Safety

Our business employs people who routinely work near energized wires, intense heat, nuclear fuel, heavy equipment, moving vehicles, pressurized pipes and under other conditions that require exceptional safety attitudes and measures. Though it is vitally important to provide electricity to our customers, there is no occupation worth risking the safety of an individual employee.

Target Zero

We practice Target Zero, a company program aimed at instilling individual responsibility for safety. Our policy is "every day, every job, safely." We have incremental goals to diminish, and an ultimate goal to eliminate, accidents.

Safety briefings are the first order of business at employee meetings. And for many employees whose jobs carry a higher risk of injury, that's how they start each shift. No matter the job function or the level of risk a job carries, every Southern Company employee is reminded often that working safely is a requirement.

• Before each job, we identify hazards and determine how to avoid them. We go over safety details with all employees who will perform the work.
• While working, we watch out for each other and start corrective actions if we see unsafe conditions.
• Reporting safety concerns is rewarded and protected, to remove any fear from employees to do so.

Southern Power is an excellent example of a strong safety culture and results within Southern Company. The entire organization of over 350 employees worked 2011 and 2012 without any injuries. During 2012 more than 99.4% of Southern Company employees worked injury free. Since the introduction of our Target Zero philosophy in 2005, Southern Company has reduced the rate of injuries to our employees by 68%.

Incremental targets have been in place since 2006. In 2012 we set a new all-time record for recordable incidence rate of 0.62 (against a goal of 0.65). Our lost-workday rate of 0.13 was twice as positive as the industry peer average of 0.26.