Contact: Priscilla Knight, 703-392-1580, pknight@novec.com
MANASSAS, VIRGINIA – The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC) had no work time or days lost in 2006 due to accidents. At the January employee meetings, Construction Manager Skip Hollcroft credited the near-perfect record to employees following safety rules and procedures, which are reinforced at bimonthly safety meetings at the Cooperative.
NOVEC has more than 300 employees. Many of them work directly with electricity and dangerous industrial equipment. When storms hit the area and cause outages, employees work around the clock in dangerous conditions to restore power. Electrocution, falls from utility poles, and vehicle accidents on busy roads in NOVEC’s six-county service area are just a few possible hazards.
Tripping, falling down stairs and improper lifting in NOVEC’s offices can also occur. Consequently, NOVEC requires all employees to attend safety meetings and training sessions, such as cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) classes.
Hollcroft praised all the employees’ efforts to adhere to safety procedures. He said in 2005 there were 210 lost-days and six lost-time occurrences resulting from 34 accidents. NOVEC’s goal was to reduce the accident rate by 25 percent in 2006. The improvement of zero lost time and days was greater than 100 percent, despite 20 minor accidents that resulted in no lost work time. Hollcroft said, “We set a goal for 2006. We not only met that goal, but we exceeded it tremendously.”
Mike Curtis, NOVEC’s vice president of public relations, told employees that the accident record was phenomenal. He said, “You should all pat yourselves on the back for a job well done. To go a whole year without a single lost-time accident is phenomenal in an industry as dangerous as ours. Congratulations.”
The Co-op has set a higher goal for 2007: no lost time or days, and ten or fewer accidents. Hollcroft told employees, “We can do it!” To meet the goal, NOVEC will require more safety education with biweekly safety meetings; switching, tagging and grounding procedures classes; and U.S. Department of Transportation standards classes.
