CenterPoint Energy’s Safety Forward approach promotes a strong safety culture across all our enterprise. Our programs provide a consistent approach to safety for all employees designed to implement best practices to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses, and increase awareness of hazards and preventive measures. Safe work practices are documented to support compliance with Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and other regulations. If an employee feels a situation is not safe, the employee has the authority to stop work at any time until the situation has been appropriately addressed.
Safety Management System
Our Safety Management System (SMS) provides the framework for our electric and natural gas systems, our corporate functions and our subsidiary operations to effectively identify and manage risks to our operations. Our SMS was implemented as a voluntary program and modeled after American Petroleum Institute’s RP 1173 guidelines for the development of Pipeline Safety Management Systems, as well as OSHA guidance. The guidelines are a best practice in the industry and highly rated by peer benchmarking groups, such as the American Gas Association.
SMS Programs and Activities
- Workforce safety
- OSHA and United States Department of Transportation compliance
- Audits and inspections
- Quality assurance and control
- Contractor monitoring and quality management programs
- Management of change
- Technical training and operator qualification
- Risk management
- Incident investigation and management
- Root cause analysis
- Corrective action
- Lessons learned
- Damage prevention
Employee Safety Participation and Observations
We expect employees to help with the identification of and elimination or effective mitigation of hazards that threaten the company’s ability to deliver energy services without harm to employees, customers, members of the public or the environment. Our behavior-based safety program is designed to allow employees to conduct safety observations with the ability to remain anonymous. Core teams composed of employees, with support from managers and employee safety leaders, use safety observation and incident data to create safety performance action plans. Departments are encouraged to start safety committees to discuss improvement opportunities and communicate safety information through meetings and annual safety summits. Monthly safety meeting kits cover topics specific to the time of year, relevant issues or current safety performance. Close calls reported by employees are shared daily and a compilation of close calls is distributed each month for awareness and injury or incident prevention.
Training and Protocols
CenterPoint Energy aims to prevent and mitigate negative health and safety impacts for employees through appropriate computer-based skills training and instructor-led courses based on employee roles and their level of hazard exposure. We have a structured employee safety onboarding and development plan through our learning and development platform, offering safety and technical training courses focused on driving, worker safety and safety culture, as well as other safety programs designed to encourage employee engagement and participation.
We are dedicated to sustaining a culture of excellence with industry-leading training and safety at the forefront. The 150,000-square-foot Hiram O. Clarke training facility, which opened in 2023, is designed to provide our employees with the latest safety and technical training best practices.
- An employee safety onboarding and development plan provides safety and technical training courses focused on employee workplace safety and driving.
- Safety specialists and industrial hygienists provide ergonomic assessments, hands-on training, educational resources and early mitigation of discomfort for work-related medical issues.
- Our Physical Security Policy addresses important topics to help maintain a safe and secure place to work and provide safe and reliable service to our customers.
- To promote employee wellness, CenterPoint Energy provides employee communications, educational resources and general health coaching in some areas.
- In 2023, our third Enterprise Safety Forum engaged employees from across the company on safety importance and initiatives to improve culture, morale and conditions in their work areas.
- In May 2024, we held our sixth Executive Safety Forum where company executives learned about the progress on our implementation of our serious injuries and fatalities initiative. We continued to build on the introduction of Human and Organizational Performance to strengthen our safety culture and drive learning and improvement.
Recognize • Evaluate • Anticipate • Define • Yes
READY Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention Model
READY, CenterPoint Energy’s model designed to prevent serious injuries and fatalities, is built upon recognizing high-energy hazards and providing capacity to mitigate and prevent possible incidents on a worksite. The READY model drives change to see safety differently and create a culture of learning and encouraging more employee participation.
To develop the model, CenterPoint Energy worked with other peer utilities to collaborate on effective methods that result in improved safety performance. We engaged with the Edison Electric Institute to identify ways to reduce serious injuries and fatalities to address the challenge for the industry as a whole.
Through our READY implementation process, we introduced employee champions and learning teams to help shape the program and increase its adoption and effectiveness. All employees are required to complete READY computer-based training.
Contractor Safety
CenterPoint Energy’s contractor safety oversight process consists of evaluating, selecting and monitoring contractors that perform work for CenterPoint Energy.
The CenterPoint Energy Enterprise Safety and Health manual was updated in 2024 and provided to contractors through our Contractor Safety Management System and contractor portal. Lessons learned, safety alerts, manuals updates and field findings are routinely shared with contractors. Our contractors can also participate in CenterPoint Energy’s close call reporting and management of change processes.
In 2023, our sixth-annual CenterPoint Energy Contractor Safety Summit helped reinforce our standards and expectations for contractors who perform field operations work on our behalf. At these summits, leaders discuss how to implement risk-reducing measures to promote a culture of safety with the goal of improving the overall performance of our workforce, systems and assets.
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