The NAICS codes are used to describe your primary business activity at a certain location or establishment as used in OSHA’s recordkeeping regulation. The codes start with a 2 digit number; for example, all utilities fall under NAICS 22 and eventually are broken down into 6 digits that describe specific activities. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and OSHA use the codes to determine specific work tasks and typical exposures of that industry. For instance, even though a police department may be housed in city hall (NAICS 921110), police officers (NAICS 922120) will have substantially different tasks and would need a separate 300 log for recordable injuries or illnesses. The same practice would apply to other work activities conducted by municipal employees. The following NAICS codes are those that are applicable to most municipal work activities. If you have any questions about your NAICS code and how they relate to work tasks or have additional departments that may not be listed below, please contact Margret Meade by email mmeade@iamu.org or by phone at 515.210.6617.

Utilities (general), NAICS 22

Broken down into specifics:

• NAICS 2211 – Electric Power Generation, Transmission and Distribution
• NAICS 221320 – Sewage Treatment Facilities
• NAICS 221310 – Water Supply Systems
• NAICS 221210 – Natural Gas Distribution

Public Administration (general) NAICS 92

Broken down into specifics:

• NAICS 921110 – City hall / town manager’s offices
• NAICS 922110 – City courts
• NAICS 922120 – Police
• NAICS 922160 – Fire Protection
• NAICS 926130 – Regulation and Administration of Communications, Electric, Gas, and Other Utilities

Libraries – NAICS 519120

Bus & other motor vehicle transit systems – NAICS 485113

City landscape services – NAICS 541320

Pool and recreation centers – NAICS 713940

Support activities for road transportation (snow clearing, cleaning, patching) – NAICS 488490

Waste collection, treatment, disposal, and/or remediation – NAICS 562

Telecommunications (internet service providers) – NAICS 517919

Telecommunications resellers – NAICS 517911

Cemeteries (other than mowing) – NAICS 812220

The Iowa One Call 2021 Excavation Safety Awareness Program, typically held each year around the state, is still being offered. Due to Covid-19, the meetings will be virtual utilizing the Zoom platform.  The program will be offered several times in the months of February and March.  Go to the Iowa One Call website at iowaonecall.com to register.

Before you can grab the attention of your customers through your communications and messages, you first must connect with them. But who is “them,” exactly?
 
It’s a good – and important – question to answer. You don’t want to respond too quickly or two broadly, though, because the answer isn’t as simple as you might initially think.
 
Identifying “them”
Sure, your customers may be composed of your community’s residents, but they aren’t one, faceless person. They don’t collectively think the same way nor do they need the same thing. Your audience is a diverse group of people so you must figure out:

• Who each of them is,
• What each of them needs and wants for communications, and
• How each of them wants it.

 
You don’t have to drill down to an individual level, but you should gather enough specific demographic information so you can identify various subgroups within your community:

• Homeowners
• Residential renters
• Residential landlords
• Commercial property owners
• Commercial renters
• Institutions such as schools and hospitals

 
Taking time to specifically identify your customers is an important initial step in planning effective communications for them. 

Ice Melt is necessary to reduce slips and falls but using it incorrectly damages sidewalks and parking lots.

Click here to read the EMC Loss Control Insights article.

From EPA’s Water Security Division news release, 1/6/2021

“EPA’s Water Security Division recently published the EPA Cybersecurity Best Practices for the Water Sector webpage. The new page contains cyber resilience resources available from EPA including the Water Sector Cybersecurity Brief for States, Cybersecurity Incident Action Checklist, Water Sector Cybersecurity Training and Response Exercises, and Water Sector Cybersecurity Technical Assistance Program. The webpage also provides information on available Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Alerts, including for the recent SolarWinds incident.”

EPA Region 7 is sponsoring a free three-part virtual workshop to help community drinking water systems (CWSs) learn about the requirements of America’s Water Infrastructure Act (AWIA). On October 23, 2018, AWIA was signed into law; Section 2013 requires CWSs serving more than 3,300 people to develop or update risk and resilience assessments (RRAs) and emergency response plans (ERPs). (Note: Under this law, the population also includes those people served in consecutive systems.) The law specifies the components that the assessments and ER plans must address and establishes deadlines by which water systems must certify to EPA completion of each.

The EPA is administering this law and its requirements in Iowa; for more information, please contact them at dwresilience@epa.gov. The assessment and plan are not submitted to EPA by the CWS; rather, those are retained at the CWS and a certification form for each is required to be completed and submitted. There is also a requirement for the CWS to evaluate each document every five years, in order to maintain a current assessment and plan.

This workshop contains three modules and each module requires a separate registration:

• Module 1 – AWIA Section 2013 Requirements, Certification, & Section 2018 Basics
• Module 2 - Risk and Resilience Assessments: Malevolent Acts, Natural Hazards, and the Small Systems Checklist
• Module 3 - Emergency Response Plan Template and Guidance

Who Should Attend: This virtual workshop is designed for CWSs serving 3,301-99,999 people. Note: the population includes any consecutive systems that are served by the CWS.

