Reduce Your Costs
Incidents impact shareholder value
All electric and natural gas utilities hold safety as a core company value because the true costs of injury and accidental death transcend the bottom line.
Identifying and reducing the monetary expenses related to incidents improves your ability to create a culture of safety in your service area and prevent accidents.
Here are some ways that preventing accidents also increases shareholder value.
1. Reduce claims
At some companies, the cost of claims is routinely accepted within the budget as an unavoidable “cost of doing business.”
In contrast, the utilities we work with see that the cost of claims can be measurably reduced through successful public outreach.
2. Mitigate risk and litigation
When a safety program is strategically designed to establish a good-faith effort, the cost of litigation can be reduced dramatically.
For example, in two similar incidents at different utilities, the utility that wasn’t able to show a good-faith effort was subject to $28.8 million judgment.
The award was only $3.5 million at the other utility that demonstrated a good-faith effort.
3. Reduce damages
The costs are substantial for the materials and labor to repair damaged utilities after a dig-in. And property and equipment damages resulting from fire or explosions are typically very high.
Successful public safety education reduces those costs by preventing more of these incidents.
4. Reduce indirect costs
The indirect costs of an incident are seven to eight times greater than direct costs.
Reducing accidents saves literally millions of dollars per year at large companies. And some of those savings can be put toward additional prevention and education efforts that prevent accidents.
5. Educate repeat offenders
A disproportionate percentage of incidents involve a subset of third-party contractor companies that repeatedly disregard safe practices on the job.
We’ve helped utilities successfully target their repeat offender population and measurably reduce their incidents.
6. Build a positive image
A culture of safety minimizes catastrophic loss, enhances system reliability, and improves brand value.
Public safety education creates good will and reflects positively on your utility.
Call Culver Company to discuss how to reduce your utility’s costs by preventing more accidents.
