TVA Transmission Employees Complete 3 Million Safe Workhours
October 25, 2004
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Employees in TVA’s Transmission Power Supply organization, many of whom have high-risk jobs, have reached a major safety milestone by recording 3 million work hours without a lost-time accident.
The accomplishment has been achieved only once before in TVA’s 71-year history. The latest milestone covered the period from Aug. 29, 2003, through Sept. 28, 2004, and TPS employees are continuing to record safe work hours past the 3 million-hour mark. From November 2001 to March 2003, TPS employees achieved an all-time record of 6.4 million safe work hours.
“Our transmission and power supply employees have many achievements, including delivering 99.999-percent reliability in the operation of TVA’s transmission system for five consecutive years,” said TVA Transmission Power Supply Executive Vice President Terry Boston. “But I am most proud of our safety record, because that means all our employees have done their jobs safely every day.”
TVA’s TPS organization currently has 1,537 full-time employees, many of whom perform five of the seven highest-risk jobs in the country, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. High-risk jobs performed by TVA employees include cutting trees, building and maintaining transmission towers and substations and doing high-voltage transmission work.
“I have worked for TVA for 27 years, and I take pride in my work because TVA takes pride in its safety program,” said TVA Power Maintenance Supervisor Jerry Dean, who is based in Huntsville, Ala. “The number one thing I have learned from TVA is to work safe because the most important part of our jobs is to return home to our families. To me, TVA’s safety program is second to none.”
Safety processes used by TPS workers include extensive pre-job planning, weekly safety teleconferences among foremen, job-safety analyses, and the habitual use of personal protective equipment.
TVA is the nation’s largest public power provider and is completely self-financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve approximately 8.5 million consumers in seven southeastern states.
Media Contact:
Michelle Chang Sherrard, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000
TVA News Bureau, Knoxville, (865) 632-6000
