your electrical connection - newton power station retirees · recognition of the outstanding...

Your Electrical Connection

December, 2015

Volume 13, Issue 12

Inside this issue:

Roger’s World 2

Congratulations 2

Farewell to PaulHardiek

5

Anniversaries Cele-brated

6

Wellness Corner 8

Upcoming Events 8

January Birthdays &Anniversaries

8

Safety Highlights 3

Anniversaries Cele-brated (continued)

7

Thank You 5

Quarterly Update 4

Number of Days Since Last...

First Aid 99

Recordable 60

Lost Time 325

· Numbers based onDecember 16, 2015.

Safety Stats:

Newton Power Station VPP…Roger Bass

What is the Voluntary Protection Program?The Voluntary Protection Program (VPP) pro-motes effective worksite-based safety andhealth. In the VPP, management, labor, andOSHA establish cooperative relationships atworkplaces that have implemented a compre-hensive safety and health management sys-tem. Approval into VPP is OSHA’s officialrecognition of the outstanding efforts of em-ployers and employees who have achievedexemplary occupational safety and health.In Section 2 of the OSH Act of 1970, Con-gress declared “the purpose and policy toassure every working man and woman in theNation safe and healthful working conditionsand to preserve our human resources.” Sec-tion 2 (b) (13) states “by encouraging jointlabor-management efforts to reduce injuriesand disease arising out of employment.”VPP sets performance based criteria for amanaged safety and health system. It invitesworksites to apply and then does an assess-ment of the site application. If the applicationpasses this assessment, OSHA sends ateam of OSHA safety and health experts tothe site for an onsite evaluation. OSHA ap-proved the first VPP site in 1982. In 2015there are over 1,400 VPP Star sites in theUnited States. Around 43 percent of thesesites are Union.In early December, three members of EHSExcellence Consulting arrived at Newton.EHS Excellence has an extensive back-ground in OSHA and the field of health andsafety. They met with the Newton VPP Teamwhich consists of Brian Reich – Co-Chair,Roger Bass – Co-Chair, Jesse Beard, AlanBogardus, Gerod Briggs, Dean Edrington,Jenny Frichtl, Doug Frohning, Julie Matson,

and Kent Schafer. After the initial meeting,the team spent three days walking throughthe plant site. During the site walk down,they took pictures and talked with individu-als at different job sites. They were allowedfull access to the plant. Later, they heldformal interviews with several employees.On Monday, they met with the NewtonSafety Committee and the Wellness Com-mittee. Tuesday they met with the Emer-gency Response Team that was here fortraining. On Wednesday, the members ofEHS met with the leadership of the NewtonIBEW Local 702 and Jason Woolard, Busi-ness Representative for IBEW Local 702.Thursday morning, they met with the VPPteam and gave a brief discussion of theirfindings, which included both improvementopportunities and things we are doing well.A full report will be sent and the VPP com-mittee will meet and discuss our next steps.As this is a joint effort among all of us atNewton Power Station, the committee willbe asking not only for your support, but yourinvolvement in making Newton Power Sta-tion a VPP Star.

Your Electrical Connection Volume 13, Issue 12

Roger’s World...Roger Bass

With internet sales, you don’t have to leave the comfort ofyour home. It started out as Cyber Monday. Now the saleslast all month. That’s bad news for the stores, but goodnews for the post office and delivery companies.So here it is, almost Christmas. The temperature is a balmyseventy degrees. The long term forecast looks like it couldbe in the sixties on Christmas day. The birds can’t decidewhether to fly south, just hang around or maybe just headback north. Santa may have to trade his reindeer in for cam-els when he makes his annual jaunt.On another note, I am excited about the plant going forwardwith the VPP program. Not only does it help the plant, itmakes this worksite safer for you and me.Till next time, don’t forget the real meaning of Christmas andhave a Happy New Year, and as always, please be safe.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It’s looking likeChristmas on television and in the stores that is. As I writethis article, it is almost seventy degrees outside. It’s sowarm out, the Salvation Army bell ringer was wearingshorts. I even saw a guy mowing his yard. He was notmulching leaves, he was mowing grass.At least on television Frosty has snow, Rudolph is playinghis reindeer games and the Grinch’s small heart grew threetimes that day. George Bailey has a wonderful life andClarence gets his wings. And don’t forget Clark Griswold;he gets the gift that keeps on giving the whole year; amembership in the jelly of the month club.It seems like the older I get, the harder it is to get in theChristmas spirit. It was bad enough the Christmas decora-tions used to start showing up before Thanksgiving, nowthey are up before Halloween. At least the colder weatherof December helps me get the spirit. Except this year, it’skind of hard to believe it is almost Christmas when I amoutside in short sleeves.This year, several big chain stores have decided to givetheir employee’s Thanksgiving off so they can enjoy sometime with their families. Not much time, because it’s backto work super early on Black Friday. What better way toget the Christmas spirit than to get in line on Black Fridayeve and stand there for hours waiting to be in the front linesof the rush when the doors are opened. Nothing saysChristmas like a mad dash to the sale items, pushing andshoving to get to those items before someone else can.After all it’s Christmas.Even the Black Friday sales aren’t what they used to be.

