OVERVIEW
With hotter summers and colder winters, home energy use moves from the comfort’ column to the ‘health and safety’ for residents. Although for low income residents, that can often mean choosing between food, medicine and heating or cooling their home. That’s where Pacific Coast Energy Conservation Services (PCE) comes in. Through the Energy Savings Assistance (ESA) Programs run by Independently Owned Utilities (IOUs), PCE provides qualified customers with home improvements at no cost to help keep residential homes more energy efficient.
“As an ESA contractor, we strive to reach every household with energy saving solutions. Our employees are in and out of residential homes, providing services in a low to medium-risk environment,” states Greg Belansky, Vice President of Pacific Coast Energy. “But even then, there are risks in the work we do. That is why we work with Safety Services – to ensure that we are arming our employees with safety information, while also keeping our certification in check.”
CHALLENGE
Pacific Coast Energy has been a customer of Safety Services since 2016, helping to manage the prequalification web-portal of *ISNetworld®. Pacific Coast Energy serves ESA customers through Independently Owned Utility clients who require all contractors to be held to the same safety level, regardless of type of work.
Around the time that Belansky returned to the company in 2018, there had been a ladder fall reported which dropped PCE’s rating to a B grade. Combined with a pinched finger from moving household furniture, PCE saw their rating drop to a Fail with one of the IOU’s.
“We understand the importance of safety, but it’s also important to understand the type of activity our employees are engaging in.” Mr. Belansky notes. “We’re doing low-to-med risk home repair, not pulling wires 100 feet above the ground which would be considered high risk. It was important to apply for a variance to reflect that difference.”
SOLUTION
By obtaining a variance that included an action plan, PCE would be able to raise their compliance rating so the contract would no longer be at risk. Safety Services already had three years of managing PCE’s compliance requirements through the ISNetworld platform and was ready to meet the challenge. PCE’s client services coordinator, Danica Ryff, helped frame the action plan, pulling information together to respond to the written programs section within the ISNetworld® web portal.
“Danica’s guidance was remarkable and the help instrumental. She was able to quickly create an action plan that satisfied the concerns of our client.”
In addition to the action plan, PCE purchased the Cal OSHA IIPP manual that covers both state and federal regulations, as well as onboarding pocket manuals.
Since my return to Pacific Coast Energy and now running the day to day operations, Safety Services has been a huge help in achieving this variance. Customer service is what our company is about. Through our experience with Safety Services, Danica exemplifies the true meaning of it. We absolutely love the guidance she provides and are happy with our engagement with Safety Services.”
Greg Belanksy, Vice President
RESULTS
With a variance in place alongside an action plan, PCE’s rating was adjusted back to a B grade, securing their contract with the IOU.
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