Zeltmann, NYPA President, Highlights 3-Part Approach to Worker Safety
Contact Steve Shoenholz 914-390-8165 stephen,shoenholz@nypa.gov
October 18, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCY, N.Y.—New York Power Authority President and Chief Operating Officer Eugene W. Zeltmann told a utility safety group Thursday that NYPA’s outstanding worker safety record reflects a commitment by the Authority’s top management to "caring, coaching and collaborating."
"Because we care about our employees, we aggressively address hazardous conditions and reckless approaches that may endanger them as they work to help the Power Authority attain its goals," Zeltmann said at a meeting of the New York State Public Utility Safety Directors Association at NYPA’s Frederick R. Clark Energy Center.
Noting that coaching is intended to build awareness of safety issues, Zeltman said that "a good coach obviously wants to get the job done. But a great coach puts workers first. He or she consistently strives to help employees develop safe working habits and recognizes that while doing the job is important, doing it safely is even more so."
Collaborating, he said, includes building relationships with federal and state safety agencies.
Zeltmann told the representatives of electric, gas and telecommunications utilities that the Power Authority has won the American Public Power Association’s top safety award for the nation’s largest publicly owned electric utilities in each of the past five years. He attributed this success to "personal accountability coupled with ongoing vigilance."
"Safety isn’t the responsibility of a single person," he said, "but requires a concerted effort by all people within an organization. It involves not only the workers, but also management at all levels, to the most senior executives. At the Power Authority, I believe that senior-level commitment and support have been absolutely essential to establishing an effective safety and health program."
Zeltmann said that NYPA has taken various initiatives to assure continued excellence in safety, including sharing information among its facilities, benchmarking safety performance against that of other entities and communicating with employees through an intranet web page and other means.
He noted that the Clark Energy Center, which houses NYPA’s statewide energy control center and various transmission maintenance and training functions, has gone more than two years without a recordable accident. A recordable accident, as defined by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, is one resulting in medical treatment by a licensed physician.