CONGRATULATIONS

Carl Will for completing Phase 2 of yourWelder Repairman Apprenticeship

Jeremy White and Kirk Hutchings on becomingOperations Supervisors


The Safety Committee met on December 9. I was curioushow the meeting would go because we had visitors fromEHS Excellence Consulting in attendance. As you know,they were on site to perform a gap analysis to gauge wherewe currently stand in our journey to VPP. They wanted tosee how our Safety Committee works and gauge its effec-tiveness. I was very pleased in that the meeting went justlike all the others. We did what we do. Raise issues, profes-sionally discuss them, and look for solutions to make New-ton a safer and better place to work. I appreciate the mem-bers of the Safety Committee and the fact that they trulyunderstand the importance of their roll at the station. Pleasecontinue to communicate with your committee member andlet us know how we can support you better.We started the meeting on a very down note, which wasdiscussing the recent amputation at Baldwin. We still don’thave details on the incident as it is still under investigation.We will communicate the incident as soon as it is public.However, we did discuss filters and how our past experi-ences might allow us to get into a situation where we couldbe severely injured. The work evolutions that fall under the“this is how we have always done it (and fortunately gotten

Safety Highlights...Kent Schafer

away with it)” really scare me. These are difficult becauseour filters block the “hey this is a hazard” signal to the brain.Try to look at your work tasks from a different perspectivefrom time to time and try to tear down the filters. We mighthave improvement opportunities out there that might pre-vent a serious, life changing event in the future.The Safety Committee will be discussing 2016 Safety Com-mittee Goals at our next meeting. Please take this oppor-tunity to provide feedback to your committee member onhow we can improve as a committee and as a station. Weare here for the employees of this plant and your perspec-tives on what makes a good Safety Committee are veryimportant to our success.There is no time like the holiday season to reflect on whywe put so much effort into working safe and providing asafe working environment. It is so we can provide for andgo home healthy (and hopefully happy) to our loved ones.Enjoy your family time and be safe in your holiday travels.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! MY WISH FOR YOU IN 2016 ISGOOD HEALTH, GOOD TIMES

AND PEACE.


Quarterly Update...Twyla Harvey

On Wednesday, November 25, the Quarterly Update was presented.Members of the PLT gave us an update on their departments; as well as, Jim Grunloh gave us a scrubber update and BrianReich gave us a presentation on the VPP and introduced the VPP Team.Bob Kipp, VP and General Manager of Plant Operations, gave us an update on IPH.This meeting was followed by a delicious lunch.

Alan Bogardus VPP Team: (L-R) Brian Reich, Jesse Beard, Alan Bogardus, JulieMatson, Dean Edrington, Gerod Briggs and Kent Schafer. DougFrohning not present for picture.

David Heath Jim Grunloh Vita Kistner


On Tuesday, November 26, we said farewell to Paul with a cake and coffee held in his honor.

Paul started at Newton on November 1, 1998, as a Plant Engineer. On June 16, 2003, he became a Senior Plant Support En-gineer; on January 1, 2010, he was promoted to Technical Services Superintendent and on January 1, 2012, he was promotedto Production Superintendent and then later his title was changed to Production Manager when we became Dynegy.

Paul was highly thought of at Newton and will be greatly missed. Paul left Newton to go to work for Ameren at the MattoonOffice in the Gas Department; our loss is definitely their gain. We wish him the best of luck.

We Say Farewell To Paul Hardiek...Twyla Harvey

THANK YOUThank you for your generosity toward Operation Homefront. We collected $500 and supplies that were delivered on Novem-ber 19. They were very appreciative of our donation. Once again, thank you for your donations.

Thank you to all that contributed cash and/or food for the Christmas Food Drive in Jasper County.

Paul with the picture we presentedhim with; which included a lot of theplant employees and their hand writ-ten well wishes.

Paul reflecting on his time at Newton.


Anniversaries Celebrated...Twyla Harvey

A cake and coffee was held on Thursday, November 19, inhonor of Mary Hightshoe’s 25 years of service at Newton.Mary was originally hired as a temporary employee for aUnit 2 outage in September of 1990. When Mary becamea permanent employee, she was hired as an OperatorHelper and worked in OPS from January 22, 1991, throughNovember 1, 1998. At that time, she bid a Janitor positionand then on February 6, 2012, she was awarded a Stock-man position and remains a Stockman to date.Mary lives in Hutsonville, with husband, Les, and has oneson, Chance.Mary enjoys cooking and baking.

