Always on the lookout, Louisville plumber leader assistant is Never Quit winner

Not everybody pays attention these days, but Andrea Belden does. She has to.

A metering plumber leader assistant at Louisville Water Company in Kentucky, Belden says she’s always on the lookout.

“I’m one of those that if whoever’s working, I’m always watching,” she says. “You’ve got to make sure when you’re swinging, you’re not hitting traffic, hitting a person. I mean, even as simple as getting out of your vehicle and walking.”

She acknowledges that she is one of the few women doing what she does. “We get the job done just like everybody else,” Belden says.

Part of her job is keeping herself, her co-workers and the public safe. Having been injured on the job, Belden knows there are risks.

“When I was back in the metering area, a couple of years ago, we were working on exchanging out a meter,” she recalls. “The two pieces that they had in the vault weren’t supposed to be in there, so it blew off while we were in the vault, and one of the guys, like, came crawling, climbing up my leg. And it took me off work a couple of days because it messed my knee up.”

But despite the risks, she loves her job.

“I like physical work,” she says. “I mean, I’m definitely not your sit-at-a-desk type of person, and I like doing different things.”

For her service to her community, Belden, a member of AFSCME Council 962, is a winner of our union’s Never Quit Service Award. The award recognizes public service workers who go above and beyond the call of duty to make their communities better.

Belden says she likes to end each day knowing that she accomplished something.

“I do my job, I take pride in my work,” she says. “And at the end of the day, I know I did what needs to be done.”