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Safety is the overriding value of all aspects of our business. A primary responsibility of all APS employees is to ensure their safety, that of their co-workers and the public at large. While the growth of our service territory dictates greater efficiency and productivity, these added demands cannot come at the expense of the health and safety of our employees. Every employee must have the opportunity to return home at the end of their shift in the same condition in which they arrived.
With the amount of work necessary to meet our rapidly growing service territory, the challenge to work safely will continue into the future. This challenge is increasingly significant as many experienced employees reach retirement age and new team members join our company. In the APS 2005-2010 Business Plan, the management team asks each employee to "Own the Challenge." Until APS employees can achieve zero recordable injuries and sustain that performance, there will always be room for improvement.
Specifically, we continue to ask employees to focus on six fundamental principles of safety:
- Use the right tool for the job
- Get the necessary training
- Wear appropriate personal protective equipment
- Conduct thorough tailboard (pre-job) briefings
- Stop work if there is a safety concern or question
- Report all close calls
Throughout 2007 emphasis was placed on employee participation in behavior-based initiatives designed to focus the attention of our workforce on safety awareness and minimizing at-risk behavior and conditions.
Our management team is responsible and accountable for safety performance. However, we recognize that employees and their immediate supervisors also have a key role in driving personal behavior and therefore our safety results Working in concert with our full-time safety and health professionals also is critical to our success. The following describes our internal safety infrastructure:
Safety and Health Advisory Team
The Safety and Health Advisory Team is responsible for providing cross-functional strategic direction and leadership on companywide health and safety issues. The team consists of safety and health professionals from each of the company’s business units. These professionals represent their respective business unit and communicate health and safety issues. The team makes recommendations to the company’s officers on all matters requiring executive oversight.
The team is supported by the Prevention Team, which advances programs and practices that promote employee wellness and accident prevention, and the Compliance Team, which addresses regulatory compliance matters and interpretation of best management practices.
Joint Health and Safety Committee
The Accident Prevention Manual (APM) Rules/Revision Committee is comprised of company and Local IBEW employees who review the safety rules and any employee requests for revisions to the manual. In addition to fielding requests, the Committee periodically reviews the manual to ensure it remains timely and useful in helping to prevent accidents.
Craft Observation Teams
The Energy Delivery business unit at APS has established four full-time IBEW positions that conduct field observations of membership work practices and work conditions. This practice enhances trust among union membership and creates an environment that is open to immediate corrective or improvement actions. A similar approach is used at several APS Generation facilities during critical overhauls and outages.
We report safety statistics in an effort to measure and improve our performance. As stated in the 2005 - 2010 Business Plan, our goal is to be ranked number one among peer utilities by 2010 as measured ...Read more
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