THE OKLAHOMAN | OKLAHOMAN.
COM  Thursday, February 6, 2020  B9
Q&A WITH DON BULLARD
Safety audit protects employees, employers
What is a safety audit?
A safety audit is a general
term. In short, it means
a review of the physical
plant/workplace to assess
potential risks for injury
and property damage. A
safety audit assesses pro-
cedures and equipment
including a determina-
tion of whether proper
ergonomics and safety
techniques are being
utilized. The goal is to
determine whether there
are best practices that can
be utilized to reduce identi-
fied risks.
What are the advantages of
a safety audit?
In addition to the
primary function of pro-
tecting personnel from
harm and equipment from
damage, a safety audit has
the extended benefit of
OKLAHOMA BUSINESS BRIEFS
NORMAN
Sooner HR Society
meeting to cover
employment law
February’s meeting of
the Sooner HR Society will
focus on federal and state
employment law updates,
officials said.
Adam W. Childers, co-
chair of Crowe & Dunlevy’s
Labor & Employment
Practice Group, will pres-
ent “2020 Vision … What
Does the Year Ahead Hold
in Store for Employment
Law in Oklahoma?” at the
group’s monthly meeting.
The meeting is set for
11:30 a.m. Tuesday at the
Norman Regional Hospital
Education Center at 901 N
Porter Ave.
Registration is available
at okhr.org/SHRS-Events.
 
OKLAHOMA CITY
Chesapeake trust
dividend set
Chesapeake Granite
Wash Trust has announced
it will pay a 3.7-cent
fourth-quarter dividend
March 2 to unit holders of
record on March 2.
Officials said the divi-
dend will distribute the
revenue made from the
sale of oil, natural gas
liquids and natural gas
produced by trust wells
between Sept. 1 and Nov.
30.
During that period, the
wells produced 20,000
barrels of oil, 42,000 bar-
rels of natural gas liquids
and 511 million cubic feet
of natural gas.
The trust was formed
by Chesapeake in June
2011 and owns royalty
interests in certain oil and
natural gas properties in
the Colony Granite Wash
play in Washita County.
 
Express Employment
Professionals awarded
ClearlyRated has
awarded Express
Employment
Professionals with its
Best of Staffing Client
and Talent awards for
providing superior service
to their clients and candi-
dates, officials said.
Express received satis-
faction scores of 9 or 10
out of 10 from 63.4% of
their clients, significantly
higher than the industry’s
average of 24%. Nearly
68% of placed job candi-
dates also gave Express a
satisfaction score of 9 or
10 out of 10 compared to
the industry average of
45%.
“Now more than ever,
it is important for staff-
ing firms to deliver
consistently remarkable
experiences to the cli-
ents and talent they work
with,”  ClearlyRated’s
CEO Eric Gregg said. “This
year’s Best of Staffing
winners have shown their
commitment to excep-
tional service, committing
to not only measuring sat-
isfaction, but taking action
on the feedback.”
Donald
Bullard
is the
founder of
Bullard and
Associates.
consistent production via
reduced lost time, lower
insurance premiums
because of fewer claims
for property damage and
fewer workers’ compensa-
tion injuries. It also offers
protection against OSHA
violations and the fines
that can accompany those
violations.
Are there ways to deter-
mine areas that need to be
addressed other than by
visual inspection?
Our safety audit proce-
dures begin with research.
Prior to actually conduct-
ing a tour of the facility
Eyemart Express celebrates
30 years in Oklahoma
Eyemart Express this
month is celebrating 30
years in Oklahoma by giving
back to the community,
including school districts
and military families in need
at Tinker Air Force Base.
The optical retailer
donated glasses repair and
cleaning kits for students
at Oklahoma City Public
Schools and Tulsa Public
Schools. The company also
provided 150 vouchers for
free glasses to Tinker Air
Force Base’s Tinker Family
Readiness Fund, which
assists military families in
need.
“We appreciate that
Oklahomans have embraced
our brand,” said Bill Butler,
Eyemart Express senior vice
president of store opera-
tions. “We are proud to
serve the Sooner State and
look forward to strength-
ening our established
relationships with local
communities across it.”
 
Trillium opens largest
hydrogen transit
refueling station
Trillium, a subsid-
iary of the Oklahoma
City-based Love’s Family
of Companies, has opened
North America’s larg-
est hydrogen transit
refueling station in Santa
Ana, California.
The hydrogen station
will fill up a transit bus in
six to 10 minutes, similar
to diesel or CNG bus filling
rates, making this the only
zero-emission fuel choice
that allows fleets to oper-
ate as usual. Ten buses are
equipped for hydrogen, but
the station allows the fleet to
grow to 50 with only mini-
mal additional capital costs.
“Trillium is excited to
open this hydrogen fuel-
ing station, which will
allow Santa Ana buses to
run efficiently and produce
no tailpipe emissions,”
said JP Fjeld-Hansen, vice
president of Trillium. “We
appreciate that so many
customers are trusting us
to build their clean, renew-
able energy fueling systems.
As more consumers demand
clean, renewable energy, we
stand ready to help them
tackle these opportunities.”
 
