I read the sad news of a sewer worker passing away on the job as I was wrapping up this issue. He was young and had a family, and it sounds like the accident could have been prevented.

According to a Chicago Tribune story, Gustavo Briceno’s family says he woke up that morning feeling something bad was about to happen. That night, as he and another worker were inside a sewer doing work related to a relining project, he was swept away to his death by a surge of stormwater caused by heavy rains.

Briceno, 25, was employed by Kenny Construction. He and the other worker were in the 30-inch Chicago sewer line at about 8:30 p.m. Briceno had reportedly removed his harness to reach a nearby area when the rush of water carried him away. The other worker, still in his harness, was pulled to safety.

Briceno’s body was found about two hours later, a block from where he had been working.

Accidents like this are a reason to pause and reevaluate your own safety practices. It’s easy to get complacent. It’s easy, in a situation you’ve encountered many times without issue, to think you’ll be fine if you just take your harness off for a few minutes. But you never know when that time will come, when that surge will send you down the line one final time. It’s sad. Don’t ever take your safety for granted.

Looking inside

This month’s issue of Cleaner features stories on two interesting but very different companies.

ODYSSEY Environmental Services has been in business for six years, with a tight focus on cleaning and hydroexcavation. When they first opened for business they were serving the petroleum and chemical industries, but by the second year they had begun serving municipal clients.

The company was founded on a belief in environmental services, and the ODYSSEY team has worked hard to play their part in caring for the environment. About 70 percent of their work comes from mill and oil refinery work, oil rig cleaning and hydroexcavation, and the company does all it can to help its clients – and the environment – benefit from new technologies.

Allen’s Electrical & Plumbing in Savannah, Ga., the other company profiled in this issue, is unique in that the company began in a different trade altogether. Barney Allen was an electrician, but his love for technology led him toward all the highly specialized equipment in the sewer and drain cleaning industry.

Soon, Allen’s Electrical became Allen’s Electrical & Plumbing as more and more services were added. First it was cameras in the mid-1980s, then jetters and eventually vac trucks. The company jumped into relining and pipe bursting in the late 1990s. Allen says he’s always taken a bit of a gambler’s approach to investing in new equipment and services, and it has paid off for his business.

The diversity of services has allowed Allen’s to reach a much larger customer base and carefully tailor solutions to the specific problem.

Together, these businesses illustrate an interesting facet of the industry: There is no single right way to do things. Sometimes specialization can be the key to success; sometimes it’s diversification. It’s also one of the great things about this industry. Everyone has the ability to carve out their own niche and find success on their own terms.

I hope these stories help you chart the best course for your own business.

Enjoy this month’s issue.