Congratulations Mary!Randy Ebeling, Unit Operator, celebrated his 25 year plantanniversary on Friday, November 20, with cake and cook-ies.Randy was originally hired as a temporary employee for aUnit 2 outage in September of 1990. He became a perma-nent employee on January 23, 1991, and was hired as anOperator Helper. Randy has worked his way through OPSup to his present position as Unit Operator. He became aUO on May 15, 2011.Randy and his wife, Danee, live in rural Jasper County andhave two children; Brooke (24), who lives at home, andBlake (21) who is in the Air Force and stationed in Chey-enne, WY.In Randy’s spare time he enjoys woodworking and hunting.

Congratulations Randy!

Hal Stansfield celebrated his 35 year service anniversaryon December 3, with Tech Services.

Hal started as a Lab Tech at Meredosia Power Plant onDecember 1, 1980. He transferred to Newton on October22, 1990, as a Chemist. During Hal’s time at Newton, hehas been an Assistant SS FGD (scrubber) for a year andwent back to being a Chemist when the scrubber closed.

In Hal’s spare time he serves as an Elder at the Presbyteri-an Church, enjoys home projects and goes out East when-ever possible.

Hal and his wife, Pat, live in Effingham and have 3 daugh-ters; Joanna (34) (Chad) Hunter, who lives in Radford, VAwith their 11 month old son, Will; Joanna is an AssistantProfessor at Radford University; Hope (30) who lives inRochester, NY and is a RN; and, Gwyn (27) who lives inNew York City and is a publicist.

Congratulations Hal!

L-R: Vita Kistner, Ad-min Manager, con-gratulates Mary onher anniversary.

Clerical & Stores Team: L-R: Julie Matson, Anita Grif-fith, Vita Kistner, Guest of Honor, Mary Hightshoe,Cindi Root, Larry Quick and Twyla Harvey.

L-R: Randy Ebelingbeing congratulatedby his Supervisor,Nick Gipson.

L-R: David Heath,Environmentaland ChemicalManager congrat-ulates Hal.


Terri Funneman celebrated her 25 year service an-niversary on December 3, 2015, with C and Dshifts.

Terri started at Newton as a temporary employee,hired to work the Unit 2 outage in September of1990. On January 21, 1991, Terri became a per-manent employee; hired as a Process OperatorHelper (POH) in the scrubber. On May 4, 1997,Terri became an Operator Helper in the plant andon December 9, 2001, she moved up to an AuxiliaryOperator. On January 27, 2008, Terri became anOperations Supervisor and remains that to date.

In Terri’s spare time she enjoys their vacation homeat KY Lake and enjoys boating while they are there.She also enjoys golfing, spending time with hergrandchildren and spends a lot of time with her par-ents.

Terri and her husband, Doug, live in T-Town andhave 3 daughters and a son; Trisha Funneman—who lives in T-Town, Mandy (Russ) Bloemer, wholives in Green Creek, Jessi (Jarad) Tegeler, whoalso lives in T-Town and Jay who lives at home andis a student at Lakeland College. Terri and Doughave 8 grandchildren: Kaleb (12), Cam (3), Alivia(7), Max (4), Maci (3), Bo (1 1/2), Cooper (2) andBrynn (3 months).

Congratulations Terri!

Anniversaries Celebrated (continued)

Terri beingcongratulatedby her boss,Jim Marshall.

C Shift (L-R) Front Row: Kelly Line, Chuck Young, JerryMiller, and Allison Rausch; Back Row: Rick Koester, RossMeinhart, Joe Walker, Curt Collins and Corey Rauch.

D Shift (L-R): Joe Walker, Bob Rice, Dennis Morgan, Kir-bee Monk, Doug Frohning, Kenny Johnson, Tom Fear, andJeff Teuerle.


* Any omissions in this section areentirely unintentional.

1/1 Ted. Shaffer Jr.1/2 David Heath1/4 John Marschewski1/7 Nate Richardson1/11 Mike Moyers1/18 Terry Hanratty1/21 Anita Griffith1/22 Ron Combs1/24 Josh Fehrenbacher1/25 Jay Weir1/26 Bill Tennyson1/27 Cheryl Walters1/29 Scott Cummins

Upcoming Events January Birthdays & Anniversaries

Dec. 17 Christmas LunchDec. 24 Christmas EveDec. 25 Christmas DayDec. 31 New Year’s EveJan. 1 New Year’s Day

Wellness Corner

Stress around the holiday season is nothing new. Taking time to enjoy the season may mean cutting back on some activities.Saying “no” is OK. People tend to overload their schedules in December from Christmas shopping, parties and family gather-ings. And of course the stress of the Elf on The Shelf can be a bit overwhelming as well.

Something that can help relieve stress is to maintain a healthy eating habit and continue your normal exercise program. Exer-cise helps clear your mind and helps you better focus on the tasks you need to complete.

Make a list of things you need to do. Being organized will help you check off the things on your to-do list or your honey-do list.It also gives you a sense of accomplishment.

Make sure you enjoy your families during this season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Safety By Choice—Not By Chance

1/3 5 Yrs. Kelly Line1/3 5 Yrs. Jake Wernsing1/19 1 Yr. Gary Klingler

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