Keeping you safe
Safety is our number one priority as we work to deliver electric and natural gas service to our community. For us, that doesn’t mean just making sure our employees work safely. It means our employees get home safely to their families and that we are looking out for you, our customer. This is why we created our Public Safety & Education (PS&E) team.
The team’s primary purpose is to educate the community on safety. “We want all of our employees to be safe and we want all of our customers to be safe around our products, so we go out to the community – schools, businesses and neighborhoods and present on electric and natural gas safety and energy conservation,” said Willie Davis, Community Outreach Specialist.
Electricity and natural gas are essential services that our customers use every day. These services play a major role in keeping our homes, businesses and lives running smoothly, but it’s important to remember they can also be dangerous.
“During winter, everyone is using their heaters, so it is important to get out there and explain to customers what a good flame looks like versus what a bad flame looks like,” Willie said. “For example, a good flame is blue, and a bad flame is yellow or orange. We explain the difference to our customers and tell them they need to get their units checked at least twice a year, so they can be safe at home.”
Through our PS&E team, our safety culture extends beyond our offices and jobsites and into the community – our customers’ homes, their businesses, work and schools. We offer community education and valuable online and in-person training resources unique to contractors, first responders, teachers and students, and other interested organizations. Additionally, we offer programs and services like our Gas Pilot Lighting, Look Up and Live and Call Before you Dig – free electric and natural gas line locates to help keep you safe.
Working with our first responders is especially important to Community Outreach Specialist Randy De Leon. “I have several family members who are first responders,” Randy said. “These presentations serve as education for new first responders and a refresher for veterans that have been there for a while. If I can teach one class and it prevented something bad from happening, then I know I am making a difference and that makes me feel great.”
The team, comprised of eight Outreach Specialists, also conducts presentations to school-aged children. “When my day includes speaking to kids at a school, I instantly know it’s going to be a good day,” said Randy. “The kids are amazing but sometimes when we speak to them, they have a misunderstanding about electricity.”
Randy noted he is excited about the work the team is doing out in the community. “For the kids, we can empower them to save lives by telling their friends and families what to do and not do around electricity and natural gas.”
By demonstrating and communicating the importance of safety, we are building and improving the safety culture in the community in which we work, play and live. It’s important to provide reliable electricity and natural gas service but it’s even more important to provide value to the community. Davis wants customers to know, “We are out there doing everything we can to keep you safe.”
We place the highest value on our employees, customers and community that is why we put People First in everything we do. “The value this education brings to the city can’t be measured,” Randy added. “The more we are out in the community, the safer our city is going to be. It’s going to change our city’s safety culture and that will bring a safer city for everyone.”
To request a free safety presentation, contact our Public Safety & Education team at (210) 353-3939 or at [email protected]. Learn how to access free safety resources to keep you and your children or students safe.
