General Order 95

Section I

General Provisions

18    Reporting and Resolution of Safety Hazards Discovered by Utilities

A.    Resolution of Safety Hazards And General Order 95 Nonconformances

For purposes of this rule, “Safety Hazard” means a condition that poses a significant threat to human life or property.

“Southern California” is defined as the following: Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino, San Diego, and Ventura Counties.

“Extreme and Very High Fire Threat Zones” are defined on the Fire and Resource Assessment Program (FRAP) Map prepared by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection or the modified FRAP Map prepared by San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) and adopted by Decision 12-02-032 in Phase 2 of Rulemaking 08-11-005.  All entities subject to Rule 18 shall use the FRAP Map to implement Rule 18, except that SDG&E may use its modified FRAP Map to implement Rule 18.

(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’ 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 an Extreme or Very High Fire Threat Zone in Southern California;
• Accessibility;
• Climate;
• Direct or potential impact on operations, customers, electrical company workers, communications workers, and the general public.

There shall be3 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) 12 months for nonconformances that compromise worker safety, (2) 12 months for nonconformances that create a fire risk and are located in an Extreme or Very High Fire Threat Zone in Southern California, and (3) 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 bedocumented 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