October/November 2023

SPOTLIGHT ON: DAIRYLAND'S SAFETY TEAM

Dairyland's Safety Department shares a commitment to strengthening overall safety culture, while providing service expertise both in-house and throughout our service territory. The Safety team (see organizational chart) has grown strategically to provide leadership and support for our chief priority: Safety Culture. Departmental oversight includes development and implementation of compliance programs, policies and procedures for Dairyland and our participating Job Training & Safety distribution cooperatives. (See special focus on Work Methods below.)

As part of its purpose statement, the team "educates and communicates on both proactive and reactive initiatives to further advance Dairyland’s moral obligation, Safety, for each of its employees, business partners and the public at large."

Employee awareness is raised through Safety Bulletins, Safety Alerts, weekly Tailgate Toolkits, Safety Stand-Downs, Dairyland Directions, Riverside Chats and a continual focus on safety at the start of every job, meeting or event.

Get to know your Safety team: If you are looking for a Safety Moment or activity for your next team meeting, consider walking through the Safety department's page on the Breaker to familiarize yourself with all available resources. Learn about each safety team member's area of expertise by paging through the Meet the Safety Team presentation - you'll also learn fun facts about your coworkers along the way!

ROLE FOCUS: HOW DOES WORK METHODS HELP EVERYONE GO HOME SAFE, EVERY DAY?

Work Methods Coordinator - Safety Grant Woychik (pictured) steps into Dairyland every day with a clear purpose: to develop and motivate safe work processes for Dairyland work groups. The following tasks are key components of the Work Methods safety discipline:

Re-evaluating and developing safe processes for new or existing work
Selecting the correct tools and identifying industry best practices
Conducting a job hazard analysis (JHA) on any task to be performed

Together, these practices - coupled with open communication at all levels - improve safe, reliable and cost-effective outcomes enterprise-wide at Dairyland.

"I work towards our goals in part by completing a JHA on specific work tasks, which allows for hazard identification and the potential consequences," said Grant. Each component of the job that presents a hazard is evaluated and implementation of effective controls are put into place to eliminate or mitigate exposure. Grant emphasized that teamwork is required for success. "All work is completed alongside department leaders and field workers to improve safe, reliable, and cost-effective outcomes. I collaborate with these groups to select the safest and best tooling to effectively perform their jobs as well as comparing industry best practices."

Grant's favorite part of the job? Talking with you! "Since the Work Methods role is unfamiliar to most Dairyland employees, it has offered an opportunity for me to not only educate but establish new relationships across the organization," said Grant. "I feel my past job duties in Plant Operations and Electrical Maintenance have given me a great deal of knowledge, understanding and respect for those who work on the frontline. Please contact me to discuss an idea or concern anytime!"

INTELEX UPDATE

The Intelex safety management system will be replaced with a collaborative, efficient solution. We are happy to report that the new system has been selected and is currently under contractual review.

THANK YOU to focus group members - your participation has been essential to ensuring Dairyland selects a user-friendly system that meets or exceeds expectations for safety management. Stay tuned for an announcement and further details on software selection and implementation.

TAILGATE TOPICS

As we look to close out the first full calendar year of Dairyland's Safety Tailgate Toolkits, the team is looking for your input on topics for 2024. Content ideas for the weekly all-hands communication are appreciated at safetydept@dairylandpower.com.

As a reminder, topics can focus on our whole lives with content that is relevant at work and at home. If we aren't safe everywhere, we can't function anywhere.

When providing feedback, please be specific and solution-focused. For example, "XX and XX topics covered in the XX tailgate aren't relevant to me" does not bring a solution or strengthen our safety culture. Citing a specific idea - and including your Why - is helpful in developing content that has the greatest impact. Thank you!

Looking for a Safety Moment at work or to share in your personal life? The toolkits are not just a one-and-done resource; reference back to previous toolkits for Safety Moment content and team learning all year.

SAFETY TEAM OPENING

Interested in joining the Safety Team? Check out Workday Careers for a Safety Training Instructor position posting. (The opportunity will be shared in Short Circuits as well.)

We want to hear from you! Questions or Comments? Email safetyculture@dairylandpower.com.

A message from Dairyland’s Safety Culture Systemwide Team.

A SAFE HUNT IS A SUCCESSFUL HUNT

Many Dairylanders and their families make the most of the various fall hunts and are excited for the kick-off of deer (gun) season. Whether your outing involves actual hunting or is mostly a great reason to get together with friends and family, heed the “TAB-K” Four Basic Rules of Firearm Safety from the Wisconsin DNR so that everyone is home safe every day.

T = Treat every firearm as if it is loaded. Never assume a firearm is unloaded and never treat it that way, even if you watch as it is unloaded.
A = Always point the muzzle in a safe direction. About one third of all hunting incidents are self inflicted injuries. A safe direction is a direction where the bullet will travel and harm no one in the event of an unwanted discharge.
B = Be certain of your target and what’s beyond it. Positive target identification is a must. You must be absolutely certain before deciding to shoot. Otherwise, it’s reckless behavior. In addition, a hunter must know that a safe backstop for their bullet is present. We don’t always hit our target and sometimes the bullet passes through the target. A safe backstop guarantees that no one will get hurt.
K = Keep your finger outside the trigger guard until ready to shoot. If a hunter stumbles with a firearm in one hand and nothing in the other, whatever that person does with their free hand will happen with the hand holding the gun. If a finger is inside the trigger guard, that hand is likely going to close around the pistol grip of the gun and on the trigger, causing an unwanted discharge.

GOOD CATCHES: ONE-CLICK TO SUBMIT!

Dairyland received 71 Good Catches from across the organization in October! Thank you for showing 200% accountability by sharing your Good Catch experiences. Through Good Catch reports, the Dairyland team can learn about potential hazards to prevent future incidents. And now, submitting them is easier than ever. Simply click the new Good Catch button on the Safety Department homepage on the Breaker.

President and CEO Brent Ridge emphasizes the importance of all employees to put full focus on Everyone Home Safe, Every Day. "Take one day at a time, finishing each workday in the same or better condition than we started," said Brent. As part of 200% accountability, we all have a duty to look out for not just ourselves, but for our teammates to get home safely as well.

NEW: Stop Work question now on Good Catch form

As part of Dairyland's mindset to continuously improve safety processes, employees submitting a Good Catch report will notice a question regarding the need to Stop Work on the form. This change will be implemented the week of Nov. 6. All employees, whether it is your first day on the job or your 40th year, have the authority to Stop Work for safety at any time. Stop Work authority stops safety incidents in their tracks, providing key support for our goal of zero incidents.

Stop Work authority is defined as: The task being performed was paused or stopped until a safe way to proceed was determined; if more than one person is involved then the initiator of the Stop Work must agree with the determination before proceeding.

What’s the difference between a Good Catch and a Near Miss?

A Good Catch is a positive, proactive recognition of an unsafe condition, action or flawed piece of equipment. An example of a Good Catch would be someone noticing a potential problem with equipment before it is used.

A Near Miss is defined as a condition or set of circumstances which could have caused injury or damage but is avoided by chance or corrective action. Near Misses are reactive. If a person or property could have been injured due to hazardous conditions, that is a Near Miss. For a Near Miss, the submitter had a “that was close” experience.

Published by Dairyland Power Cooperative's Safety Culture Systemwide Team.

Contact Editor Katie Thomson at 787-1323. (Area codes are 608 unless indicated.)

Dairyland Power Cooperative is an Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer.