Three-day training focuses on improving safety processes at Basin Electric

In support of its strategic initiative to improve overall safety, Basin Electric hosted a three-day training session for 16 employees across the cooperative at its Headquarters Jan. 31-Feb. 2. The training was provided by ABS Group and focused on "root cause analysis and incident investigation," which will assist attendees in initiating and completing incident investigations.

Basin Electric subsidiary Dakota Gasification Company has conducted investigation training in the past; however, many employees across the cooperative haven’t been trained to the same level. “We need to continue to invest in people, and we have a lot of new people and people in new roles who will benefit from this training,” said Ryan Fisk, Basin Electric safety director. Attendees were selected based on their knowledge of safety, operations, maintenance, and engineering. 

The training specifically identifies how to gather data for investigating all types of incidents, how to collect data through interviews and parts analyses, and how to apply powerful techniques for causal factor and root cause identification. ABS Group was selected to provide the training because the company is integrated into the EXP reporting software utilized at each facility for tracking incidents, near misses, and injuries. 

“By using root cause analysis and EXP together, employees can report incidents and implement corrective actions to better processes and procedures,” Fisk said. “For example, if one facility has an incident or injury, corrective actions can be assigned and developed through root cause analysis to the specific site or any sites across the co-op through EXP to prevent a similar occurrence from happening.”

Proper and timely incident investigations allow Basin Electric to avoid future incidents by using a tiered approach in developing recommendations and guidance to address each of the causal factors and root causes, and to structure reports for optimum effectiveness to develop data-trending processes to identify systemic problem areas.