Citizen Potawatomi Nation has hired tribal member Frank Schmidlkofer as safety manager. Frank is retired from Oklahoma Gas and Electric and brings more than 30 years of safety experience to CPN.
“We are happy to have Frank on board as safety manager,” said Linda Capps, Vice-Chairman, Citizen Potawatomi Nation. “His expertise in the area of safety will help our government, our employees and our visitors have a safer experience.”
Part of Frank’s responsibility will be to make sure CPN is in line with government safety standards. He will also work with tribal employees to form safety committees and make safety a priority across all tribal enterprises.
“I have seen the devastating consequences of not having a good safety plan,” said Frank. “It is important to meet all government safety requirements and to have proactive plans in place to keep employees and guests safe.”
Safety committees will address a variety of issues and will be specific for each department and location. Employees can expect to learn about safe exit plans in case of a fire, hazards of a typical workplace and how to properly work around construction sites.
“CPN has a very diverse set of enterprises, so employees can be exposed to a number of different risks,” said Frank. “The ordinary risks for offices along with fire safety plans, earthquake preparedness, etc. will be enough training for most employees. However, the tribe is always growing and there are several construction projects and those provide an additional opportunity to make a safe workplace.”
In addition to making CPN a safer place for employees and guests, Frank will offer safety tips for typical life situations. Those include distracted driving, home repairs, seasonal dangers and more.
“The biggest thing in safety is for people to be aware of the hazards and to prepare for them,” added Frank. “In an organization as large as CPN it will take employee support and involvement to identify those hazards and come up with ways to prepare for them.”