If you could do something that only 28 out of 30,000 people did but if would save your life, would you do it? We can learn a lot from Louis Zamperini, about safety and life.

1. Matt Forck | www.safestrat.com | matt@safestrat.com
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Always Take the Shark Training…
5 Things Linemen should always do…
“Prepare to crash,” were the only three words the pilot, Phil Phillips, uttered into the intercom
on The Green Hornet, a United States B-24 staffed with eleven crew members in August 1942.
Moments before these words sounded one of the plane’s two right engines had stopped. In an
effort to ‘feather’ the dead engine, the plane’s engineer accidently killed the other left engine.
Now both engines on the left were dead. The crew was only 800 feet above the Pacific Ocean
performing a search and rescue operation. Phil had only seconds to restart the one good left
engine in order to balance the plane. He worked frantically to do that, but in moments he
realized it was no use. He made the call.
Louis Zamperini was the crew’s bombardier. A second lieutenant, he left University of Southern
California where he was on an athletic scholarship to join the Air Force. Just months earlier
Louis and Phil had flown the lead plane in a 23 plane squadron in a bombing raid on a Pacific
Island named Nauru. There, they took heavy fire from the Japanese but were able to drop their
bombs. The return was tricky. They had countless holes in the aircraft and no brakes to stop the
plane. They performed an emergency landing and miraculously skidded in safely. Upon landing
they counted 594 bullet holes. Now, Louis used these precious seconds to make sure everyone
was ready for the crash. He handed out life vests and grabbed one for himself. He manned his
assigned crash position. His mind throbbed with one single thought; nobody’s going to live
through this.
850 miles west of Oahu The Green Hornet shattered in the cold sea. Louis was trapped by wires
that dragged under water. He passed out and immediately regained consciousness only to be
free of the restrictions. He pulled the cord on his life vest. On the surface he found Phil and
Francis “Mac” McNamara in a life boat. He joined them. No one else survived.
On the life boat, there, with little water and even less food, they floated. Days passed and then weeks.
In addition to the lack of food and water, there was real danger from sharks. Sharks of all sizes circled
the life raft day and night. In fact, several times while lost at sea, Louis found himself in the water and
face to face with a large shark. The shark came after him, but Louis remained calm and knew what to do.
He had been trained to repel sharks.
Before the war, Louis Zamperini was a track star. In 1934, as a high school senior, Zamperini set
a world interscholastic record for the mile, clocking in at 4:21.2 and a week later he won the
California state championships. He enjoyed college, but his real goal was the 1936 Olympics. He
earned a place on that team, qualifying for the 5000 meter event. At 19, he still holds the

2. Matt Forck | www.safestrat.com | matt@safestrat.com
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record for the youngest qualifier for that event in US history. While he didn’t win a medal, he
finished eighth. The mile and 5000 meter are dominated by older athletes, those in the mid to
late twenties…given what he did at age 19, his Olympic future was bright.
As an airman, one might think that Louis would have traded air skills for Olympic training, he
did not. Louis threw himself into this role as both a bombardier and a leader on the crew. To
that end, when an Island Native offered a shark training class, giving tips to repel sharks if lost
at sea, Louis signed up. But the interesting thing is that of the nearly 30,000 airmen who could
have signed up, only 28 actually took the class. Months later, floating in shark infested waters
these skills were used by Zamperini to keep him and his fellow survivors alive as they were face
to face with a hungry shark more than once.
In addition to the deadly sharks, the men struggled with severe hunger and thirst. McNamara
died after 33 days at sea. On the 47th
day, Louis and Phil landed on the Marshall Islands. It is
believed that these two hold the record for the most days survived ‘lost at sea.’ Both Louis and
Pete, who were captured by the Japanese when they landed on the Marshall Islands, survived
their brutal prison of war experience and made it home alive. Making it home alive took skill,
luck and faith. It also took training, and in the case of Louis Zamperini, shark training. Just as I
would advise you to always take the shark training, here are five things that as a line worker
you should always do.
Always Know the Rules - -This sounds so basic but not everyone knows all of the rules. Some
years ago when I was working as a safety supervisor supporting nearly 400 linemen, I pulled up
on a job. There six linemen with over 100 years of combined experience were working 34.5KV
de-energized and grounded. Their rule book required supplemental grounding which they had
not installed. I stopped the work and called the crew together, not one of them knew this rule.
If a doctor hurt or killed a family member because he didn’t know a medical rule it would be
unforgiveable; after all, the doctor is a professional. Line work is no different.
Small Stuff Maters - -No doubt when you read the previous section, Always Know the Rules,
you thought of the ‘big’ safety rules like rubber gloves, grounding and checking for dead. And
you should think of those, they are vital to a lineman’s safety. But, small rules are important
too. Just like taking the shark training, do you check your rubber gloves or rubber goods before
each use? Do you chock your truck? How about setting the parking brake on your truck? Be one
of the 28 out of 30,000 -- do the big stuff…and then take the shark training too.
Safety Stop - - In the defensive driver class for utility trucks, there is specific instruction for
executing a right hand turn on a red light. First, the driver shall stop completely and scan the
intersection. If it is clear, he may execute a right turn. But, after moving forward a few feet,
stop one more time, a safety stop. On this second stop, the intersection is scanned again, and if

3. Matt Forck | www.safestrat.com | matt@safestrat.com
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clear then it is safe to proceed. A safety stop isn’t just for right hand turns on red. Before any
safety sensitive task such as climbing a pole, gloving primary, lifting a jumper etc. perform a
safety stop. This can be as short as five seconds, to make sure that everything is safe before you
proceed. Nothing bad happens if you first stop - - even if it’s for just a second!
Plan Safety - - Electrical line work is so hazardous that OSHA requires that before any work
begins that there is a job plan. Each time, before each job the crew must review job hazards,
safe work rules, special precautions (hidden hazards), energy source controls and PPE. Too
many times a crew will talk about the work at hand, but won’t cover these five basic things.
When I was an apprentice, there was an old crew foremen. He would always take the time to
plan the job, and cover these key areas too. After the job briefing he would say, “and remember
boys, no one gets hurt today.” When we plan, and when we take the shark training, no one
gets hurt today.
Ask for Help - - Louis, Pete and Mac were on their own, drifting. Often, as a line worker we may
feel like we are on our own. I remember my first call out as a journeymen. It was a simple
transformer outage. But it was dark and rainy and in an area that I was not familiar with. After
what seemed like hours of troubleshooting, I still couldn’t figure out the problem. I felt very
alone, like it was all on me. But I was not alone. I had the dispatcher, my supervisor and all of
my fellow linemen who were just a phone call away. Ask for help, you are not alone.
Matt Forck, CSP and JLW, is a journey lineworker and board certified safety professional. Matt
keynotes utility events across the country and works with safety committees, supervisors,
managers and utility CEOs to make their safety programs even more effective. To contact Matt
or download FREE resources go to www.safestrat.com