With his team facing dangers such as trenches collapsing and working along busy roadways, Water Distribution Supervisor Scott Green keeps safety in the forefront.

Green collaborates with Clermont County Safety Coordinator Gary Caudill to ensure the four field supervisors and 16 field personnel in Water Distribution get the proper training and tools to do their jobs safely.

“Scott is always promoting safety,” Caudill said.

Green sends daily work assignments to Caudill, allowing him to go to worksites to ensure safe practices. The supervisor also initiates safety stand-downs, meetings where team members review incidents to discuss ways to prevent future occurrences. He goes over Caudill’s monthly “toolbox talks” with his employees and returns follow-up sheets.

“I have a good relationship with Gary,” Green said. “He has a lot of knowledge from his years of experience. He knows dangers in the workplace and what we’re doing. He’s always willing to train new guys, many who start here fresh out of high school.”

Even though they try to work fast because people want their water service restored, Water Distribution employees need to be careful. For example, it’s important for them to use proper techniques to hydraulic shoring and employ trench boxes to prevent collapses while working on water lines.

Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation statistics show that safety champions like Green are helping build a safety culture at Clermont County.

The county went from a high of 68 claims in 2018 to just nine in 2021. Caudill can pinpoint that during the past seven years, most claims have come on Tuesdays and in the month of June. By far, most happened between 8:01 and 10 a.m. That allows him to work strategically with supervisors like Green.

“I’m grateful to the people like Scott who champion safety at Clermont County,” Caudill said. “They’re truly making a difference.”

Clermont County Safety Champion is a periodic feature showcasing employees to contribute to the growing safety culture in our workplace.