No one can predict the date, time or place of an emergency. That makes it critical to plan and prepare for any emergency situation. Emergencies can be caused by many things, weather, people, machines, different situations or places. Here at Genera Energy, we strive to ensure that we have the best policies and procedures in place for when an inevitable emergency situation arises. Although we have been injury and accident free for 1,524 days, we are very aware of our surroundings and our employees and always look for ways to improve for safety of employees. We have worked very hard to develop safety training, policies, procedures, and contingencies to keep our employees safe in any emergency. Once plans and procedures have been developed, we constantly review, audit, and improve our practices. Safety meetings are held monthly for full staff and weekly for departments, this is the time we discuss how to better ourselves with help from our safety audit program and current activities. There is always something to learn!
Genera has developed its own Emergency Action Plan (EAP) guide for reference in emergencies. As a company that focuses on agriculture, logistics, and processing, many of our employees work outdoors on a regular basis. Beyond the dangers of equipment use, a primary point of focus for us is risk associated with weather. Most all of our employees have weather alerts set on mobile phones and other devices. We prepare for weather emergencies as soon as we are notified, making sure all employees, visitors or contractors on site are safe and accounted for. This includes storm and tornado events, extreme heat/cold, and snow/ice. In the summer of 2014, our facility was placed under a tornado alert due to a fast moving storm. With our plans in place and employees trained, we had gathered all of our employees, two contractors, and one visitor in our designated shelter within about 5-8 minutes, keeping everyone safe. Additionally, to provide prompt safe response to emergency situations, we have pamphlets located in specific areas in the office and on site. These pamphlets provide contact information for local police, fire and ambulance services and brief overviews of emergency medical procedures. Having these items on hand along with employee information saves time and could save a life.
To deal with an injury or illness emergency, we have a special phone number that any employee can dial to report an incident so that the trained employee first responders are immediately notified. This team is aware of all safety response procedures, has been trained for First Aid, CPR and defibrillator use, and will notify the appropriate emergency agency, if that has not already been done. Our Human Resources department also maintains an emergency card for each employee with personal information that may be a life saver during an emergency. Whether it is an allergy or a list of medications we can provide local authorities about this person and what safety precautions they should take according to the emergency card.
Planning for emergency situations is not a fun task. However, it is critical to the safety of your company’s core asset: its people. Genera focuses each day on maintaining a safe work environment, whether in the office or in the field.
By Harmony Cole, AP/AR Coordinator
