Nicor Safety Forum held their last meeting for the year, which was hosted by INTREN and led by Corporate Safety Manager, Simon Dawson. The Safety Forum is a partnership between Nicor Gas, its parent company Southern Company, and the many contractors that work within its footprint. Each year a different contractor takes the lead in the planning and facilitation, and INTREN was honored to step into that role for 2020.
Despite switching from an in-person event to a virtual forum due to concerns related to COVID-19, all events were well attended by field and executive management from both Atlanta, GA (where Southern Company is based) and here in Illinois.
Topics included Flash Hazard PPE, Ergonomics and Stretching, Human Performance, COVID concerns, Diversity and Inclusion, Quality Assurance, as well as lessons learned in the field.
As a successful transition was made and another contractor was introduced for 2021, appreciation was expressed to INTREN by Nicor management such as Scot Koif, Managing Director, and Ken Nance, Director of Contractor Management. In addition, the following note was sent after the forum:
"We would like to thank INTREN and the rest of the planning committee for their efforts planning yesterday's forum and for all of your efforts throughout 2020," said Dina Wisniewski, Nicor Resource Management. "This year turned out to be a challenge early on, but we did it! We truly appreciate everything that you do."
"Simon, thank you for leading the team in 2020. You truly took the reins and ran with it from the get-go only to be halted by events that unfolded in March. This was a very uncertain year; however, one thing I was certain of is that when we committed to planning two virtual forums that you would make sure we would fill our agenda with valuable topics and show up looking like a shiny penny for the events. Your planning skills are strong and your facilitating skills even stronger (I was taking notes!) and the humor you infused throughout was refreshing."