With FirstEnergy now a fully regulated utility, FE Fleet Operations is charting a new course by defining a successful safety path for the future of regulated generation. Fleet Operations leadership has been involved in a series of discussion and training sessions that focus on safety and human performance communication, with emphasis on training, recognition and effective change management.

“Our discussions over the past few months center on improving our leadership abilities, and helping all of our employees fully embrace our vision, value our safety rules, procedures and programs, and be confident that every issue they bring forward will be addressed to the fullest extent possible.” said Dan Rossero, vice president, Fleet Operations.

Leadership has been working with DEKRA, an industry leading safety consultant that has worked with FEU in developing safety plans to reduce the incidence of lifechanging events.

“DEKRA is a recognized expert in the electric utility industry,” Dan said. “Working with them allows us to not only take advantage of their depth of experience, it also helps us to develop an overall strategy for our employees that coordinates with transmission and distribution – groups we now work more closely with as one, cohesive regulated entity.”

DEKRA conducted a series of interviews and evaluated relative strengths and opportunities within generation, including critical safety exposures on generation sites and any perceived barriers to safety improvement.

“We dove into the results and, looking at our strengths and opportunities, are developing a vision of what success looks like,” Dan said. “We recognize that we’re creating a roadmap for the long haul. We’re working to change our safety and leadership culture to be inclusive, responsive and transparent. Our goal is to ensure that our site employees are aligned to our mission of safety and have every tool they need to be successful.”