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Safety Program
“Safety is a moral obligation” to our Fairmont Utilities employees. We established our program 12 years ago in an effort to protect the health and welfare of each and every employee.
David C. Sago, Utility Manager, wrote the Guidance manual for plant safety at the Fairmont Wastewater Treatment Plant in 1996 and has since implemented the most innovative safety program in the state of West Virginia to all the utility departments.
The employees are involved in the safety program daily. It is their responsibility to report unsafe conditions at the wastewater and filtration plants, field services or equipment at the lift station. Management and Operations/Maintenance staffs are in constant communication with regard to maintain a safe working environment.
Safety training, awareness and safe equipment handling are critical to the Utilities Safety Program. “Monthly Safety Meetings” are held to provide training on various topics to provide a safe and healthy workplace and to foster safe work behaviors and attitudes. These type of training activities include:
Chlorine Safety and Repair Courses with our local Chlorine Distributor and the City of Fairmont Fire Departments
Confined Space Training with Fairmont Fire Departments with Permit Entry program in place
Back Safety and proper lifting techniques with local chiropractors Dr. Paul Rundle.
Lock-out/Tag-out training and procedure program
Hazard Communication with Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS)
Oxygen/Acetylene training on tanks and proper use instruction
ALL WWTP Employees are Certified in First Aid and CPR procedures
Proper use training for Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE) issued to all employees. (I.e. Hardhats, protective eye ware, back protection belts, gloves and other clothing materials
Hepatitis B vaccination program for all employees to include Lines Department employees
Fire Extinguisher training, Emergency Response Program, chlorine and methane alarm training and Correct use training for the Aim600 gas detection monitor.
Shoring and Trenching
Traffic Control and Work Zone Safety
Annual 'Miss Utility' training and updates
These are the type of training and awareness we have put into place to protect our employees. We continue to improve our safety program with “innovative” ideas. In the year 2000 we established a “Health and Wellness Program” to add to our safety program and training sessions. The “Pathways to Wellness” program provides necessary changes in attitudes to our employee’s health awareness by providing all types of health screenings and seminars. The program also provides blood pressure checks, cholesterol and glucose screening along with a personal wellness profile.
We have monthly health seminars on topics such as heart disease, cancer awareness, “How to Manage Stress” and nutrition to just name a few. This has been a tremendous addition to our safety program and our employees are developing new healthy attitude as a result.
We are extremely proud of our safety accomplishments and we will continue to provide our employees with all the necessary training, safety equipment and promote healthy work environments and attitudes. We will continue to meet our personal goal of protecting the health of all employees as well the protecting the public’s health and environment.
Recent photos from our class on Back Injuries and Prevention: (click to enlarge)
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