Newsletter

Celebrating National Public Works Week with the City of Santa Clarita

Cities across the United States celebrated National Public Works Week from May 18 to 24. The 2025 theme, “People, Purpose, Presence,” highlights the cornerstone ideals that motivate public works professionals to serve in their communities every day. The week is an opportune time to recognize and celebrate public works employees’ role in shaping our communities.

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This year, the Authority highlights the City of Santa Clarita’s Public Works Department and its commitment to employee safety. The department incorporates comprehensive safety measures into managing and inspecting capital improvement projects, promoting active transportation, overseeing private development design and permitting, planning and building sidewalks and medians, partnering with the community to improve neighborhoods, and maintaining the city’s network of roadways, bridges, and infrastructure.

Risk management and human resources have worked together to weave risk management into the department’s culture. This has created a supportive environment for employee well-being through targeted training and updates. They assign safety training to new hires, have post-mortems to discuss incidents and injuries, monitor the long-term impact of employee injuries, and provide specialized and supervisor training.

“All of these actions help to increase trust in the organization’s commitment to employee health and well-being,” said the city’s Risk Management and Safety Technician, Cindy Perez-Enriquez. “We have a feedback loop where stakeholders are updated during quarterly manager and supervisor meetings, safety committee meetings, employee newsletters, and the employee intranet. Every step of the process is collaborative.” Safety committee members also act as an extension of risk management, educating and informing staff across the organization of the safety efforts.

Recognizing workplace hazards and communicating with risk management for support is facilitated by managers and supervisors. These relationships are crucial for team buy-in of the process and training. “Risk management works with various departments and the California JPIA to tailor training sessions to specific job needs,” said Perez-Enriquez. “They ensure training is instructive, and the efforts foster trust, shared understanding, and help identify future needs.”

In addition to training, the department conducts regular mock-OSHA inspections to proactively identify and address potential risks. These inspections, carried out with their Authority Senior Risk Manager, Tim Karcz, help maintain a safe working environment and foster a culture of shared responsibility.

“Santa Clarita’s commitment to sound risk and safety management practices is matched only by their dedication to maintaining a safe and healthy community for residents to thrive in,” said Karcz. “Their specialized training programs include rattlesnake handling sessions and driver safety obstacle courses, ensuring employees are well-prepared for unique challenges.”

Keeping safety top of mind is especially important considering the department’s responsibilities. The General Services Division is responsible for maintaining the City’s streets and vehicle fleet. In 2024, the street maintenance team completed over 850 sidewalk repairs in-house, repaired over 1,500 potholes, and replaced over 1,900 traffic and roadway signs. Vehicle maintenance was completed, and over 800 scheduled and 1,200 unscheduled repairs were made to the city’s fleet.  General Services maintains an annual inspection and repair schedule for sidewalk rehabilitation. The team also completes citywide guardrail repairs, installation, and removal of over 300 flags and banners for the Hometown Heroes banner program and completes right-of-way beautification and weed abatement programs.

Success in risk prevention is measured both quantitatively and qualitatively. Positive employee feedback, strong management involvement, and visible safety culture in daily operations also signify success. “We track incidents, workers’ compensation claims, and training completion rates,” said Perez-Enriquez. “When staff is actively engaged in safety initiatives and programs, we celebrate these proactive safety ‘wins.’”

Authority members wishing to incorporate more risk management and employee safety strategies into their public works department should contact their regional risk manager for information.

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