Safety Report
July 2024
A Message from Sid
Safety is top of mind for all of us at ONE Gas. That’s because it’s our number one Core Value and our top priority as we serve our 2.3 million customers.
Our 3,900 co-workers demonstrate that commitment every day. As we’ve continued to grow the number of customers we serve and welcomed many new co-workers, our overall engagement and safety culture remain strong. This year’s Safety Report reflects our focus on protecting our co-workers, customers, technology and facilities.
Our safety culture is shaped by one decision and one action at a time. Safe driving, personal injury prevention and public safety remain essential aspects of our daily work. The 10 elements of the ONE Gas Safety Management System help guide our actions. From how we prepare for and respond to emergencies to the way we document and maintain records, we continuously review our processes to manage risk and be sure that we start work only when safe to do so.
Your commitment to safety and service make a difference, especially during the times our customers need us the most. This year has seen significant challenges that included record low temperatures during Winter Storm Gerri which resulted in record-breaking demand for natural gas. Thanks to your dedication and readiness, customer impact was minimal. As we experienced numerous tornadoes, floods and damaging winds in the spring, you stepped up to support one another, care for our customers and support our communities.
Thanks to your focus on safety, the American Gas Association recognized us for the seventh year in a row for having the lowest incident rate of significant injuries among our peers. Our company also reinforced our commitment to operating safely and sustainably by adding a safety metric tied to emissions reduction in 2023, driven primarily by our vintage pipeline replacement and protection program. We could not achieve our safety, reliability and growth goals without your commitment.
If you have thoughts about improving our safety culture, I encourage you to share your ideas. You can use our O-Net app to submit near misses, good catches and ideas for improvement, or you can talk with your supervisor. Your feedback helps drive our safety efforts and success.
Thank you for the work you do each day to safely serve our customers and one another.
Sid McAnnally President & Chief Executive Officer
A Culture of Safety
We strive to have employees leave work every day the same way they arrived — unharmed. Our safety metrics provide a snapshot of our ongoing efforts to keep each other, our customers and our communities safe.
Since 2014
we’ve sustained industry-leading safety performance and improved our safety record in the following metrics:
Emergency Response
We monitor the time between creating an emergency order and the arrival of the first company responder to the scene and look for ways to improve our response time while maintaining safe driving practices.
In 2023, our average response time for natural gas emergencies was 27.85 minutes across urban, suburban and rural areas in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
reduction in our TRIR*
reduction in strains and sprains, the most prevalent type of injury 56% 59%
reduction in our DART 87%
Recognized for Safety Excellence
In 2024, the American Gas Association (AGA) recognized ONE Gas for having the lowest incident rate for Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) for the seventh consecutive year (2017 to 2023) among mega-sized natural gas distribution companies. DART represents the most severe types of injuries. Our DART rate has decreased by 87% since 2014.
Emergency Response Time (ERT) is incorporated into our safety metrics. In 2023, our goal was to arrive within 30 minutes of being notified 64% of the time, and we arrived within that timeframe nearly 65% of the time.
Emissions Reduction
In 2023, we adopted a new short-term incentive (STI) pay metric tied to efforts to meet our emissions reduction (ER) goal, driven by our vintage pipeline replacement and protection program. We have made steady progress since announcing our emissions reduction goal in January 2022 and remain on target to reach the goal. In 2023, we achieved 104% of our STI target, reducing 3,076 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
According to data tracked by the AGA, recognized for the lowest Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART) rate among the country’s largest natural gas distribution companies for the 7th consecutive year.
2023 Safety Metrics Results
We regularly rank in the top quartile for similar sized local distribution companies for all three personal safety metrics tracked by the AGA: Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR), Days Away, Restricted or Transferred (DART); and Preventable Vehicle Incident Rate (PVIR).
In 2023, we ranked in the top quartile for TRIR and DART.
AGA Safety Metrics Overview
Gallup Safety Culture Score
Since 2016, we have used the Gallup survey to learn more about our co-workers’ experience working at ONE Gas. Nearly 90% of our co-workers completed the survey in 2024, and our overall engagement scores increased for the eighth year in a row. Our scores place us among the top utility companies across the U.S.
Our safety culture scores, measured as part of our Gallup survey, have continued to rise since we began tracking this data in 2022.
Gallup studies
have consistently shown that organizations with highly engaged employees have fewer safety incidents, reduced turnover and increased productivity.
Gallup Survey Question
My coworkers routinely discuss risk, behavioral choices, and safety.
Gallup Survey ranks using a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest
Our Commitment to Training
ONE Gas has a 17,000-square-foot training center to provide hands-on training to our field service employees. The center also allows office personnel supporting Field Operations to better understand our training and processes.
AGA Applauds ONE Gas
Our technical training efforts were recognized as a best practice by the AGA in 2024.
ONE Gas ranked in the top quartile for:
• Contractor OQ (operator qualification) tests passed on the first attempt
• Employee OQ tests passed on the first attempt
• Average time spent on training initial field employees
• Average time spent by OQ evaluators testing employees
In 2023, our co-workers logged more than 26,000 training hours for customer service, construction and maintenance training.
Damage Prevention
ONE Gas uses Risk Assessment and Damage Reduction technology, also known as RADAR, to pull excavation-related data from public and internal sources. This application helps us analyze data and prioritize the probability of damage due to excavation activities near our pipelines. As higher-risk situations are identified, we proactively connect with the excavator onsite to foster safe practices. We are using RADAR in several metro areas across the organization.
Applying RADAR is an excellent example of continual efforts to improve our safety performance and reduce emissions. Since implementing RADAR, we have completed over 12,000 interventions with excavators across our service area, with a 60% decrease in damages on the highest-risk tickets.
