Employees
Please click on the tiles below for more information about Essential’s human capital management and DEI initiatives.
Download the ReportHuman Capital Management
Human Capital Management
As a premier infrastructure company, Essential offers a wide array of exciting and challenging opportunities for careers that support our mission to provide natural resources for life.
We recognize our 3,000+ employees are our greatest asset in delivering life’s most essential resources, and we seek to build a talented, skilled and diverse workforce that values teamwork as well as a steadfast commitment to our customers and environment. The Essential companies, including our Aqua and Peoples utilities, are committed to providing professional opportunities for career growth, competitive benefits packages and a respectful workplace for every employee across the states we serve. We’re dedicated to creating a culture that empowers employees, where all people feel welcomed, respected and recognized for their contributions. At our core, our team is about respect, integrity and the pursuit of excellence.
Board Oversight of Human Capital Management
Board Oversight of Human Capital Management
Essential’s board of directors takes a keen interest in all aspects of human capital management and recognizes that our ability to attract, retain, and develop exceptional talent is a key strategic driver for our organization. The Chief Human Resources Officer regularly presents updates to the board, engaging in strategic discussion with the group regarding various topics as outlined below.
Human Capital Management in the Boardroom
Health and Safety
Health and Safety
Safety as a Priority
Safety is one of Essential’s primary commitments. Through continuous improvement efforts, we are establishing a high performing and cohesive safety program across our gas and water businesses. With this program, we proactively manage employee safety risks, support a healthy safety culture and position Essential as a leader among peers through safety prioritization and encouragement of safety ownership at all levels. Our commitment to safety is highlighted through the firm implementation of our safety program, which is flexible and adaptive in order to meet the varying needs of our complex businesses. The core components of this program include:
Management Commitment: Essential’s leaders are dedicated to supporting safety by incorporating it into corporate targets and goals, such as Essential’s short-term incentive plan (20% weighting). Focusing on these goals not only helps us compare ourselves to industry peers but also helps us to evaluate ourselves with an eye toward our own past performance. With this commitment, we emphasize the outcomes of our safety efforts, which concentrate on striving towards zero injuries and accidents. Senior leadership and safety staff receive weekly reports of both the current week’s incidents and totals for the year.
In 2023, our water and wastewater operations joined our gas operations in implementing a Senior Leadership Safety Council, Safety Steering Committee, and individual state safety committees. By the end of 2023, we are further implementing division or facility safety committees. The regular meetings focus on specific topics to the group as well as communicating between the committees to ensure that front line safety concerns are raised to the appropriate level, even senior leadership, to address.
Employee Engagement: The basis of our safety culture is an engaged workforce, which is nurtured through positive reinforcement of safety program participation, establishing mechanisms for employees to raise safety concerns, rigorously addressing hazards and thoroughly investigating incidents. Not only have our employees internalized their authority to stop work but are also actively involved in identifying safety solutions. In this way, we promote a speak-up culture and work to proactively address the safety hazards our employees may face. For those hazards, we work to communicate to all levels of our workforce to share lessons learned through safety briefs, newsletters, internal website publications and all-employee video events.
Hazard Identification and Mitigation: Identifying the hazards that our employees face is paramount to maintaining our safety culture, and mitigating these hazards is key to protecting our work family. Therefore, safety hazard analysis is one of the most critical aspects of our safety program and is a focus of our safety program auditing program.
Hazard recognition and control are also integral to our incident investigation processes and emergency response plans. Essential employees have access to an anonymous helpline and website, which is available 24/7/365 to confidentially report concerns regarding ethics, compliance Or safety issues. We also have a 24/7/365 nurse care line used on all calls other than emergencies that require an immediate emergency room visit. There is a concurrent process to engage our worker’s compensation carrier and an occupational clinic. Through these hazard identification efforts, we work to control our risks, with management and employees working together to either eliminate hazards or control the threats to employee safety. The effectiveness of the controls is reviewed and improved during root cause analyses of incidents and near misses. We actively participate in industry safety efforts through the American Gas Association (AGA) and the National Association of Water Companies (NAWC).
A near miss program, named Safety Learning Opportunity internally, has been in place for Essential’s gas operations for many years and was implemented in 2022 for its water and wastewater operations. This program spans from the traditional reporting of behavioral near misses to reporting of unsafe conditions, environmental potential, potential property damage and last barrier challenged incidents. We have empowered our employees with “stop work authority” to shut down work to reassess any dangers. A safety alert is issued within one week of any injury and this is followed by a more in-depth investigation. These findings are then shared with leadership and presented to all managers and supervisors on weekly calls throughout the company.
Safety Training: Another important tool to reduce safety risks in the workplace is through effective safety training. Training is vital for employees to understand the safety practices and expectations that are part of their jobs. Training also empowers employees to recognize safety hazards in the moment and take steps to correct them to prevent a potential injury. Essential provides safety-related training through multiple methods, from in-person courses to on-the-job training, to computer-based lessons, and informal safety discussions and meetings. In this way, Essential’s leadership and management team continues to support and strengthen safety in our workplaces.
Contractor Safety: Across much of our operations, contractors must provide their OSHA 300 log of the previous year’s injury data and their experience modification insurance rating (EMR). Most states hold contractor meetings at least annually to discuss changes, feedback and project information. Our gas operations utilize a contractor safety program, and we are assessing opportunities for expansion to our water and wastewater operations.
Measuring Safety1
No program is complete without effective ways to measure safety performance and make improvements based on these metrics. To accomplish this, Essential monitors safety through a variety of mechanisms. As noted in the table below, safety performance has improved over the past three years across the organization.
Lost Time and Restricted Time Injuries (LT/RT)2
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | Industry Group Average 2022 |
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | Essential | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | NA |
| Water and wastewater | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 3.13 | |
| Gas | 1.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 1.44 | |
| Count | Essential | 39 | 40 | 36 | N/A |
| Water and wastewater | 24 | 21 | 23 | N/A | |
| Gas | 15 | 19 | 13 | N/A | |
Employee-Responsible Motor Vehicle Accidents (RVA)
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate5 | Essential | 2.2 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| Water and Wastewater | 2.5 | 3.3 | 2.9 | |
| Gas | 1.8 | 2.4 | 2.1 | |
| Count | Essential | 68 | 78 | 79 |
| Water and wastewater | 42 | 42 | 49 | |
| Gas | 26 | 36 | 30 | |
Fatalities
| 2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
Near Misses Reported
| 2022 | |
|---|---|
| Essential | 93 |
| Aqua | 39 |
| Peoples | 54 |
1 This data only pertains to full-time Essential employees.
2 Employee injuries resulting in days away from work, job restriction, or transfer
3 According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics
4 According to the American Gas Association: Rate = Number of Lost Time and Restricted Duty Injuries * 200,000 / Hours Worked. Same as DART rate.
5 Rate = # RVAs/miles driven*1,000,000
