BPUB Expert Spotlight: Jo Anna Tijerina

This is a new segment to introduce the BPUB professionals whose priority is to deliver high quality service to you every day. Since our customers are the primary reason we are here, we’d like to acquaint our readers with the people with the skills and passion that make BPUB one of the most respected and reliable utilities in Texas.

 

Name: Jo Anna Tijerina

Birthplace: Brownsville, TX

High School: Porter High School in Brownsville

College: Bachelor’s in Management and Marketing (1981)

MBA – Pan American University (1983)

Length of time at BPUB: 14 years

Career track: Health & Safety Manager – 14 years

 

Jo Anna Tijerina serves a very important role at the Brownsville Public Utilities Board. She acts as BPUB’s safety manager.

A Brownsville native, Tijerina had an extensive safety resume before coming to work at BPUB 14 years ago. She worked as a loss control representative and ran her own business that provided safety consulting to Rio Grande Valley businesses.

Here at BPUB, Tijerina leads and coordinates the safety culture at BPUB. Unlike many workplaces, BPUB comes with inherent dangers. Working with electricity, water and wastewater can be very dangerous if proper procedures aren’t followed. She strives to make sure all employees know what to do in any given situation.

To make sure those employees know what to do, Tijerina oversees the employee safety training. These safety trainings are targeted to an employee’s job. Those who work with electrical equipment must follow a certain curriculum, just as all other departments have their own particular needs that must be met. By providing these trainings, BPUB can reduce the number of workplace accidents. This reduces downtime, ensures the safety of customers and BPUB equipment, save the company money, but most importantly, it saves employee lives and welfare.

In case there is an accident on the job, Tijerina also oversees the worker’s compensation at BPUB. She makes sure that employees only return to the job when they are ready and can safely do so.

Tijerina also oversees the security at BPUB. She works closely with BPUB’s security coordinator and a contracted security group to make sure that BPUB facilities are under close observation. This is necessary to keep unauthorized personnel out of areas that could be a danger to someone who is untrained. That includes both BPUB employees and those from outside the company.

Communication is an important key to safety. As such, Tijerina works closely with representatives from around the company to ensure that the safety needs at BPUB are being met. The 50-member safety committee act as liaisons between employees and management and make an impact throughout the organization by encouraging safety among their peers.

At home, Tijerina enjoys spending time with Louie, her husband of 31 years, and her two grown children, but her days of dealing with teenagers aren’t over since her dog recently turned 13 years old. She also enjoys gardening, decorating and planning social events. Her decorating and planning skills are something that BPUB has been able to make use of. She is an ace when it comes to the logistics of planning and organizing an event.

If you run into Tijerina, make sure to tell her how much you appreciate her efforts to make the community safe and secure.