The Innovation-Safety Balance: How Utility Leaders Can Prioritize Both - Part 1

Reframing Safety in a Time of Rapid Innovation

Utility leaders are moving faster than ever. The pressure to modernize infrastructure, integrate new technologies, and respond to evolving customer needs is pushing the industry into a full sprint. Amid this race to transform, one principle must remain non-negotiable: safety comes first. 

Ensuring the health and well-being of employees, customers, and communities isn’t just a legal or compliance requirement—it’s the foundation of responsible leadership. But how can utility leaders keep safety front-and-center when transformation is happening at such a rapid pace?

Safety comes first is one focus topic within the Utility 2030 Leadership Collaborative (U2030) and Energy Central research program: Rethinking Utility Priorities: Bold Utility Leadership. To dig deeper into this dynamic, we spoke with  Mark Streifel, Managing Director, Industrial Skills from HSI, a leading provider of training and compliance solutions. What we learned can help utility leaders everywhere embed safety into every step of transformation.

Strategic Safety Prioritization

Q -  How can we embed safety into every stage of innovation and transformation without compromising progress?

It's crucial that we conduct a preemptive risk assessment at the very beginning of the process. This means evaluating potential process or operational risks that could arise with new technologies or solutions, not only from a technical perspective but also considering our current systems, environmental concerns, and human factors. By doing this, we can anticipate challenges and get out in front of them with things such as operational changes or re-skilling or up-skilling your existing workforce.

Q -  What processes ensure our safety protocols evolve alongside new technologies and industry changes?

I know it’s cliché, but it always comes back to culture and trust between the workforce and ownership. If these relationships are strong enough, safety and reliability will be incorporated into the core design of new processes and technologies. This includes embedding elements such as redundancy, fail-safes, and human protective measures. Safety should be viewed as an integral part of the innovation, rather than an afterthought, ensuring our transformations are safe by design, not just because they have to be in “compliance.”

Leadership & Culture

Q -  How do we maintain a strong safety culture, even amid rapid transformation?

The first thing is we need to understand what “safety” is in this industry. Many people strictly look at it from a compliance or a work practices lens; but you need add in things like human performance, preventative & predictive maintenance, operating procedures, etc. If all those aspects are part of your safety culture, it will evolve with technology. At HSI we focus on not only including compliance and regulatory training in your employee development, but more importantly how do we reduce human error to increase workplace safety, efficiency, and reliability.

Q -  Are we empowering employees to actively raise safety concerns and contribute to continuous improvement?

As your company enters the journey of transformation, it is essential that leadership reminds everyone of the core values of their culture, with safety being paramount. Safety must be consistently reflected as the business evolves. Leaders must empower our employees to raise safety concerns without hesitation. By doing so, we ensure that safety remains a priority and is embedded in every aspect of our work. The workforce must always be encouraged to speak up and share any safety issues or suggestions they may have. The frontline’s input is invaluable in maintaining a safe and productive environment, as they see the risks and opportunities that exist in the field, daily. When safety is viewed as a fundamental component of our overall strategy, it becomes a driving force for achieving excellence in all areas.

By embedding safety at every level—strategy, culture, and day-to-day operations—utilities can future-proof their organizations against both risk and disruption. In Part Two, we explore how technology, data, and workforce training play an essential role in evolving safety standards and practices.

Rethinking Priorities: A Bold Approach to Utility Leadership

Rethinking Utility Priorities: Bold Utility Leadership is a year-long research initiative from U2030 and Energy Central, comes in. This program provides executives with actionable insights to navigate shifting industry priorities. Through research reports, virtual discussions, and a panel at the U2030 Annual SPARK Meeting, we are poised to help utility leaders assess, adjust, and realign their focus as the market evolves.

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