You may have seen media coverage about National Grid’s policy on putting decals on hard hats - specifically, whether employees could put the American flag on their hard hat. Here are the facts.

First and foremost, there has been no change to company policy allowing stickers on hard hats. Employees are allowed to affix company-approved stickers on their hard hats as long as the number of stickers does not impair the ability to inspect the hard hat for cracks that could pose a safety risk. No one has ever questioned the acceptability of placing an American flag sticker on a hard hat.

All hard hats issued with the National Grid logo come with the American flag already on it – in fact, the flag is embedded into the hard hat. KeySpan's previous policy was to let employees decide if they wanted to have the flag or any other approved emblem on their hardhat. In a recent safety briefing, supervisors were asked to remind employees of the hard hat policy and reinforce the need to check hard hats for cracks. Unfortunately, in one location in New England, the message was miscommunicated, causing employees to believe they needed to remove all stickers – including the flag – from their hard hats, or be subject to disciplinary action.

The idea that we would ever take action against an employee for displaying the American flag is absolutely unacceptable and false. Our policies are put in place to ensure the safety of our employees, not to prevent them displaying pride in their country, whether they work in the United States or the United Kingdom.

We have many challenges ahead of us as we work to merge National Grid's and KeySpan's operations and procedures, and no doubt we will encounter another bump or two along that road. As we work to become one company, I hope that our employees, customers and members of the public understand that we honor and respect the traditions and national symbols of both of the countries in which we have the privilege to operate.