Dakota Gasification Company (Dakota Gas), a subsidiary of Basin Electric, hosted its first-ever internal Safety Leadership Summit this spring, a multi-session training initiative designed to strengthen field-level safety leadership across the organization.
Approximately 80 employees participated, including team members from operations, maintenance, the chemistry lab, engineering, and other field-based roles. This broad mix of participants reflected the summit’s core message: safety leadership is not tied to a title, but to the everyday decisions and actions that shape how work is performed.
“Having people from different departments in the same room was important,” Jeff Graney, Dakota Gas compliance, safety, and industrial hygiene superintendent, said. “Everyone sees different risks, and we need all those perspectives to lead safely.”
The summit focused on practical, field-based leadership skills. Participants received training in hazard recognition, meaningful field engagement, and knowing when and how to intervene to prevent incidents. They also reinforced key safety programs including lockout/tagout, permitting, process safety, and the use of digital tools including Asset Suite, Fusion, and Dakota Incident Report (DIR). “Each attendee completed a personal safety action plan to put into practice in their daily life, at work, or at home,” Graney said.
As the first event of its kind at Dakota Gas, the summit represents a significant investment in strengthening the company’s safety culture. “By equipping employees with tools to lead confidently in the field, the program supports stronger accountability, safer decision-making, and a proactive approach to controlling risk,” Graney said.
Graney noted that visible, engaged safety leadership in the field sets the tone for safe performance and helps drive long-term organizational progress.