All CWSs, as well as vendors and consultants, especially those who are assisting CWSs in achieving AWIA requirements, are welcome to attend. EPA invites those who would like to lead a version of this AWIA workshop (e.g., technical assistance providers) to attend in a “Train-the-Trainer” capacity. In this role, one can observe the workshop and receive presentation materials with speaker’s notes. At the end of Module 3, EPA will host a 30-minute Train-the-Trainer session to answer questions about using the materials provided to host one’s own trainings.

When and Registration:

• Module 1: Tuesday, 2/16/2021, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. CST, Registration  
• Module 2: Wednesday, 2/17/2021, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. CST, Registration  
• Module 3: Thursday, 2/18/21, 1:00pm-3:00pm CST* Registration
  
  

*If you are attending as a trainer, please plan for a 30-minute Q&A session at the end of Module 3.

CEU: 1.5 hours Iowa WT or WD per module. 

The State of Iowa has received federal funding from FEMA to offer free virtual counseling and assistance to those affected, in any way, by COVID-19.  COVID Recovery Iowa provides counseling, virtual activities, referrals and help finding resources to any Iowan seeking assistance or a listening ear.

Iowans of all ages may join groups online to find support and learn creative strategies for coping with the effects of the pandemic. COVID Recovery Iowa will announce additional programs in the coming weeks to help Iowans build coping skills and resilience.

Visit their website here.

Download a flyer here.

The latest edition of IAMU's Toolbox Talks - How to Properly Start a Chainsaw is now available.
Click here to download it.

Other Toolbox Talk articles are available here.

If you have a Toolbox Talk idea, please send it to Margret Meade.

The Iowa Association of Municipal Utilities, through the IAMU Education and Research Fund, is pleased to announce the creation of a scholarship program.
 
Each $1,000 scholarship will be distributed to the student. To apply, candidates must fill out and submit the scholarship application. Applications are due February 15, 2021 to scholarship@iamu.org. A minimum of four scholarships will be awarded. IAMU will announce the award recipients by May 1, 2021.
 
To be eligible for consideration, candidates must:

• Live in a residence that is a verified customer of an IAMU member or attend a high school that is a verified customer of an IAM member.
• Be a 2021 graduating high school senior or have previously graduated from high school.
• Be attending a post high school education program located in Iowa in the fall of 2021.

 
Preference will be given to applicants entering a utility-related career with a special preference to applicants entering utility-related trades programs leading to careers in difficult to fill utility careers such as, as an example only, electric line worker, water treatment or distribution operator, or operator qualified natural gas positions.
 
“IAMU is committed to supporting the future of Iowa and its municipal utilities,” said Troy DeJoode, IAMU executive director. “That commitment involves helping the next generation of professionals to get the education and training that they need. For the last several years, we have emphasized making high school students aware of the tremendous career opportunities that exist in public utilities. This scholarship program is an extension of that priority.”
 
IAMU members are encouraged to share this scholarship information with their communities. You might post information to your social media account(s) and website, and submit information to your local newspaper and/or radio station. IAMU is sending an email about the scholarship to high school guidance counselors, but you might also consider reaching out to your local guidance counselors as well.
 
If you have any questions about the scholarship program, please feel free to contact IAMU at scholarship@iamu.org.

Meme humor has become part of our online social culture. If you’re on any sort of social media network or you email or text, you likely come across the funny images, videos, and sayings on a daily, if not hourly, basis. People chuckle at them and pass them along.
 
Memes are an easy, effective way to bring humor to communications.

• For the person responsibility for communications, memes are faster to produce than long blocks of copy.
• Individuals receiving the memes appreciate you taking time to connect with them on a more emotional level.

 
Types of memes

1. Photo and video memes: Photo memes include images of anything where a person is imitating a familiar position or action, such as running or eating, along with a saying. Video memes involve dubbing over or changing sounds of familiar videos.
2. Image (macro) memes: This is slightly different from a photo meme. It includes a familiar image (photo or cartoon) along with different captions. An example of this is “The Most Interesting Man in the World” meme, with varying taglines that play on “I don’t always (fill in the blank), but when I do, I prefer (fill in the blank).” You can find images to use by going to online meme generators such as https://www.canva.com/create/memes/, https://makeameme.org/memegenerator, or https://memegenerator.net.
3. Word memes: Use words and a simple illustration and/or background.
4. Miscellaneous marketing memes: These memes involve an employee or someone else engaging in an activity and taking a picture of it. For example, show the lighter side of an important message by having employees pose or act out something in a goofy way. Sometimes, the original behavior or position is the same with people adding their own flare to it.

 
How to generate meme ideas?

• Think about common issues that everyone can appreciate.
• Ask for suggestions from employees to make them feel they are part of the creation process.

 
As with using any type of humor, don’t create memes that others might perceive as racist, sexist, ageist, or involving any other form of discrimination. It’s also best to stay away from religion and politics. Remember: Use humor to lift people up, not to put them down. Laugh with people, not at them.