Using Safety to Institute Culture Change Presented for the NRECA G&T Safety Forum The East Kentucky Power Journey : Mike Willoughby Safety/Security Manager

Distracted Driving

“Everything starts with the safety of our employees. During 2011, we began a major initiative to become an industry leader in workplace safety. This initiative will extend through 2012 and beyond, because we are changing the very culture of our organization to ensure that safety is top of mind for all employees in everything they do.” Paul Hawkins Chairman of the Board Anthony Campbell President and CEO

Three Things I Knew I Wanted to Accomplish Bring Incident Reporting out of Hiding Engage our management team in an interactive safety role Change the perception that we valued production over safety

Seeking Outside Assistance…

Survey Completion Rate Over one third of respondents wrote lengthy comments and verified that we were indeed hiding incidents and that as a company the perception was strong that we valued production over safety Our first Indication of how ripe the company was for change and how anxious people were to be involved 99%

Reinforcing that Safety is a Line Management Responsibility Keys for developing a sustainable Safety Program Building Trust Reinforcing that Safety is a Line Management Responsibility Engaging Employees

Building Trust CEO Apology CEO personally addressed all workgroups and acknowledged that his approach was wrong VPs conducted meetings with their work groups to talk frankly about the survey results The trust level of executive staff rose and in turn trust for all Management Employees immediately began reporting incidents more frequently Near Miss Miracle

How do we actively engage employees in safety?

Process Improvement Teams Incident Investigation Rules and Procedures Contractor Safety Communications Safety Observations

Safety Observations

4,000 + 2013

Peripheral Benefits Close to 100 of the brightest individuals in the company assisting me with my process Painful Wonderful Interaction with the board and executive staff Opportunities for people to develop/showcase skills Opportunities for Team Leaders to show their capabilities as a leader

Peripheral Benefits Leaders started to emerge from teams The PIT teams have been a wonderful melting pot for the organization. Art of negotiation and debate We have identified people for our succession plan both inside and outside the PIT Established Sub Teams (more leadership opportunities)

Conclusion We are sharing with you a work in progress and not a finished product The benefits we have seen so far extend well beyond safety Safety Observations are the cornerstone of our initiative…incorporating all three of our key strategic initiatives.

Anthony “Tony” Campbell Pres. & CEO East KY Power Cooperative “We understand that this is a long term commitment to the way we approach work every day. We don’t just want to be average… We want to strive for safety excellence. And it’s worth it, because our employees are worth it.” Anthony “Tony” Campbell Pres. & CEO East KY Power Cooperative

Questions