PG&E Becomes First Natural Gas Utility to Obtain Process Safety Certification

Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) has successfully passed a comprehensive gas safety audit and has been certified to the chemical industry’s RC14001® management system standard. The audit reviewed numerous end-to-end safety processes at the company, ultimately approving PG&E as the first utility to secure the certification.

RC14001 was developed as a standard issued through the American Chemistry Council for process safety; community communications; product safety; occupational safety, health, environmental and security practices against which it can be evaluated and certified by a third party. The standard embodies the industry’s Responsible Care® Guiding Principles.

“Achieving RC14001 certification demonstrates that a company’s environmental, health, safety and security operations are a real, day-to-day functioning part of their business,” said ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley. “As the first utility to meet the requirements of this management system standard, PG&E is a model for other utilities that seek to demonstrate their commitment to and investment in a culture of safety.”

Examples of PG&E initiatives reviewed during the audit include:

  • The Corrective Action Program, a program that empowers employees at all levels of PG&E to speak up and identify issues that are in need of improvement;
  • The Tactical Analysis Mapping Integration Tool, providing real-time geospatial information with field activities, enhancing PG&E’s ability to safely and reliably serve its customers;
  • The Enterprise and Operational Risk Management Process, PG&E’s comprehensive risk management process;
  • Records information management policy, strategy and guidance.

The third-party audit, conducted by DNV GL, included extensive interviews with PG&E employees and field visits to verify process safety standards utilized throughout Gas Operations.

PG&E is also one of the first utilities in the world to hold both the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 55001:2014 and Publicly Available Specification (PAS)55-1: 2008 certifications for its asset management. In 2015, PG&E became the first company in the U.S. to meet the rigor of the American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice (API RP 1173) for pipeline safety management systems and safety culture.

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