Knox Lee Plant employees, retirees celebrate 30 years of safety

Attendees gathered for a group photo at the Knox Lee 30-year safety luncheon. Front row, L to R: Gay Vickery, Mark Griffith, Rachelle Cooke-Morrison, and plant retirees David Dickson, Mike Rash, Cloyce Falksen, Charlie Brooks, Dick Wood, Dick O’Connor, Melton Turlington and Philip Duffee. Second row, L to R: Venita McCellon-Allen, Robert Jackson, Frank Marshall, Craig Grant, Sylvia Bales, Judy Rogers, Shelia McKain, Carol Campbell, Shirley Wick, Kirk Snider and Wes Hull. Third row, L to R: Benny Hall, Ronnie Smith, Donnie Duffee, John Ford, Russ Gedeon, Norman Sanders, Drew Seidel, Clint Fried and Paul Franklin. Back row, L to R: Rob Thompson, Kevin Walters, Mike McMahon and Jason Garrett.Photo by: Scott McCloud

(Story by Scott McCloud)

LONGVIEW, Texas — It was a time to celebrate Zero Harm, and 30 years without a lost time injury at the Knox Lee Power Plant safety luncheon. The event was held on the grounds of the 62-year-old facility, born on the shores of Lake Cherokee back in April 1950, with four additional units for a total 537-megawatt capacity added from 1952 to 1974.

“We have a good safety culture here at Knox Lee, and we are our brother’s keeper,” said Plant Manager Mike McMahon. “There are safety awareness initiatives, HPI tools and hazard recognition programs that make us safer, and having a negative mentality is not a part of our day-to-day work. Our ultimate goal is always Zero Harm to the employee.”

Over 1.8 million man-hours have been worked at the plant since 1981, and it has been 15 years since the last OSHA recordable incident on the property.

Paul Franklin, vice president – Generation Assets for Southwestern Electric Power Company (SWEPCO), congratulated the group on its significant and important milestone and reminded them that Knox Lee is scheduled for another 27 years of operation, so don’t stop working safe now.

“It’s up to us to train the new group as they come up behind us to do what’s right, and give them the safety culture guidelines to keep this record going forward,” said Franklin.

“Knox Lee is a pocket of excellence at SWEPCO in safety recognition, and I applaud the employees and the retirees in the audience who put in decades of service to the company,” said Venita McCellon-Allen, SWEPCO president and chief operating officer. “We must learn, encourage others, watch out for one another and practice Zero Harm principles every day.”

Eight retirees and a dozen safety, engineering and generation support staff were recognized at the luncheon.

Retiree David Dixon, an 18-year Knox Lee employee, with an additional 15 years at Wilkes Power Plant, summed it up best: “It meant so much to me to come to a safe work place that had proud company leaders who took care of us.”