Customer Story
Electrical
"We've seen a significant decrease in our number of injuries. We've actually cut our recordable injuries in half."
Sam Erickson, Corporate Safety Officer
Client Profile
Boise-based Quality Electric, Inc., is the largest electrical contractor in Idaho. It specializes in a variety of construction sectors, including Commercial, Industrial, Technology, Transportation, Government, Service, Healthcare, and Manufacturing. The company was founded in 1962 and today has more than 531 employees, operating across Idaho and Oregon.
Challenge
Company Outgrows a Limited Multiple-Platform Safety Program
Quality Electric’s Environmental Health & Safety program faced challenges including:
- Growing team, frequent new hires and trainees
- Lack of flexibility in creating forms and training
- An EHS system spread out between three software programs
Chief Safety Officer (CSO) Sam Erickson started at Quality Electric 12 years ago as an electrician, so she knows firsthand the safety and compliance challenges of a large, field-based workforce. Erickson now manages a team of eleven full-time safety representatives, all of whom (herself included) work in the field. It’s not uncommon for one or more safety reps to work full-time on just one project.
When she took on the Corporate Safety Officer role, Quality Electric was rapidly acquiring large clients, which required hiring and training many new employees. Unfortunately, Erickson found herself saddled with an EHS program comprised of components from three different software companies.
The stakes were high for Quality Electric. Reducing the company’s OSHA-required Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) and Days Away, Restricted or Transfers (DART) rates was essential for employee safety and protecting against the inspections and steep fines triggered by higher incident rates. In addition, Erickson was frustrated to find that she couldn’t customize forms and training.
Solution
KPA Flex’s Customizable and Easy-to-Use One-Stop EHS Solution
Today, KPA is Quality Electric’s unified EHS solution for:
- Configurable forms
- Company-wide training
- Company-wide audits
- Quarterly training audits
Results
A 50% Reduction in Recordable Injuries and a Reinvigorated Safety Culture
Within the first year of implementing KPA, Quality Electric is already seeing the benefits from a field team actively embracing the new system. These include:
- Improved safety culture
- High-level data to support decision-making
- Recordable injuries cut in half
“I’ve noticed a huge change culturally,” Erickson said. “People reach out to me more and ask better questions. They ask about different aspects of the equipment and whether training is available when they don’t feel comfortable about something.”
A more actively engaged team is yielding results that are easy to measure: “We’ve seen a significant decrease in our number of injuries,” Erickson said. “We’ve actually cut our recordable [injuries] in half.”
Easier access to accurate data allows the company to set priorities and make smarter decisions. Looking forward, Erickson says she’s developing further KPI metrics, so her team and company have a clearer understanding of—and accountability for—the safety goals they need to achieve.
“My plan next year is that any department with poor metrics will compile a Corrective Action Plan. They have to document what they’ll do to prevent this stuff from happening in the future.”
Erickson said her experience with KPA impresses her so much that she finds herself recommending the software frequently within the electrical contracting industry.
“I talk to them about how KPA has helped us track different things like licensure and training and where we’re at with certain aspects of our program. And they’re like, ‘This is crazy. I wish we could do that.’ I tell them: ‘You can. It’s just a matter of implementing [KPA].'”
