Putting Safety First - Some Reflections from VEC’s Safety Manager

At VEC our mission is to provide safe, reliable, affordable and sustainable energy services to our members. “Safe” is intentionally the first word in that commitment and we work to keep safety a top priority. VEC’s Safety and Facilities Manager John Varney (pictured above) has been at the co-op since 2013 and will be retiring in March. John has been a critical part of strengthening our safety culture, leading the facilitation of teams, helping us respond to incidents and focusing on proactive prevention.

Importantly, John has been a key role-model, encouraging each of us to take responsibility for the safety not only of ourselves, but our colleagues as well.

Thanks in large part to John’s leadership at VEC we talk about safety regularly, share ownership of safety practices, and support each other to make smart safety decisions every day.

Perhaps our safety lessons spill into your life too – whether it’s through one of our team members, learning from our safety share at annual meeting, or seeing safety tips on social media. Every day we all make decisions that impact safety – to go grab that step ladder, instead of standing on a chair, drive a little slower, use safety glasses during yard work, or wear ear protection at a loud concert. I want to thank John for his work making us safer at VEC and hope you make safety your priority too.

Recently we took some time to talk with John about his work at VEC on the eve of his retirement about his work at VEC on the eve of his departure. 

-- Rebecca Towne, VEC chief executive officer

What have been your roles and responsibilities here at VEC?

There are two main categories: safety and facilities. Safety involves lots of things, but overall entails instilling and enhancing a company-wide safety culture to minimize risks and injuries. And I don’t need to remind anyone that working in the electric sector comes with very significant risks. On the facilities side, it’s day-to-day building maintenance issues and major capital improvements – our recent construction of a new Newport facility is one example. These often involve months of planning and follow through.

Safety has been woven into the fabric of all we do at VEC. How have you accomplished that?

It’s been multi-faceted. Most of our meetings, company-wide, start with a “safety share.” One person shares a safety-related tip or experience that hopefully can help others avoid an accident or an injury. Supervisors check on people who are working in the field to be sure of safe practices, and we use “tailboards” – documented discussions among crew members before starting a job. These conversations are designed to identify risks and minimize the chance of injury. We do monthly safety meetings at all the districts. We have a “learning opportunities” program – a shared online system where we share near-misses, from both work life and at home, and analyze how they can be avoided in the future. We have a safety committee that meets regularly, as well as several complementary safety teams including a safety communications team that’s charged with getting the word out about safety generally to the entire company. What would you say are the most important aspects of creating a safety culture? What’s absolutely key to our safety culture is this: reporting safety problems comes with no penalties or repercussions. We have created a culture of openness and candor across the company regarding safety. No one is reprimanded for a poor safety choice. Instead, the safety missteps are seen as learning

What have been some of the highlights of your time here at VEC?

There are two big ones: The first is getting VEC certified in the national OSHA Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP. VEC is the only electric utility east of the Mississippi that has this prestigious designation that requires rigorous safety protocols, and we are just one of three companies in Vermont of any type that have the designation. I’m also very proud of the capital projects we have accomplished, including upgrading our Richford facility, the construction of our Newport facility, and more. On average we have completed about 10 capital projects per year over the 13 years I have been at VEC. I am very proud of VEC’s safety program, our low rates of injury and the fact we have continued to be qualified in the VPP program for going on eight years. It takes a lot of commitment from across the company to keep our safety record strong. It’s been a team effort with people from across the company engaging and committing to this effort. There are lots of ways people can add safety to their daily lives, whether at work or at home.

What simple advice can you offer to members for adding safety to their daily lives?

Overall, at its core, safety is actually pretty simple: stop, and think, and be sure you have the right tool or equipment to get the job done. Often in my experience injuries are caused by people moving too fast. They want to get the job done quickly. Maybe they are under a self-imposed deadline. They know they need, say, the step ladder that’s in the cellar rather than a foot stool they have handy, but they use the foot stool and if they have to reach too high that can cause problems. One of the rewards of my work at VEC is hearing that the safety culture we have created here has permeated into employees’ family lives as well. That makes me feel good. It’s deeply rewarding to have been part of a successful program to keep our employees, as well as our members, safer. moments and opportunities for improvement. This focus on safety is a group effort, that we are all in this together, and people should not be embarrassed about reporting a lapse in safety practices – this has been critical to our success.