Line Locating
Before 2020, ONE Gas primarily used contractors to locate tickets. We built on the success of our pilot program using employees for line locating and, in 2023, completed 28% of our locates with our employees.
We continue to expand our internal locating footprint and are currently completing 36% of locates with our employees. Insourcing this work creates an opportunity for an entry point into our business and supports our career development efforts. We have also transitioned internal construction crews and most contract crews to performing their own line locates, increasing efficiency and overall performance.
It’s not a matter of if something happens but when.
Our Work When Safe philosophy encourages workers in all settings to think through what could happen before work begins and prepare for it rather than waiting to respond if something happens.
Work When Safe Posters
Work When Safe posters are now installed in facilities across all three states, including our division offices. Co-workers fill out the safety boards any time there are five or more people in a meeting to capture important information like the locations of emergency exits and assign roles for emergencies including fire, severe weather or an active shooter.
Emergency Preparedness
Our emergency and crisis plans, assessments and committees are designed to mitigate risk and promote emergency preparedness for pipeline operations and cybersecurity. We conduct largescale crisis drills yearly, alternating operating divisions each year, and involve local emergency management personnel and public authorities. Each operating division performs five smallerscale drills each year. We also participate in emergency drills hosted by various third-party community partners, agencies and organizations.
Lone Worker Initiative
We continuously look for opportunities to enhance our safety measures and Work When Safe, especially for those who often work alone. We created a cross-functional task force focused on several initiatives, including a hazard awareness tool that provides a visual indication of known threats or hazards near areas where employees are performing work orders. The notifications will be visible within various work order applications and give employees the opportunity to call their supervisor or another team member to assist prior to beginning work.
New Mobile Command and Training Centers
To enhance our emergency preparedness and response, we established a Mobile Command Center that will help us better coordinate with crews and first responders during an emergency. Our Mobile Training Center will extend our training efforts into locations across our service areas, helping reduce travel for coworkers in Kansas and Texas.
Co-workers Respond to Near Record-breaking Weather Events
Extreme cold resulted in near record-breaking natural gas use during Winter Storm Gerri on Jan. 15, 2024. Residential and commercial usage experienced a substantial surge; an 80% increase nationwide in volume delivered over six days.* The near-peak usage reflected both the severity of the cold weather and the system’s responsiveness in meeting heightened heating loads. Despite the increased demand for natural gas during Winter Storm Gerri, fewer than 200 of our customers faced outages, and those events lasted less than 12 hours. During this time, Oklahoma also experienced a series of earthquakes. Teams responded quickly to ensure pipeline integrity and to investigate potential leaks.
Operating teams across our service areas also focused on safe and swift responses during one of the most active tornado seasons of record, according to preliminary reports from the Storm Prediction Center. Tornadoes impacted communities across Oklahoma and Kansas. Collaborating closely with local emergency management personnel, our teams took proactive measures to prioritize the mitigation of leaks to keep the public safe and to safeguard our assets.
Emergency preparedness and response are collaborative efforts that involve teams across the company, and every employee makes a difference in keeping each other and our communities safe. Our Contact Centers prepare to respond to incoming phone calls in coordination with our Customer Service, Dispatch and Field Operations teams. Gas Control and Engineering also play a crucial role, particularly in large-scale emergencies. Leadership from each operating division maintains continuous communication to support our operations and response efforts. Post-event reviews encourage continuous learning and improvements to our emergency processes and response plans. *Source: American Gas Association (AGA)
Throughout the severe weather season, our co-workers conducted emergency response to quickly assess damages and complete required patrols, surveys, and repairs to make the affected communities safe for our customers — without any safety-related injuries or vehicle accidents for our crews.
Expanding Learning Events in 2024
Learning event reviews aim to understand what led to a safety incident. After a review, we develop lessons-learned memos to share with impacted groups, then post them to our training site on
SharePoint. Our training team also incorporates learning events into employee trainings and monthly safety meetings.
Our Field Operations co-workers participate in monthly safety meetings to reinforce our Core Value of Safety. In late 2023, we re-evaluated the format of these meetings to create additional opportunities for learning. A team of leaders from several departments develops monthly content that includes updates on business and safety initiatives and incident reviews that encourage discussion.
We launched the new meeting format in January 2024 to include company news, HR information, safety topics and learning events. The feedback has been positive. Including the learning events in the monthly safety meetings brings timely awareness of events within our company and at other utilities. Co-workers also have an opportunity to share their lessons learned, as well as near misses or other safety concerns.
Examples
Learning Events & Awareness
Learning events explore the systems and processes in place to prevent accidents, helping employees better understand work as performed versus work as planned. This approach supports our focus on “what failed” versus “who failed,” leading to better outcomes for our organization. Successful learning events support a narrative inclusive of multiple perspectives at all levels of the organization. Learning events follow this framework:
• Act – We have opportunities to act when something does occur. This is a chance to learn as we continuously improve our systems and processes.
• Identify – Based on the initial investigation and review, we identify opportunities to correct or enhance our safety protocols in some capacity.
• Learn – We prioritize any actionable items to improve our performance with people, systems and processes. We can then share our findings across the organization.
of learning events covered in safety meetings
The ONE Gas Safety Management System (OSMS) promotes a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. These four steps promote a continuous assessment and improvement culture.
• PLAN: Define the objectives/plan
• DO: Implement and control the plan
• CHECK: Monitor against the plan
• ACT: Improve performance of processes
O-Net
O-Net is an easy-to-use application any employee can use to submit observations to enhance safety and promote continuous improvement. Users submit near misses, ideas for improvement and good catches. The application communicates with a database for retention, tracking, analysis and searchability.
To learn more about our safety programs, click on Safety under the Core Values drop-down menu on the Hub.
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