Kenya Henderson, EHS Manager at LVVWD, recently answered our questions about the District’s award-winning safety program and provided some insight into how the District is using Origami Risk to support program activities at an organization that delivers reliable, quality water to more than 1.5 million people.  

How is the safety team structured at LVVWD? (For example, what is the size of your team? How is it structured?)

The EHS department at LVVWD is comprised of a team of analysts with varying subspecialties who work together to guarantee a safe and responsible workplace for all employees. They are supported by a management team committed to employee health and safety by reporting directly to the EHS Manager, who reports to the Director of Environmental Health Safety & Corporate Security.

Below is a brief outline of their experience and how their efforts support a successful program.

• The analyst responsible for the Hazardous Communication, Radiation Safety, Vaccination, Crystalline Silica, Respiratory Protection, Safety Shoe, and Hearing Conservation programs has over 20 years’ experience.
• Environmental programs (water discharge permits, air permits, hazardous waste, UST/AST, etc.) are managed by an analyst who holds degrees in Biology, Nuclear Science, and Chemistry.
• The management of highly hazardous chemicals at our fixed facilities are supervised by a Process Safety Engineer who has 29 years of experience in EHS and holds two certifications: Certified Safety Professional and Certified Hazardous Materials Manager.
• The Workers Compensation (WC) program is managed by a WC Claims Specialist with over 30 years of workers compensation claims management.
• The Safety Audits, Education, and Training is managed by an analyst with extensive experience in Occupational Safety. He oversees all training, incident investigations and audits conducted by EHS analysts and subject matter experts in the field.

You mentioned that the following programs contributed to LVVWD being a 2-year winner of this award: Safety Audits, Safety Goal Setting, Safety Action Requests, Safety Communication, Vehicle Use. Can you briefly describe what each of these programs are and how they contribute to LVVWD's safety goals?

Over the past few years, we have implemented an automated workflow and reporting through Origami Risk for the following: Safety Shoes program, Asbestos Competent Person Log, Confined Space Entry Permitting, Hot Works Permitting, Fall Protection Harness Inspection, LOTO Periodic Inspection, Periodic Ladder Inspection, Troxler Gauge tracking, maintenance and calibration reporting program, Safety Action anonymous reporting program, and expanded the Spot, Monthly, and Comprehensive Audit programs. 

The original use of Origami for incident reporting is still an effective tool, as it allows for immediate and complete communication to all levels of the organization. The incident tracking system initiates workflows in Security, EHS, and Risk respectively, while also sending notifications to other key staff and senior management of injuries to employees, property damage, motor vehicle accidents, line strikes, chemical spills, water spills, emergency or unscheduled field discharges of water, and log of all visitors to our properties in real time. The information is investigated, reported in accordance with regulatory time frames, and mitigated through corrective actions. 

With the growing database of current and historical information, Origami Risk provides the ability to track trends, risks, and areas of concerns using widgets, reports, and benchmarking statistics in accordance with the EHS Mission Statement and the District’s Administrative Policy.

What are the origins of LVVWD's safety programs? How did you get buy-in to implement them from those at the executive level? How did you get adoption from the field level?

Safety at the District begins at the executive level and is part of the District’s Administrative Policy which makes EHS a critical aspect of all operations and activity.

EHS leads the effort, but employees know the responsibility for safety is shared by all. The District ensures that employees are provided with the expectation, resources, and knowledge of safety procedures, starting with new hire orientation and continuing throughout their employment. Use of the Origami Risk system starts for the employee with obtaining their safety shoes and continues with the use of the incident reporting system and other programs required to perform their job.

Employees provided input and feedback on the workflow process throughout the adoption of Origami Risk; and as a result, are now requesting the addition of other safety processes to the system.

How do you show your success internally, as well as to the local community?

Success, as well as opportunities for improvement, are shared in monthly meetings with the EHS Steering Committee, which is made up of members from each department responsible for participating in and disseminating all safety related information.

Any employee can nominate an employee for a Safety Award of Excellence (SAE). “High Fives” are publicly exchanged between employees in recognition of a safe act. The GM Distinguished Award of Excellence is selected from two recipients of the SAE and presented during the Annual Celebrating You week.

The EHS Department publishes an annual report that is distributed to each department and the executive team.  

The District has an extensive Public Information system where each department can showcase their successes. Emails and robocalls generated in real time to promote situational awareness of an immediate hazard or safety issue at work or in the community that may impact the health and welfare of employees.

How do you approach emerging safety issues? Are you looking to implement or have recently implemented additional programs to continue advancing your safety program?

There are multiple places employees can enter concerns through Origami Risk that are forwarded to the appropriate party. One of the adaptations recently undertaken was to include corrective actions with incidents.

EHS prepares a list of projects every year of workflow and process to move or improve if already in Origami Risk. The first project for 2022 was to transfer EHS In-person Safety training, from PowerPoints to attendance and testing, to be done through Origami Risk; the first phase of this has been piloted. This year’s other goals include tracking required certifications, hearing conservation program, and revamping the audit module for spot and comprehensive audits. EHS is also doing 15-minute Team Training in the items implemented over the last several years now that employees are returning to the office.

If you were starting from scratch or speaking with another water district, what are three tips to give them to get started?

I would recommend they identify two to three things they would like to accomplish and start small. Specifically, information that is currently not available in real time, like incident reporting, or regularly used checklists, or processes already conducted by email like a safety shoe program. Then bring together the SMEs, an internal Business Systems Administrator/IT personnel.

The District found that taking small steps, one implementation at a time, lead to greater acceptance. EHS started out with only 10 incident types but is now at 18 and growing.

To learn more about how Origami Risk’s highly-configurable EHS solution can help your organization, contact us.