Atmos Energy 2015 Annual Report Download - page 7

10 11
Equally critical is driving safety for our 4,000 vehicles. We
provide employees training for backing, Smith System driver’s
education and first-person videos by our own employees who
impart lessons learned to their colleagues. We are installing
on all vehicles new flashing lights to signal when the vehicle’s
brakes are applied; the warning lights have proved highly
effective at reducing collisions. We also are using inside our
vehicles DriveCam® video technology, which records an
employee’s performance behind the wheel for training and
accident prevention.
Our Enterprise Safety Committee sponsors some 220
operational safety-team leads. They organize safety hud-
dles at company locations and develop Safety Champions
who coach their peers. In safety huddles, employees share
stories about their own experiences to help our organiza-
tion improve based on the real-life learning of these em-
ployees and their inherent credibility with fellow employees.
Improved technologies, such as this remote methane
leak detector, help keep our employees safe while they protect the
public. An RMLD can quickly and efficiently detect a natural gas
leak up to 100 feet away and is used for leak surveying and respond-
ing to emergency calls.
Professional driver’s training and backing training are
part of our core learning program for all field technicians, who operate
some 4,000 vehicles in daily service.
Our health and wellness programs
have helped 3,900 employees and their spouses work
and live at their best by shedding 33,000 pounds
since the programs began in 2010. Besides improving
fitness and lowering medical insurance costs, our
programs encourage employees to avoid injuries.
Health and Wellness
Leaks occur for various reasons, but one of the leading
causes is damage to pipelines caused by third parties. This
typically is the result of careless excavation, often when an
excavator violates state law by failing to have buried utility
facilities located and marked. Anyone excavating at depths
greater than the state requirement must, by law, call the
universal toll-free 811 number. The 811 Center then dis-
patches professional line locators to find all underground
utility lines in the area and to mark them with colored flags
and paint to guide safe digging. This service is provided
at no cost to the excavator.
33,000 pounds
lost by 3,900 employees
and spouses since 2010
Damage prevention seminars for professional
excavators encourage calling 811 before digging and stress industry
best practices for safe excavation. In Austin, Texas, Texas811, the
Austin Fire Department and Atmos Energy demonstrated not only
how to dig safely, but also steps to take if a natural gas line is hit.
Eliminating Leaks
and Third-Party
Damages
Pipeline leaks are a primary safety focus of all
natural gas utilities, with extensive precautions
taken to prevent, detect and repair them.