Related News
Related News
-
EWEB General Manager Delivers 2024 State of the Utility
General Manager Frank Lawson delivered his address at the March 5 public Board of Commissioners meeting
Find Out More -
State of the McKenzie Watershed
EWEB’s Drinking Water Source Protection (DWSP) team says the McKenzie River continues to be an excellent source for drinking water.
Find Out More -
Nine days without power: My ice storm story as an EWEB customer and employee
While beautiful and peaceful, buying a home on the edge of the forest and surrounded by trees has its tradeoffs. Moving “upriver,” I knew there would be more threats to prepare for, including Mother Nature’s seasonal surprises.
Find Out More -
Preparation and Resilience: How EWEB Maintained Water Service During Recent Ice Storm
Learn about the projects and people that helped EWEB keep water flowing throughout the extreme weather event.
Find Out More -
EWEB achieves power restoration milestone over the weekend
Crews have so far restored power for 92% of customers who originally lost power at the height of the ice storm.
Find Out More -
Reenergized McKenzie River Valley transmission lines allow EWEB crews to restore power upriver
On Friday, a majority of EWEB crews tackled power restoration efforts upriver, after federally managed transmission lines were reenergized Thursday.
Find Out More -
EWEB estimates one week to complete power system restoration
On Wednesday, EWEB crews restored power for about 10,000 customers by repairing large equipment first.
Find Out More -
Second round of ice and ensuing thaw prompt mass power outages
On Wednesday, all EWEB crews, who have been working nonstop since Saturday, traversed EWEB’s service territory assessing the damage and restoring transmission lines and main power feeders.
Find Out More -
Power restored at EWEB’s water treatment plant
Crews restored electric power at EWEB's Hayden Bridge Water Filtration Plant Monday evening, allowing operators to switch off the generators and rely again on the grid. Meanwhile, EWEB crews brace for additional outages amidst second round of ice and during the coming thaw.
Find Out More -
EWEB crews making downed lines safe and restoring power across Eugene and the foothills
As EWEB works to restore electric service to customers affected by the ice storm, the customer-owned utility is following established policies and its “hierarchy of repair” to prioritize repairs that restore electric service to the greatest number of customers.
Find Out More -
Leaburg Decommissioning Action Plan
Plan details next steps through regulatory processes to begin dismantling Leaburg Dam by 2032.
Find Out More -
What’s ahead in 2024: General manager’s message to EWEB customer-owners
At the start of the new year, we back at accomplishments from 2023 and look ahead at what's to come in 2024.
Find Out More -
Currin Substation: End of year update
EWEB Engineer Philip Peterson explains what's been happening in the final stretch to complete the substation rebuild.
Find Out More -
EWEB 2023 year in review
In 2023, EWEB invested in our community with grants, rebates and an array of other programs and measures aimed at fulfilling our core values of safety, reliability, affordability, environmental responsibility and community/culture.
Find Out More -
EWEB Recognized with Excellence in Communications Awards from American Public Power Association
We are proud to have been recognized with two Excellence in Public Power Communications Awards for 2023 from the American Public Power Association (APPA).
Find Out More - Show More
EWEB Earns National Safety Award
June 18, 2018
The premier water utility trade association in the United States has recognized EWEB's impressive safety record and proactive approach to implementing best practices for employee safety and health programs as one of the best in the nation.
The American Water Works Association presented the Wendell R. LaDue Safety Award to Chief Water Engineering & Operations Officer Mel Damewood and EWEB Commissioner John Simpson at its annual convention in mid-June. The scientific and educational trade group includes more than 3,900 utilities that supply roughly 80 percent of the nation's drinking water.
"I really want to stress that this is an award earned by all the employees at EWEB," Damewood said. "Staff has made safety our primary cultural attribute, and I'm proud to be a part of the safety culture here at EWEB."
Evaluation of award nominees includes a review of a utility's safety record over the past five years, safety and health program best practices, the scope of systemic safety training initiatives at all levels, and the breadth of safety culture throughout the organization, said EWEB Safety Manager Mark Maguire.
"They evaluate your entire safety program, not just two or three years' of performance," Maguire said. "They really do a deep dive into the foundational components of your program, including accountability, commitment to best practices and management's support of safety as a strategic priority."
In addition to holding monthly safety meetings throughout the organization to discuss accidents, near-misses, "good catches," unsafe conditions, what's working and what needs improvement, field personnel conduct "tailboards" prior to beginning work activities each morning to keep safety front and center.
Along with in-house safety staff, we utilize outside vendors to provide relevant training to employees that ranges from fall protection and trench safety to CPR/First Aid and confined space instruction.
The nature of the work at EWEB, whether installing new water pipes in deep trenches, working in close proximity to high-voltage power lines or operating hydroelectric projects that include dams and power canals, places field personnel in hazardous conditions on a daily basis, Maguire said.
When accidents or near-misses do occur, we explore and investigate those incidents to improve our practices and processes with the intention to eliminate or at least mitigate hazardous conditions.
EWEB's commitment to safety reaches all levels of the organization -- from upper management to crew personnel. It's understood that shortcuts or unsafe work practices not only affect the person performing that act, but all those working around them as well. The fundamentals of performing work safely and the value of that action are built into our culture.
"The practice of working safely is not performed based on regulatory requirements, but on the premise that employees go home each and every day after work in the same condition that they arrived, and that nobody is injured," Maguire said. "And senior management understands the moral and financial value of providing a safe workplace."
Maguire, who has worked in the industrial safety field for more than 20 years, said he doesn't have to "sell" safety at EWEB because safe work practices at all levels are ingrained in the culture. EWEB won the same safety award from the AWWA in 2015.
"To have the performance we had and have is pretty remarkable given the high-hazard nature of the work we do," Maguire said. "To earn this award two out of the past four years speaks well of our program and our culture."