UGI aims to educate employees about natural gas safety, and the Safety Team is proud to hear that their messages are effective.
Recently, Carrie Meyers, a UGI Utilities GIS Technician, shared her story of how the safety reminders helped her in an emergency in early November.
She made a trip to a CVS store and noticed a firetruck near a parking lot entrance and a few firemen walking around but didn’t think anything of it. She went inside and while she was at the register, an employee came over and stated they needed to close the store due to a gas leak. Carrie, in an urgent tone, told them they needed to leave immediately.
“I got a few odd looks from those around me, but I said I worked for UGI, and this could be serious. That’s when I realized I had my UGI sweatshirt on and smiled!” said Carrie. “The person next in line was insisting that the clerk ring them up, but I said we really needed to go outside now and urged another shopper to leave their things on the shelf and get out.”
Once she got outside, additional fire and police were now there, and she asked several people if they called UGI and no one knew. She figured it wouldn’t hurt to have one more report, so she made the call.
“I’m so glad that at orientation the safety department had us put the UGI number in our phones,” said Carrie. “I was relieved that it was a quick and easy lookup since I am not already a UGI customer. The operator was so nice and patient with me as I gave her the address and the little information I knew. She stated it wasn’t yet reported and would get it to dispatch to get a crew out right away. She probably sensed my anxiety and very calmly reminded me not to start my car until I was told it was safe to do so.”
“After hanging up, I walked a safe distance from where the firemen were checking the building and waited,” said Carrie. “Asking for an update sometime later, I was directed to the Fire Chief. Upon approaching the group of people, he immediately looked at my sweatshirt and said, ‘That was fast!’ I told him that, yes, I work for UGI, but unfortunately I was not there to assist with resolving a potential gas leak but a crew was on the way. I asked if I was ok to start my car and leave and they indicated that the gas had been turned off.”
“As a fully remote employee I appreciate the safety topics and newsletters each month but have to admit that I felt very unlikely to find myself in a real-world situation. Until I did! Many of the precautions I knew to take were from the monthly safety topics and newsletters,” said Carrie. “Thanks again to the Safety Department for preparing me and for all that you do!”
Safety In All We Do
At UGI, safety is not only core value, it is a way of life us. Safety guides every action we take and every decision we make each day. We are committed to the safe and reliable delivery of energy to our customers’ homes and businesses. Learn more about UGI’s safety initiatives in our latest ESG report.
