A Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) employee's phone call to a long-time friend resulted in another precaution taken against COVID-19 for SWEPCO’s front-line employees.

Mark Bayliss, Distribution System Supervisor in Marshall, called David McMinn of Casey Products, LLC, first about the availability of hand sanitizer for SWEPCO Distribution. The conversation led to another product McMinn had on-hand: Xtreme Disinfectant. 

The disinfectant sterilizes every part of the work truck, from the steering wheel to the door handle. Crews are able to sanitize their truck at the end of each workday.

“It dissolves quickly, and the employee is good to go,” said Bayliss.

Each dock and garage across SWEPCO has a 275-gallon chemical tote of Xtreme Disinfectant, along with pump sprayers, said SWEPCO Director of Distribution Risk & Project Management Gary Guin.

“This is just one more precaution we’re taking to keep employees safe during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Guin said.

Across the country, companies have faced the challenge of finding suppliers – and adequate supplies – of materials to protect the health of their employees and customers during the pandemic.

“It was difficult finding any hand sanitizer in early March, much less enough for all SWEPCO work locations,” Guin said. “Casey Products not only supplied SWEPCO’s needs, but more than 23,000 bottles of its hand sanitizer has also been shipped across AEP. Identifying a supplier in SWEPCO’s service territory was another plus.”