a special two-hour session at the Circuit Breaker Seminar on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016. He will give his detailed testimony of High Voltage Arc Flash, including discussion of his injuries, treatment and recovery. During his thought-provoking introspective, he will identify incident pre-cursors and address the importance of remaining diligent against complacency and strengthening the safety culture in the workplace.
Doble’s 2016 Circuit Breaker Seminar will be in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from Oct. 3-7, and will include hands-on and classroom training geared toward substation testing, maintenance, and management teams.
T&D World asked Walker about how his experience allows him to help others:
Q: How does your current and your past experience help you in this role?
Sharing my past experience, being involved in a traumatic physical accident, somehow allows me to connect to my class or course participants. It seems to me, basic human nature makes people want to empathize, or in some cases, sympathize with a person who has experienced hard times.
Q: When and why did you decide to get into training and speaking?
It is my nature to teach and coach. As far back as I remember I have gravitated to volunteer opportunities as camp counselors and employment opportunities in various coaching
Q: Best thing about your job right now?
The best thing about my job is I have the great honor and pleasure to be a strong positive safety influence. I have the opportunity to help shape strong safety cultures by sharing my testimony and shedding light on how easy it can be to stray from the safest path.
Q: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned in your past experience that you want to communicate to students or participants?
A perfect safety performance is a journey, and an injury-free workplace (and home life) is achievable.
Q: Why is this session important to the industry?
No one should endure physical pain and suffering work place injuries, especially if we continually strengthen our safe behaviors and processes.
Q: What do you like to do in your spare time?
When I'm not teaching or making Safety Presentations, I work with a group known as Men to Men Mentoring (501c3 Non-Profit organization I founded in 2008). Our mission is to revitalize our communities, one at a time by empowering men to reach their full potential as leaders in their home, society and place of employment.
"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17 NIV
