Safety
“From COVID-19 to severe weather, we face many events that can take our focus away from the job at hand. We cannot be driven by the events of the day. We must plan and act upon our vision of serving our customers safely and reliably today, tomorrow and beyond.”
– Al Payton, Vice President of Safety and Technical Training
Our goal is to maintain a safe work environment and deliver electricity and natural gas safely to the communities we serve. To achieve this safety goal, CenterPoint Energy is guided by the following principles:
- Compliance: We are committed to complying with applicable safety laws and regulations. In fact, the implementation of best practices we have developed over years of service allows us to exceed the requirements detailed in some regulations governing our industry. Employees are expected to adhere to and abide by all company policies, procedures and guidelines for working around and operating our systems in a safe manner. Contractors who perform work for the company are expected to do so safely, in compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
- Accountability: Safety is the responsibility of all employees and is a condition of employment. While management sets clear expectations and provides support and training, employees are accountable for understanding and incorporating safe work practices into their daily work activities. Employees are also accountable for reporting incidents, injuries and unsafe practices or conditions so they can be promptly evaluated and addressed.
- Continuous Improvement: We strive to continuously improve our safety culture and performance, embracing training, innovation and technology. We identify opportunities to improve and gain knowledge from proactive learning events, incidents, near-misses, inspection programs and observations submitted by the public or employees. We frequently share learnings with peer utilities to advance safety throughout the industry.
- Customer and Community Focus: We will continue to develop and maintain effective safety programs that educate and inform customers and the public in the communities where we operate. We have increased our outreach to high schools and technical schools to provide educational support while opening the door to job opportunities in the utility industry.
Al Payton, CenterPoint Energy’s VP, Safety & Technical Training, was awarded the 2023 Thomas F. Farrell, II Safety Leadership and Innovation Award by the Edison Electric Institute.
2022 Safety Performance
| Employee Days Away Restricted or Transferred (DART) Rate | 1.12 |
| Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Recordable Work-Related Injuries | 118 |
| Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) | 1.45 |
| Number of Hours Worked | 16,268,365 |
Safety and Customer Service Performance and Accountability
Because the safety and well-being of our employees, contractors, customers and communities is top of mind, our short-term incentive plan metrics for all employees except our Executive Committee, among other items, measure the effectiveness of our safety protocols and leadership engagement on safety initiatives, as well as customer reliability and responsiveness.
With regard to our Executive Committee members, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors has discretion to adjust the payout of the Executive Committee’s short-term incentive awards and, with the support of management, has in the past and intends to continue to use its discretion to adjust the short-term incentive awards of the Executive Committee downward, when applicable, to align with the awards for employees who are not members of the Executive Committee.