Snohomish County PUD Safety Policy

Statement of Policy

It is the intent of Public Utility District No. 1 of Snohomish County (the “District”) to provide a safe place for all to work. To accomplish this goal, we must all make a commitment to work with personal safety in mind. Only with employee commitment to safety can we prevent workplace accidents.

Management

Management’s responsibility is to manage the way work is performed to prevent accidents and injuries. The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) provides direction and full support of all safety procedures, job training and hazard-elimination practices. The Senior Manager of Safety must stay fully informed of health and safety issues and constantly evaluate the effectiveness of health and safety programs.

Supervision

Managers are directly responsible and accountable for overseeing the safety of their employees. They must stress that performing work accident free is as important as quality and timeliness. Managers must manage their employees’ work performance with safety in mind and take immediate corrective action to eliminate unsafe acts and conditions.

Joint Safety Team

The Joint Safety Team consists of management and employee representatives who have an interest in the general promotion of health and safety at the District. The team is responsible for making recommendations on improving health and safety in the workplace, as well as reviewing all incidents.

Employees

Each employee, regardless of position at the District, is expected to understand and follow accepted safety and health practices, as outlined in this manual, while performing their job duties. This includes:

Utilizing standard safe work practices while on the job.
Reporting incidents or Safety Learning Opportunities (SLO) immediately.
Wearing required personal protective equipment based on the work being performed.
Reporting any unsafe act or condition immediately to manager or person in charge. Faulty equipment or damaged property can be reported via Team PUD Facilities Service Request.

Each employee has a personal responsibility for their own safety, as well as the safety of co-workers. If everyone does their part to ensure a safe workplace, we all benefit.

General Safety Expectations

It is expected that all employees follow all General Safety rules and promote good safety habits. Safety is the District’s top value and in collaboration with the Union, we are committed to ensuring the safety, health, and well-being of our employees. Safety takes precedence over anything we do. No employee is expected to perform work they perceive as unsafe. All employees have “STOP WORK AUTHORITY”. Some District departments, units, or divisions may have safety rules expanding beyond the District’s General Safety rules. Please see applicable job specific rules, District Directives 34, Employee Rules of Conduct, and guidelines contained in other sections of this Accident Prevention Manual (APM).

Safety Learning Opportunities (SLO)

An SLO is an unintended, unplanned and/or unexpected event that could have, but did not, result in personal injury or damage to property. An SLO may also be an action or condition that left unaddressed could result in injury. To report an SLO, see Incident Reporting section of this manual.

The following are examples of SLO:

Unsafe conditions that could result in personal injury.
Unsafe behaviors that result from a lack of defined process, safety rule, or safe work practice.
Events where injury could have occurred but did not.
Events where damage to District property results, but no personal injuries occurred. (Note: Damage to property owned by a third party is NOT considered an SLO.)
Events where a safety rule or PPE is unintentionally not utilized.