Safety

Safety Program

Safety is a moral obligation for our Fairmont Utilities employees. We established our program 17 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 for all the utility departments.

Employees are involved in the safety program daily. It is their responsibility to report unsafe conditions at the wastewater and filtration plants, field services department, storm water utility and at the lift stations. Management and Operations / Maintenance staffs are in constant communication with regard to maintain a safe working environment.

Training

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:

  • All possible employees are certified in First Aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) procedures
  • Annual Miss Utility training and updates
  • Back safety and proper lifting techniques with local chiropractor Dr. Paul Rundle
  • Chlorine and methane alarm training
  • Chlorine safety and repair courses with our local chlorine distributor and the City of Fairmont Fire Department
  • Confined space training with Fairmont Fire Department with Permit Entry Program in place
  • Correct use training.
  • Emergency Response Program
  • Fire extinguisher training
  • Hazard communication with Safety Data Sheets (SDS)
  • Hepatitis B vaccination program for all employees to include Lines Department employees
  • Lock-out / Tag-out training and procedure program
  • Oxygen / Acetylene training on tanks and proper use instruction
  • Proper use training for personnel protective equipment (PPE) issued to all employees, i.e.:
    • Back protection belts
    • Gloves
    • Hard hats
    • Other clothing materials
    • Protective eye-ware
  • Shoring and trenching
  • Traffic control and work zone safety

Health & Wellness

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 the 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, stress management 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.

Group of Men at a Meeting
Man Doing Flagging Equipment Presentation