Our employees accomplished an impressive safety milestone.
2015 was a perfect year for employee safety for Exelon Power, which operates Exelon Generation’s natural gas, hydro, wind, solar, landfill gas and soil power plants. The division’s more than 900 employees combined to work approximately 2 million hours without any Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-recordable injuries.
Maintaining the highest standards of safety for our employees, as well as our customers and communities, is our top priority at Exelon. It’s essential in potentially hazardous work environments like ours, and every employee is dedicated to putting safety first.
“Our goal is to finish every year with zero recorded injuries,” said John Barnes, senior vice president of Exelon Generation and COO of Exelon Power. “For every one of our employees to go home in the same condition that they came to work – every single day – is the real goal. Now, we need to continue to build on our outstanding results from last year.”
Exelon Power’s safety streak started before 2015.
Exelon’s strong safety performance began well before last year. There hasn’t been an OSHA-recordable incident since September 2014.
In fact, Exelon Power personnel have worked more than 4 million hours without a DART (Days Away, Restricted or Transferred) incident. This means there have been no injuries that forced employees to miss work, perform their jobs in a restricted manner or transfer to another job within a calendar year. According to Exelon Power Safety Manager Paul Goins, the last DART incident occurred in 2013.
“With more than 900 employees mainly working in plant environments every day, safety is a real challenge,” Barnes said. “But our employees have taken ownership of our safety culture, and the results prove it.”
Exelon fosters an environment for employees to contribute to a safe workplace.
We believe that collaboration can bring about efficient and smart solutions. By working together and listening to one another, Exelon Power staff enhanced the safety of their plants, offices and other facilities.
Goins said employees from across the Exelon Power organization actively voiced safety concerns and participated in resolutions, which helped make 2015 a year without OSHA-recordable injuries. Workers also put safety first by implementing a questioning attitude; using “Site Observation Cards,” which document safety behaviors, processes and material conditions; and sharing best practices.
“Working safely has everything to do with our employees being engaged and involved,” Goins said. “Leadership can provide tools and support, but safety is a grassroots process. It’s driven from employees up. Obviously, our employees were highly engaged in 2015.”
Now, Exelon Power aims to improve even further in employee safety.
Exelon is all about continuous improvement. When we attain a goal, we always raise the bar so we can get even better. Using the safety accomplishments from 2015 as a launch pad, Exelon Power is working to instill the same emphasis on safe behaviors with its contracted workforce.
“Everyone in Exelon Power played a significant role in our safety accomplishment last year,” Goins said. “Now, we need to guard against complacency and look for ways to build on the foundation we’ve established. Our goal is to continue to ensure Exelon Power is a safe place to work every day.”