UPT driver honored
United Petroleum
Transports has named
Houston owner-oper-
ator John Alexander as
the company’s 2019
Professional Driver of the
Year. Alexander was one
of 12 nominees from a field
of more than 600 drivers
considered for the award
by a committee made up of
Oklahoma Highway Patrol
troopers.
“Our professional driver
of the year and all of our
nominees not only repre-
sent the best of UPT, but
also the best of our industry
because they have exceeded
the high standards of safety
and customer service that
during the work day, we
request access to infor-
mation regarding prior
incidents and types of
injuries. The information
generally will lead to spe-
cific changes to address
those issues.
For instance, if a par-
ticular area has a higher
rate of shoulder injuries,
we want to determine the
reason why that might be.
Oftentimes it is a function
of changing a process to
ensure safe operation of
equipment or completion
of a task. Depending on
the facility, we may also
recommend noise testing
to ensure the levels do not
exceed OSHA standards.
What are some of the more
common issues you see and
how are they addressed?
The most common
define our company,” Greg
Price, its CEO, stated as part
of the release.
Alexander has driven for
24 years and has worked
for United Petroleum
Transports since 2011. The
company also named Drew
Parsons of Oklahoma City as
its certified safety trainer of
the year, David Baxley of
Oklahoma City as its recruit
of the year and Joe Baca, of
El Paso, Texas, as its techni-
cian of the year.
 
EDMOND
EES acquires company
E n e r g y a n d
Environmental Services
announced this week it
acquired Abilene Celex
Services, a Texas-based
oilfield chemical provider,
for $325,000 on Feb. 1.
“Growth through
acquisitions has proven
successful for many com-
panies in the past, and we
believe and are hopeful
our strategy will produce
a championship-quality in
our industry,” Leon Joyce,
EES’ CEO, stated as part of
the announcement. “We
are very excited about the
individuals joining our
team with the acquisition
of Celex.”
Management estimates
EES’ pro forma combined
revenues for 2019 with
Celex would have been
about $9.5 million, with
Celex contributing about
$700,000 of that.
Established in 1991, EES
blends, manufactures and
packages custom liquids and
solid chemicals for the oil,
gas and agricultural indus-
tries. Recently, it expanded
to develop enzyme system
technologies and livestock
feed supplements.
 
TULSA
Pipeline sale announced
Saddlehorn Pipeline
Company partners have
sold a portion of their
ownership of a line that
carries oil and condensate
from the Powder River and
Denver-Julesburg Basins
to Cushing to a new player,
they announced this week.
The line, jointly owned
by affiliates of Magellan
Midstream Partners, Plains
All American Pipeline
and Western Midstream
Partners, announced it
sold 20% ownership in the
line — 10% from Magellan
and 10% from Plains — to
Black Diamond Gathering,
majority-owned by Noble
Midstream Partners, for
$155 million.
After the Feb. 1 deal,
Magellan and Plains each
own 30% of the line, while
Western Midstream and
Black Diamond each own
20%. The line continues to
be operated by Magellan.
The line can transport
190,000 barrels per day of
crude oil and condensate
from the DJ and Powder
River Basins to storage
facilities in Cushing. Its
capacity is being expanded
to 290,000 barrels per
day.
areas for improvement in
a manufacturing/produc-
tion setting fall into four
categories.
Initially, failure to use
easily available ergo-
nomic equipment is very
common. Ergonomic
keyboards set at the cor-
rect height and for proper
hand placement should be a
given but are often ignored.
The proper use can easily
prevent hand issues.
Ergonomic mats should be
utilized for positions where
standing is required.
Another issue we
encounter frequently
occurs when employ-
ees determine to bypass
a safety rule in order to
increase production. This
can be exhibited, as exam-
ples, in the form of failure
to use lifts for working
Energy partnership created
Clarion North America
Energy announced a
strategic partnership agree-
ment with the U.S. Energy
Storage Association, the
national trade association
for companies that develop
and deploy energy stor-
age technologies critical to
modernizing the country’s
power grid.
By partnering with ESA,
Clarion Energy North
America events will increase
and enhance coverage of
energy storage and offer
ESA members exposure to
energy education, officials
said. ESA member com-
panies will present and
speak at Clarion’s events,
including Full Conference
Summit and Expo Hall
Knowledge Hub content,
preconference workshops
and symposiums.
“We are thrilled to be
partnering with ESA, the
leading voice of the energy
storage industry,” said
MaryBeth DeWitt, Clarion’s
senior vice president of
North America Energy.
“This partnership is a per-
fect alignment with many
of our attendees and exhib-
itors who are interested in
learning more about energy
storage. Many are already
implementing the technol-
ogy at power plants and on
the grid. At the same time,
we feel ESA’s members will
benefit greatly from being
involved with our events
that have a deep history
in the US electric power
industry.”
 
