Celebrating safety

A recent luncheon at Louisville Water’s Allmond Avenue facility celebrated a major safety accomplishment for the company: zero OSHA recordable injuries during the first quarter of the year — probably for the first time.

“I don’t believe the company has ever had a quarter without an OSHA recordable injury,” said Executive Vice President Dave Vogel.

Dave Simmons, Environmental Health & Safety Manager, credited the injury-free first quarter to continuous efforts to build a safety culture at Louisville Water, including:

• Safety tailgate meetings
• Safety field audits
• Monthly safety themes
• Rolling out a “near miss program” at Allmond Avenue to analyze incidents that could have caused accidents
• Annual safety awareness giveaways for employees (including fire extinguishers, safety glasses, and first aid kits)
• Safety games for employees (including March Madness and scavenger hunt games promoting safety)
• Team incentives
• A new safety coin designed by an employee
• Promoting the concept of home safety
• Sharing company injury data from the past five years

Simmons also pointed out that the company’s training program is critical to building our culture and noted that employees completed more safety training last year than ever before.