Congratulations to the 2022 Damage Prevention Hero of the Year!!
I recently had the honour of attending the Global Excavation Safety Conference (GESC) hosted by Infrastructure Resources, the folks that developed and hosted countless previous conferences under a different name (but that’s a whole different story for another day). The Infrastructure Resources crew is simply the best there is! Not only do they know and immerse themselves in the content of every element and aspect of the conferences they create and host, they treat every single person who attends like royalty. And at this event, a "crown” of sorts was to be presented to the 2022 Damage Prevention Hero of the Year.
Five finalists were selected, including Danny Nichols and fellow Canadian Geoff Zeiss who both recently passed away, and their contributions to the damage prevention and public safety were provided in a recent Excavation Safety magazine article. One of the GESC’s highlights this year was a shindig hosted by Infrastructure Resources and PelicanCorp where the 2022 Damage Prevention Hero of the Year would be named and where PelicanCorp would make the draw for the coveted Trip for Two to Australia.
I was asked to co-Emcee the event with another hero I truly admire, Mr. Cliff Meidl (more on Cliff in a future article in our eNews). Cliff and I were given our instructions and off we went!
I was handed the envelope containing the name of the 2022 Hero of the Year and was elated to learn that it was Glen "Cookie” Cook! In my view, there’s no one more deserving of the award. In his words, he’s "always on” and that’s truly what it takes to make a difference.
I first met Cookie in 2019 at the Oceania Safety Conference in Brisbane, Australia when I was representing the Canadian Common Ground Alliance. I had heard about him from ‘across the pond’ and about his selfless ingenuity developing and promoting the Look Up and Live app that can be modeled to accommodate overhead powerline safety and awareness anywhere on the globe. In Queensland, the application pinpoints the location of 210,000 km of overhead powerlines and 1.7 million poles across Queensland. To hear Cookie explain how the idea of the app came to him and how he had it developed is a window to his intellect, drive and ingenuity.
Congratulations, Cookie! We look forward to collaborating with you for many years to come!
Glen Cook is a Principal Community Safety Specialist for Energy Queensland, with close to 30 years of experience working within the construction and utilities industries. He received the 2020 Australian Health and Safety Professional of the Year Award and the 2021 Queensland Community Achievement Award. Glen has shared his knowledge and passion with many Australian and international power companies. One of his biggest achievements has been his work as a driving force behind the lookupandlive.com tool, allowing workers to plan their work near powerlines in a safe manner. He is an expert and tireless ambassador for powerline safety – and he’s also a solid musician with a great voice! They Didn’t See the Wire.
Mike Sullivan - President Utility Safety Partners