Persimmon Group
names new president
Bill Fournet, Founder
and CEO of the Tulsa-
based Management
Consulting firm The
Persimmon Group, has
named Sara Gallagher the
company’s new president.
Fournet has been both CEO
and president for the past
15 years. He will continue
to be the company’s CEO.
Gallagher has been a
practicing consultant and
global speaker for The
Persimmon Group since
2012. She has served on the
executive leadership team
2018 as  vice president of
delivery.
“This is something
we have been working
towards over the past
year,” Fournet said. “For
me to focus more on stra-
tegic initiatives, I wanted
someone who I trusted
could lead Persimmon in its
day-to-day business with
the same values, passion
and focus on the customer.
I found that in Sara.”
Persimmon also
announced that Fournet
is launching a new
Persimmon initia-
tive known as Lead for
Tomorrow. The effort
is a program of keynote
speeches, workshops and
strategic advisement for
current and emerging lead-
ers, delivered by Fournet.
Staff reports
at the proper height or
bypassing safety buttons in
the operation of a machine.
Too often, we notice
something as simple as
keeping designated walk-
ing and operating areas
free of debris and equip-
ment to prevent trip and
fall injuries. Finally, the
failure to require the use of
proper safety equipment
such as safety glasses, fall
protection, hearing protec-
tion and any other personal
protection equipment is all
too common.
As you might imagine,
each situation has its own
challenges and the exam-
ples are too numerous to
illustrate here.
Can an employer conduct
their own safety audit?
They can and they
should. Some problems
A rig drills a well owned in part by Panhandle Oil and
Gas Inc. in 2017. [OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]
Production,
price drive
Panhandle’s
results
By Jack Money
Business writer
jmoney@oklahoman.com
Lower production
rates and lower com-
modity prices impacted
first-quarter earnings for
Panhandle Oil and Gas,
the company announced
Wednesday.
In a release issued
after markets closed,
the company reported a
first-quarter net income
(the company’s fiscal
year started Oct. 1) of
about $1.9 million, or 11
cents per share, on total
revenue of about $10.6
million.
For the same period the
previous year, the com-
pany earned a net income
of about $12.7 million, or
75 cents per share, on
total revenue of about
$26.3 million.
The company’s earn-
ings before interest,
taxes, depreciation and
amortization for the
first quarter of 2020
was about $7.2 million,
compared to about $14.5
million the same period
the previous year.
The company’s release
stated it saw revenue
from oil and natural gas
production decline by
38% during the quarter
because of a production
decline of 18% and a 25%
drop in price for oil and
natural gas.
It attributed the pro-
duction decline to a
natural tailing from
mature assets and to
sales of non-core prop-
erties that had marginal
value.
Company officials
said Panhandle sold 530
acres of mineral holdings
in Eddy County, New
Mexico, during the first
quarter of 2020 for $3.4
and fixes are obvious, but
others require more review,
knowledge and experience.
An important starting
point in developing a safe
working environment is
to require all employees
to follow the safety rules.
As an employer, consider
establishing a policy for
safety rules and require
everyone to follow them,
even to the point of repri-
mands and termination.
Schedule regular safety
meetings to emphasize the
rules and the importance
of compliance. This is pri-
marily for the protection of
the employee, but is also
important for the protec-
tion and well-being of your
company.
 
Paula Burkes,
Business writer
million.
During the same period
the previous year, it sold
acreage there and in Lea
County, New Mexico, for
$9.1 million.
The company also
reported it acquired min-
eral rights in the STACK
play of the Anadarko
Basin during the first
quarter of 2020 for $9.3
million, using mostly
cash from like-kind
exchanges.
Chad L. Stephens,
Panhandle’s CEO, stated
as part of the release the
company continues to
make progress on its
overall plan to transform
itself from a company
that partners with other
operators to drill wells to
one that primarily holds
mineral interests and
royalties.
“As we stated in our
last earnings release, the
results from this strat-
egy shift will not happen
overnight, but we con-
tinue to be confident that
Panhandle is well posi-
tioned with an attractive
asset base and a resilient
balance sheet” geared
to generate incremental
value for shareholders,
he said.
Stephens became
Panhandle’s
permanent CEO in mid-
January, after stepping
into the role as an interim
in August 2019.