Southern Power District 2007 Annual Report

Safety Report:

The first of part of 2007 was spent recovering from the worst ice storm in Southern’s history. Linemen along with office staff worked long hours restoring power to our customers. Southern hired contractors from across the nation to help with this monumental task. We were very fortunate that there were no major injuries during this time for employees or contractors.

Southern’s 118 employees, which includes the tree trimmers and interns from lineman school, worked just over 244,000 hours and drove 1,591,000 miles in 2007.

Safety meetings are held each month and at these meetings, accidents are reviewed to assure that no one will make the same mistake twice. Near misses are also discussed also, so if there is a problem in work practices they can be changed before anyone gets hurt on the job. Yearly training is needed in different areas and we try to cover most of them throughout the year. Southern provides fire extinguisher, sling and first aid kit inspections to make sure they are working properly and not damaged beyond life of use.

Southern offers CPR training for all employees through the American Red Cross. We offer a “hot-line” school in the spring and pole top rescue training for linemen in the fall. Training sessions are provided on different topics and equipment that are used during the year. Linemen also attended classes for training in metering and how to be an effective supervisor.

Safety meetings were held bimonthly with board, management and employee representatives to discuss safety concerns, and to review and vote on all accidents for our annual safety contest. Central City won the annual safety contest this year and they have become the leader in winning the safety contest with 10 wins, followed by Grand Island and Hastings (9 wins), Holdrege (5), and the Franklin/ Construction team is still looking for their first win. The Employee Safety Committee also met on alternate months to discuss safety issues.

Southern Power District provided safety presentations to schools, fire departments and other organizations. We strive to make everyone aware of the dangers of electricity along with its benefits. Safety and training are a priority at Southern Power, and we will continue to do so in the coming year.

Other information inside the 2007 Annual Report