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• Safety Highlights

Safety and Health

Dakota Gas employees receive safety training as part of the Responsible Care program.

Our people are the reason we are successful. We take seriously everything that affects the well-being of our people.

For more than 40 years, Basin Electric Power Cooperative and its subsidiaries have claimed one of the lowest incidents of lost-work-day injuries in the energy industry. A safe work environment, an active safety awareness program and a hands-on safety training are integral parts of what Basin Electric is: a company that values its people.

Because we value each of our employees and his or her contributions toward making clean, affordable energy for rural America, we continue our tradition of upholding a corporate commitment to ensure employee safety and promote health and wellness at all facilities.

Corporate Safety Committee

The Basin Electric corporate safety committee was formed in 1998 and comprised of five facility safety coordinators and one facility safety committee member from each facility. The committee meets quarterly to review and discuss safety issues, and participates in a quarterly safety and health audit at the facilities. A recent corporate safety program involved hazard awareness training for all employees and driver awareness training about distractions while driving.

Disaster recovery

Basin Electric Power Cooperative and its subsidiary facilities have designated Disaster Recovery committees, response teams and procedures that address different types of disaster scenarios. Some of these teams include special hazardous materials (HAZ-MAT) and firefighters who are trained to respond to specific situations involving hazardous materials. Other disaster recovery efforts include first alert and first-responder procedures, notification and coordination with local and state emergency agencies, and training and education in conjunction with facility safety committees. All employees participate in periodic fire, tornado and other emergency drills.

Facility safety committees

Each facility has a safety committee that meets either monthly or quarterly. The committee is made up of staff employees and hourly employees. Their mission is to address safety and health issues, perform safety audits, and review safety and health procedures.

Facility safety meetings

The power plants and subsidiary facilities have a regularly scheduled all-plant safety meeting each month. Transmission systems maintenance and Headquarters hold quarterly employee safety meetings.

Safety and health memberships

Basin Electric Headquarters, each power plant, and the Transmission Systems Maintenance (TSM) division are members of the National Safety Council, and the local and state safety councils. For the past several years, facilities have been recognized for their safety accomplishments. Our subsidiary, Dakota Gasification Company's facility, Great Plains Synfuels Plant, is member of the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care®, a voluntary program to achieve improvements in environmental, health and safety performance beyond levels required by the U.S. government. Dakota Gas plays an active role in its Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and a Dakota Gas employee serves as a member of the LEPC Board. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation requires Dakota Gas to develop, summarize, and publish a risk management program (RMP) that is available to the public to encourage community dialogue about how to prevent chemical accidents and reduce risk.

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