What Does Brad Brown’s Snowcat Ride Have To Do With Your Public Safety?
What Does Brad Brown’s Snowcat Ride Have To Do With Your Public Safety?
Date: March 25, 2021
Title: What Does Brad Brown’s Snowcat Ride Have To Do With Your Public Safety?
How telecom backup power plays an important role in America’s critical communications infrastructure
Brad Brown is leaving early this morning from his home in Nine Mile Falls, Washington just outside Spokane. As a service technician for Power Systems West, he’s got a long day ahead of him servicing the Kohler Power backup generator at the AT&T cell tower on the summit of the remote Johnny George Mountain.
Brad drives his Power Systems West service truck to the Keller Ferry Crossing on the Columbia River, crosses into the Coville Confederated Tribes Reservation, and drives several more miles to the base of Johnny George Mountain. From there, he hops in a snowcat and slowly creeps twenty miles uphill to the summit and the AT&T broadband tower.
Cell towers are powered by electricity and we all know power can go out. To make sure their signal stays on, broadband service providers like AT&T depend on Kohler 40kw, 50kw, and 60kw backup power generators serviced by Power Systems West as a critical backup resource for their communications infrastructure. But for AT&T it’s more than just making sure you and I can make a call or get a text. It’s about our public safety.
AT&T’s FirstNET is America’s first dedicated broadband network designed for first responders. When disasters happen, broadband services get clogged with call volume. FirstNET prioritizes connecting metropolitan areas to remote rural areas during emergencies and disasters so police, firefighters, medical personnel, and other critical responders can communicate through voice, video, and data. Enabling them share information about conditions on the ground and get to us when we’re in trouble.
Yes, Brad Brown and dozens of other Power Systems service technicians across seven western states take ferries, ride snowcats, and hike into remote spots like Johnny George Mountain so you can make that call and get that text. They also do it so you and your loved ones can get the lifesaving response you need when you may need it most.
Contact Us
Did you know Kohler Power is Sourcewell Approved?
Did you know Kohler Power is Sourcewell Approved?
Date: January 27, 2021
Title: Did you know Kohler Power is Sourcewell Approved?
Kohler Power and by extension Power Systems West (Authorized Distributor – OR, WA, CO, UT, ID, MT, WY) are approved Sourcewell, formerly NJPA vendors.
What does this mean to municipalities and government agencies?
- Seemless purchasing experience for back-up power needs
- Trusted preapproved vendor
- Purchase what you want, not what you’re forced to with the lowest bid
- Substantial time savings rather than going through the public bidding
process
Purchasing Kohler Power through Sourcewell = Cutting out a ton of time and
money and working with a partner you can trust.
Accomplish More
As a leader in cooperative purchasing, we are passionate about helping members fulfill their public service missions.
We are building stronger relationships with members and vendors to develop practical solutions together.
Learn how we can serve you. For contract documents and member information, visit:
877-5850-9706
Compliant
- Trusted process satisfies bid requirements
- Government agency that works like you
- Achievement for Excellence in Procurement recipient
Competitive
- Buying power of 50,000 members
- Contracts offer ceiling-based pricing, volume discounts
Convenient
- More than 300 trusted brands under contract
- Full catalog of options for a complete solution
- Easy, no-cost membership
Contact Us
No Fields Found.Webinar on Critical Power: Backup, Standby and Emergency Power for Hospitals
Webinar on Critical Power: Backup, Standby and Emergency Power for Hospitals
Subject:Upcoming Free Webinar: Critical Power: Backup, Standby and Emergency Power for Hospitals
Date: Tuesday, February 2nd 2021 at 11 am PT.
Continuing Education: Upon completion, attendees will receive 1 AIA LU/HSW; 0.1 IACET CEU; 1 PDH
Register Here
Kohler Power Systems is pleased to announce that we are sponsoring a 60-minute webinar through CSE titled “Critical Power: Backup, Standby and Emergency Power for Hospitals” on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021 at 2pm ET.
Webinar Overview:
When designing backup, standby and emergency power systems for hospitals, there are several considerations beyond NFPA 70: National Electrical Code and other building code requirements that must be addressed. Electrical engineers must understand the specific owner project requirements for the building’s power systems and ensure that the generator specification and system topologies meet all those requirements for cost, construction schedule, component performance and system maintainability. Engineers also need to be mindful of the construction process, and ensure equipment replacement is coordinated, temporary power strategies are identified, and phasing concepts are developed.
Learning Objectives
- Know the codes and standards that define the design of emergency, standby and backup power systems.
- Identify important qualities and characteristics of generators for hospitals beyond the standard National Electrical Code and building standards.
- Learn best practices for specifying power systems and identify commonly seen specification errors or omissions.
- Review and compare various design topologies and solutions often seen implemented for hospitals. Discuss why certain solutions may be more or less favorable.
Contact Us
New Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager – Anne Tyler
New Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Manager – Anne Tyler
Anne Tyler has been named Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Manager for Power Systems West (PSW). This position will help the company’s newly formed DEI Council strive to position PSW as an industry leader in maintaining inclusive and respectful work environments.
Our DEI Council exists to provide strategic direction on integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion into our company at all levels.
President Brad Lyons states, “Historically, our industry has lagged behind on diversity issues. We feel it is imperative to our future success to incorporate DEI into our culture, at all levels and we are excited to welcome Anne into our team.”
The Power Systems West DEI Council leads the implementation of company-wide DEI initiatives including education and training, community involvement, industry networking, recruiting, and hiring best practices.
