Earlier this year, USA received a request from NiSource to assist them in assessing the safety culture of their operations. NiSource is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the United States, serving approximately 3.5 million natural gas customers and 500,000 electric customers across seven states. The company, based in Merrillville, Indiana, has more than 8,000 employees.
NiSource looked towards the nuclear industry for input as they set out to develop a process to better assess their employee’s commitment to Operational Safety. The USA process used to assess Nuclear Safety Culture at our member stations was determined to be a tool that could be adapted to assess their business.
At this time, NiSource, working with USA representatives, is in the process of developing the Traits and Behaviors of a Healthy Pipeline Safety Culture which is based on the research, recommendations, and input from the National Safety Council (NSC), the Utilities Service Alliance, regulatory agencies, and partners in the pipeline, airline, electrical and nuclear industries. The Traits and Behaviors will also include information based on NiSource’s wealth of experience in the pipeline industry.
The company has defined Pipeline Safety Culture as the core values and behaviors resulting from a collective commitment by leaders and individuals to emphasize safety over competing goals to ensure protection of people and the environment. This should sound familiar to anyone reading this article as the definition reflects the definition of Nuclear Safety Culture. The company further states that the safety of their employees and the public is the overriding priority of the pipeline industry.
NiSource, with assistance from USA, is currently in the process of developing their Safety Culture Assessment Guide, which will serve as part of the NiSource Safety Management System (SMS) to aid in the facilitation of safety culture assessments. The assessments will be performed using resources primarily from outside the USA Member stations, although members will be invited to participate when available.
Through NiSource’s work with the National Safety Council (NSC), a Barometer Survey is administered annually by the company, and as a result of that work, NiSource’s Safety Culture continues to grow and improve. The National Safety Council’s Barometer Survey results will serve as the baseline data for the Safety Culture assessments. The assessments will be confidential, and consist of analysis of the Barometer Survey results, documentation reviews, in-person interviews and on-site observations. The Safety Culture assessments are being designed to provide valuable insights to key Safety Culture traits, attributes and behaviors that impact the overall effectiveness of the company’s Safety Management System.
While the development of the products required to perform the assessments remains under development, USA continues to work with NiSource to complete the final negotiations required to put an agreement in place.
If anyone has any questions or suggestions, please send them to Tim Donovan at tdonovan@usainc.org.
