January 18, 2019

Harrison Operations Superintendent Scott Swiger pointed for emphasis to the photo of the failed steam sample line. “In a split second,” he said, “this incident could have gone from a near miss to a fatality.”

Scott and Harrison Technical Services Manager Ed Murphy spent last Friday talking with every available worker at the Harrison Power Station, reviewing 2018 incidents within FirstEnergy Generation that had the potential to be Life Changing Events (LCE) – impressing upon fellow workers the importance of awareness, and watching out for one another, as well as themselves.

The duo’s LCE station was one of several that workers visited during Harrison’s 2019 Safety Kickoff, the first of a series of Safety Kickoff events being held this month at Generation facilities.

“We’re holding kickoffs in a small group environment this year, instead of one big presentation,” said Jodi Dragich, Harrison senior Safety representative. “We found that some individuals aren’t comfortable speaking up or asking questions in a large group. But if we bring them through in small groups it’s a whole different dynamic. It’s much more productive with more open discussion.”

“For us to get to where we want to be safety-wise, we’ve got to hold one another accountable,” said Dan Rossero, vice president of FE Fleet Operations. “It makes a lot of sense for employees to go through the program with the team members they work with every day.”

Workers attended presentation stations in areas of Safety and Risk; Site and Fleet Safety Visions; a review of 2018 performance in LCEs and LCE Potentials; and Exposure, Hazards and Risk Management.

“We feel that it’s critical to educate our employees on recognizing hazards and learning how to control exposures for themselves and for others,” said Mike Mamone, Regulated Generation Safety manager.

“We have to take every chance to delve into root issues and learn. Safety doesn’t improve until we control, improve or eliminate our exposures,” said Dan. “The fact is we’ll never stop working on our safety culture. And that’s the way it should be.”

Safety Kickoffs were held this week at the Eastlake, Pleasants and Fort Martin plants. Upcoming events are for Generation employees at the West Akron Campus (Jan. 23), Greensburg (Feb. 4) and Yards Creek (Feb. 20).

Scott Swiger discusses 2018 LCEs and potential LCEs with a work crew.