Anne will begin serving in this role in February of 2021.
Fun Facts Anne shared about herself:
- My ride or die is my 10 year old manx (tail less) polydactyl (additional digits) cat, Greta.
- In elementary school (5th grade) I won the Presidential Fitness Award and could do more pull ups then majority of my classmates (but 2 boys always beat me).
- My twenty-year crush has held steady on Corgis, if I see one I forget what I am doing.
- (In my early 20’s) I spent 2 years working in the backcountry of Yellowstone National Park, it was magical.
- My dream car is a 67 VW Beetle – Red with black top convertible (I would call it my lady bug).
- The 2 times I ran into bear (black and grizzly) my initial nervous reaction was walking in circles (and then snapped out of it).
- I was born and raised in Richmond, VA so every once in a while a southern drawl appears.
- I L O V E the arts – visual, music, film, written, dance, you name it – I love supporting individuals that share creative gifts.
- My first car was a 87 Toyota Camry.
- I am a strong swimmer and sincerely love swimming, but am deeply terrified of the ocean.
- I have my mothers (Honeywell and K100) Pentax Cameras and they are some of my most prized possessions.
- The first car I drove that I learned what not having power steering meant was a 357 Porsche.
Contact Us
Announcement to Observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Announcement to Observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day
We have an important announcement to our customers and industry partners.
We are writing to inform you as a valued customer and/or industry partner that we at Power Systems
West (PSW) will be observing Martin Luther King Jr Day on Monday, January 18th. PSW has offered our employees the opportunity to take the day off so they can honor the legacy and birthday of Dr. King. It is considered a day of service and we encourage our team members to give back to the communities where we live and work. PSW stands with partners in the field that are honoring this (federal) holiday and we encourage others to stand with us in observing this day.
Dr. King’s legacy and impact on equality and labor relations is an essential part of our country’s history.
PSW leadership believes that we must be the change we want to see, even as we recognize our industry has work to do to improve respect and equity in the workplace. It is through our actions that we make a
difference.
Our team will be in contact if there are any changes in the schedule. We value doing business with you,
please let us know if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Power Systems West
Contact Us
Stars In Safety
Stars in Safety
Date: December 30, 2020
Subject: Stars in Safety
Below is information on our Stars in Safety Program which includes steps you can take to help recognize our teams for a job well done as they maintain a safety-first mindset.
We are asking for your help in letting us know when one of our employees goes above and beyond on behalf of safety and deserves to be recognized.
Please submit a nomination for the PSW Star in Safety program by completing the Form at the bottom of this article! Thank you for your help in building a culture of safety.
Submission for Stars in Safety
No Fields Found.
Power Systems West has a long history of safe work practices built into our culture. Safety is a key value to us as we strive to get better every day. Recently we celebrated our second full year without a recordable injury. We realize the enemy of safety, like many things in life, is complacency. Therefore, our team continually strives for excellence and understands that our focus on safety will allow us to get better every day.
The Power Systems West safety program is designed to perform detailed timely incident reviews with our EHS team and leadership. We have a process that we follow diligently. Together we also review all our near-hits and learn from them, putting procedures in place to prevent them from happening again. Our goal now is to take this one step further and recognize employees by highlighting safety excellence. We feel the more we look for excellence, the more we are going to find it and be able to share it. Intention is a powerful tool.
This is easier said than done with 40 field technicians working remotely. Applying common sense to work safely and taking extra steps to prevent any type of unsafe incident from occurring is even more important when working alone. Our service teams are trained to be responsive to problems and are committed to fixing them in a timely manner. However, with safety, responding to something that is a problem can often be too late. We believe that a proactive approach in recognizing safe behavior as it occurs builds a safe work environment and strengthens those behaviors.
We recently launched a new safety program, Stars in Safety. This program is meant for our customers and industry partners to help us recognize safe behaviors from our work force, to recognize those individuals who are going above and beyond to work safely so that we can build on those behaviors.
We are asking that when you see an act which you feel goes above and beyond on behalf of safety, that you report it to us. We will be updating our email signatures to include an internal QR code which you can scan to complete a brief submission form. Another option includes our website where you will find a link to a quick form to fill out to recognize our employees. Below are some examples of qualifying ideas for Safety Star recognition.
Thank you for partnering with us as we work toward leading the industry in safety and keeping all our valued employees safe!
Example Actions to a Star in Safety:
- Employee is witnessed coaching another team member on a safer way to do a task.
- Recognizing that something someone is doing is unsafe, then reporting that act even when it’s not the easy thing to do.
- Employee encourages another employee to report an unsafe act/condition that the employee was not going to report.
- Employee witnessed for practicing – See something. Say something. Do something.
- When excellent communication is exhibited and used to help manage the safety concerns that arise from trade stacking.
- An employee who sees something unsafe that is not in their scope of work but reports it to their supervisor (watching out for the customer and other trades).
- Reporting a good catch.
- Innovations.
- Addressing COVID concerns.
- An employee who is consistently mentoring others regarding safety in the workplace or has a positive attitude towards safety and housekeeping and helps others.
- An employee who consults with our safety team or the customer’s safety team on a regular basis and will stop work to ensure work is conducted safely.
- Employee consulting with supervision and/or safety to look at work before work begins.
- Employees consistently wearing PPE, positive attitude, constructively addresses hazards observed, looks out for others, completes PTP or lends a helping hand.
