Case Study: Keeping New England Safe with Flex-Safe

The Challenge: Big Storms and Heavy Gear

My name is Mike Sullivan, and I am a Field Safety Supervisor for one of the largest energy companies in the Northeast. We have a massive job. We take care of 4 million people across three states: Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Whether it is fixing a water main in a busy city or repairing power lines after a huge blizzard, our crews are always on the move.

In New England, the weather is our biggest challenge. We deal with “Nor’easters” that bring heavy snow, thick ice, and winds that can knock down trees in a second. When a “Wires Down” call comes in, we have to get there fast. Safety is our number one goal. We have to block off the area so regular people don’t get hurt by live wires or open holes in the ground.

For a long time, we used old-fashioned safety gear. We had heavy metal “A-frame” barricades and big, bulky plastic hurdles. These tools had a lot of problems. First, they were very heavy. Carrying them was hard on our workers’ backs. Second, they took up way too much room in our utility trucks. Our trucks are already full of tools, wires, and pipes. Lastly, when the wind started howling during a storm, those old signs would just blow right over. A safety sign doesn’t do any good if it is lying face-down in a snowbank.

The Solution: A Lightweight Game Changer

In 2022, we decided to try something different. We bought our first set of Flex-Safe barricades and signs. We chose them because they looked different from anything we had used before. They aren’t made of heavy metal or stiff plastic. Instead, they use a clever folding design, much like a high-quality camping chair.

The first thing our crews noticed was how light they were. One person can easily carry two or three of them at once. When you are trudging through two feet of snow to reach a downed pole, every pound matters. They also fold up very small. This allowed us to fit more safety gear into every truck in our fleet, from the big bucket trucks to the smaller gas and water vans.

“Our teams are out there in the worst weather imaginable, often in the middle of the night,” says Mike Sullivan. “Flex-Safe is the only barricade that works as hard as they do. It stays upright in the wind, fits in any truck, and honestly, it’s the best tool we’ve added to our safety kit in years.”

The Results: Reliability and Growth

Since that first order in 2022, we have been so impressed that we have purchased additional Flex-Safe products every single year. They have become the “gold standard” for our field operations. Here is why they work for a major utility like ours:

Wind Resistance: Even in high-wind coastal areas of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, these barricades stay standing. The wind passes through and around them instead of knocking them over like a sail.
Ease of Use: Because they are so easy to set up, our workers actually use them. There is no “struggling” with the gear, so the work zone gets protected immediately.
Modern Look: Our company is focused on “grid modernization” and clean energy. Using high-tech, professional-looking safety gear shows the public that we are a modern, high-quality company.
Durability: New England winters are brutal. The salt on the roads and the freezing rain usually ruin cheap gear. The Flex-Safe barricades have held up perfectly year after year.

The Bottom Line

Managing 4 million customers is a huge responsibility. We need tools that are as reliable as the power and water we provide. Flex-Safe has helped us lower the risk of injuries to our workers and kept the public away from danger during major storm outages. We started with just a few in 2022, and now we can’t imagine doing our jobs without them. They help us keep the lights on and keep our people safe, one work zone at a time.