2019 NSC Congress & Expo

68 - Get(ting) Engaged: 101 Grassroots Teams Lead Culture Change at a Major Utility "CASE STUDY" (Room 31C)

10 Sep 19
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

Tracks: Construction/Labor/Utilities

Speaker(s): Steve Simon, President, Culture Change Consultants Inc.; Nathan Waters, Safety Culture Team Professional, Consumers Energy; Dan Pfeffer, Millwright Asbestos Worker, Michigan State Utility Workers Council Safety Culture Team Member, Consumers Energy

Moderator(s): David Jewell, Retired;

Consumers Energy is the major utility in Michigan. In 2005, it initiated an enterprisewide safety culture change initiative that resulted in a 90 percent reduction of injuries. Employee engagement is often propagated as a solution for safety problems, but building a multi-site structure of 101 grassroots safety culture teams and implementing hundreds of improvement projects is a rare achievement. This session will be presented by the originator of the Grassroots Safety Leadership Methodology and two employee leaders – one union and one management – of the Consumers Energy Safety Culture Team, which has led the process within the company over the past decade.