Safety is a top priority for Little River Electric, and that’s why it’s going to be the only priority for Josh Strickland.
Strickland is succeeding Drayton Freeman as the cooperative’s new director of loss control and risk management.
Josh Strickland is Little River Electric’s new director of loss control and risk management. Photo by Josh P. Crotzer
“Drayton really got our safety program going well, but he’d been filling dual roles,” says Strickland. “Now he’s mostly doing staking and line inspections and I am focused on the safety of our members and employees.”
Strickland has been at Little River Electric for 10 years. He began as a ground man and most recently was a lead lineman on a crew for the cooperative. Strickland says when working on energized lines, he couldn’t help but focus on safety.
“When I first got into line work, I had a foreman tell me ‘Safety rules are there for a reason,'” he recounts. “‘If you follow them, you’ll go home every day.'”
That was certainly advice Strickland took to heart, especially with the motivation of returning to his wife, young son, and daughter in Iva. That’s also the focus Strickland wants all employees at Little River to have.
“I want safety to be looked at as a good thing,” he says. “I don’t want to be looked at as the safety police. I want to make sure everybody is on board, so that everybody is safe and goes home to their families.”
Strickland says he wants members to stay safe as well. He reminds them to contact Little River Electric if they see a downed line or any other power-related hazard. Members can also find safety information and tips here on the Little River website.
