Safe

Chip Gerrity
President and Business Manager
IBEW Local Union 94 President

For the past ten years, PSEG and its labor unions have been partners on a journey to a safer workplace. As leader of one of the four unions representing craft workers at PSEG, Chip Gerrity represents over 3,700 men and women who now work in a safer environment each day they report to work.

Here Chip offers the union’s perspective on PSEG’s safety journey.

Describe how the Union and PSEG work together to improve safety.

Looking back, there was a remarkable amount of cooperation and teamwork as the IBEW and PSEG established a baseline for safety by putting in place protective gear, tools and work practices. Moving forward, the Company and Union build on that by discussing issues as they arise and working together to ensure that changes in equipment are addressed to eliminate surprises. We share information more between different parts of the company so the same issues are not dealt with over and over. Our “Hot Topics” weekly newsletter is a good example of how we keep employees up to speed on accidents that are occurring.

How does the PSEG Health and Safety System contribute to your member’s well being?

The Health and Safety System provides a process and method for setting safety standards and communicating key messages. Our primary goal is zero accidents on the job. If everyone works safely, they go home the same way that they came. Beyond that, we hope that employees carry the safety and health messages home with them. On the health side, even talking about watching your blood pressure, eating right, and scheduling time for health screenings has an impact on our members’ overall health. Employees may not act on those messages right away, but they eventually become part of their thought process.

How important is safety to utility workers?

Safety issues were one reason that the IBEW was formed. In the utility industry, we deal with gas and electricity, which are inherently dangerous forces. In the early days, linemen were routinely getting electrocuted. Even Henry Miller, the first national president of the NBEW was killed on the job in 1896. Hazards are a huge part of everything we work on whether in electric or gas distribution or generation. That’s why safety is always our top priority. I can say after 35 years with this company, the PSEG approach to safety is among the best around. We find that to be true from the feedback we receive from employees who have returned to PSEG after working for other utilities. They report that our safety practices really are better than elsewhere.

How do union workers view PSEG’s commitment to safety?

The safety journey at PSEG has been a great thing to watch develop. Years ago, union workers might have had to submit a grievance to get a circuit set up for work, use ladders instead of setting up a scaffold, or to get the right personal protective equipment needed for the job. Now the company is in full agreement with safety, not just talking about it. They take an active part in it, supplying the members with the tools and equipment they need. Today, each employee has the right to stop a job if they feel it is unsafe.