While safety has taken on new importance worldwide in the past few months, it has always been a top priority at Citizens Energy Group. To recognize June as National Safety Month, Citizens’ Health and Safety department is providing all employees with an orange tumbler highlighting this year’s motto: “Health & Safety Starts with Me”
As another way to celebrate National Safety Month, we’d like to recognize how our employees recently have demonstrated Safety as a core value.
Pandemic Precautions
Our employees have continued to do their jobs safely throughout the coronavirus pandemic to provide essential utility services to our customers. Citizens appreciates the dedication of our employees and praises them for the extra precautions they have taken to keep themselves and others safe and healthy.
- Our employees are using personal protective equipment.
- Our Contact Center and field employees are asking customers if anyone in the household is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or has been exposed to anyone who is, before arriving at, or entering, a premise.
- Employees working on crews and in our facilities are following enhanced safety protocols, such as driving separate vehicles and wearing face coverings.
- Sabine Karner, Vice President and Controller, sewed 150 face masks for distribution to our employees. Karol Siefer, the wife of Director, Internal Audit John Siefer, made and donated 80 masks to Citizens for our Shared Field Services employees.
Legislative Change
With our focus on safety, Citizens and other utility companies worked together to affect legislative change to better protect our field employees.
During the 2019 legislative session, our government relations team supported Indiana Senate Enrolled Act 240, which was signed into law last year. With this legislation in effect, individuals who commit an offense against a worker who is acting in the ordinary course of the worker’s employment (such as utility field employees) are now subject to harsher punishment. Prior to this legislation, such an offense was a misdemeanor. SEA240 added language to the law, stating that if “the threat relates to or is made in connection with the occupation, profession, employment status or ownership status of a person,” the offense is a felony.
Although Citizens Energy Group and other utilities have taken proactive measures to keep employees safe, such as increasing the visibility of employees and work vehicles, implementing awareness training, and eliminating the acceptance of payments in the field, utility workers across sectors continue to experience threats. We believe SEA240 will help improve employee safety and deter those who threaten a utility worker who, in many cases, is trying to provide service to a customer or a neighborhood.
President and CEO Jeffrey Harrison sat down with Utility Service Specialist Anthony Pippens earlier this year to learn more about the importance of SEA240. Watch a video of their conversation at bit.ly/WorkerSafetyVideo.
Photo caption: Glenn Stuckey and Jamie Staley wear face coverings made by Sabine Karner.
