Wheeling Employees Reach Safety Milestone

From left: Rita Kramer, DueWayne Crow, Steven Anderson, Barb Beyser, Joanne Chedester, Guy Rayl, Angel Bretz, Zach King, Christina Harper, Jim Hill and Joe Shutek.

(Story by Joelle Connors)

In an incredible display of dedication to the company’s safety culture, the Wheeling customer design department set a new benchmark for its team: On March 1, the group celebrated 7,000 days with Zero Harm.

How long is 7,000 days?

To put the team’s achievement into perspective, 7,000 days is a little more than 19 years. The last time the team experienced any safety challenges, Bill Clinton was President, Saving Private Ryan won a Golden Globe, John Elway was Super Bowl MVP, and this year’s college freshmen were born. Wheeling Technician Steven Anderson is the youngest person in the work group. He was in first grade the last time there was a safety incident.

The Customer Design Department is comprised of technicians, work schedulers, right-of-way, admins, and engineering. Each day they work with a variety of customer-related inquiries and issues. From design-build to repairs and from right-of-way to storm work, the group is like the engine room in a train. They work together to find solutions and to help keep customers moving forward.

Wheeling Customer Design Team

• Customer Service and Distribution Manager: Jim Hill
• Engineer: Zach King
• Technicians: Joe Shutek, Christina Harper, Guy Rayl, Angel Bretz, and Steven Anderson
• Right-Of-Way: DueWayne Crow
• Admins: Barb Beyser and Rita Kramer
• Work Scheduler: Joanne Chedester

Shutek, Beyser, Crow and Chedester have been part of the team the entire 19 years. Bretz and Rayl just returned from helping with storm recovery in the Roanoke Valley.

When asked about the team’s safety achievement, they described their keys to success.

• Great planning leads to great execution. Whether you’re planning a line or backing your vehicle, always have a plan in place for the task at hand.
• Look out for others.  To avoid injuries and accidents, always be on the lookout for potential hazards and make others around you aware of them. Often times, the greatest obstacles are the ones we don’t see until it’s too late.
• Great leadership and a positive safety culture. Many of the employees in our work group are younger. With mentoring and by building on the existing safety culture, we’ve been able to maintain the high safety standards of our group.