Safety Culture Assessments

In 2019, California Assembly Bill 1054 added an annual safety culture assessment requirement to the Public Utilities Code. Public Utilities Code Section 8389(d)(4) requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), in consultation with the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety (Energy Safety), to develop a process for an annual Safety Culture Assessment for each electrical corporation. The original safety culture assessment framework was adopted by the California Public Utilities Commission (the Commission or CPUC) on November 19, 2020, in Resolution WSD-011. It includes a workforce survey, a management self-assessment, and submission of safety culture objectives and lessons learned. The first Safety Culture Assessment took place in 2021.

Energy Safety seeks to develop a longitudinal view of safety culture across electrical corporations to identify best practices and relative gaps, along with an understanding of each corporation’s relative strengths and opportunities in designing and implementing a strong safety culture. Energy Safety ultimately seeks to assess safety culture outcomes over time and incorporate continuous learning into the Safety Culture Assessment process.