From Good to Great: Transforming Power Utility Safety Programs
Three Points to Remember
- Leidos helps utilities elevate their safety programs by identifying pain points and blind spots, introducing innovative and personalized solutions that are effective and meaningful to employees.
- A robust safety culture connects all utility employees around a shared goal of maintaining a workplace free from incidents and injuries, emphasizing accountability, risk avoidance, and daily safety practices.
- Leidos conducts evaluations and assessments to align safety goals with organizational culture and customizes training approaches to ensure engagement and sustainability.
When electric utilities truly value safety performance--reflected in everyday decisions on the job--they reduce injuries and protect their workforce. An effective safety approach controls costs and avoids regulatory penalties through fewer investigations, less downtime, and uninterrupted operations. According to OSHA, a strong safety program can reduce workplace injury costs by 20-40% and keeps physical assets hazard-free and operating safely.
Many utilities struggle to keep safety programs fresh and meaningful as routines replace vigilance. Leidos helps transform utility safety programs from good to great. We help utilities identify pain points and blind spots revealed in everyday work, then introduce fresh safety innovations. These solutions are deeply personal and effective because they reflect the real pressures and decisions crews face in the field.
What does safety look like?
Safety management is much more than knowing the regulations and attending training. True risk mitigation depends on people--from leadership to entry-level workers--making daily choices that affect themselves and others. In practice, safety shows up when an employee wears PPE correctly, a colleague adjusts a teammate's harness before a climb, or a manager mitigates a hazard before it becomes an incident. Safety is a daily, personal practice adopted by every employee on every job, every day. By enhancing safety programs to make them more robust, fresh, and meaningful to employees, utilities can affect real changes in how safety is viewed and implemented by employees. This, in turn, avoids complacency and keeps employees keenly focused on safety, saving them from injury or even fatality.
A culture of safety connects the entire utility around the goal of zero incidents and injuries, with no tolerance for unsafe behavior. A safety-first mindset removes barriers to accountability and gives every employee responsibility for speaking up or stopping work when something doesn't look right. It reduces complacency, minimizes business interruptions, and protects both people and performance.
“It is extremely rewarding to hear from our utility clients that the safety programs we have elevated and refreshed with our innovative solutions continue to see dramatic results--both in their culture as well as in a reduction in their incidents and injuries.”
Candace Bell
Leidos Safety Manager
How Leidos helps utilities develop a culture of safety
A successful safety program relies on engaging employees through training that inspires a commitment to safety and accountability. Before training begins, we perform tailored evaluations and assessments to learn how we can help utilities make better-informed safety management decisions. Using our deep industry knowledge and insights based on firsthand experience, we focus on ways to align our clients’ organizational culture and attitudes towards safety with their safety goals.
We bring fresh solutions to upgrade and improve utility’s safety programs.
“Each utility customer is unique, and their team members have a range of experience, knowledge, and outlooks concerning safety procedures,” said Candace Bell, Leidos safety manager. “We apply granular-level methodology to uncover potential vulnerabilities, using written programs and procedures, people discussions and discovery, and benchmarking.”
Our field safety observer program is one of many examples of innovative solutions that Leidos has successfully implemented with utility clients. This distinctive approach verifies the adoption of new, enhanced, and refreshed safety processes with field operations employees, where it really matters most. This program confronts and mitigates the utility’s invisible risks: fatigue and burnout, being lulled into routine procedures, high pressure environments, and hidden psychological stressors. With continual monitoring, this proven approach provides sustainable and meaningful value.
After the assessments and recommendations are complete, Leidos customizes the training approach to each utility and incorporates a variety of methods to maximize engagement of the entire team, including tabletop exercises, technology-based curriculum, and impactful videos. This process ensures that our solutions are fully inclusive for all participants.
“The key to a successful safety program hinges on normalizing safety as a mindset and creating a robust culture of safety that utilities can maintain,” Bell said. "The foundation of Leidos’ safety programs is our end-to-end customization, backed by a commitment to program success and sustainability."
