Nearly 100 public power utilities were presented awards for their outstanding safety practices April 16 at the APPA Engineering and Operations Technical Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. From more than 275 entries, 98 public power utilities, joint action agencies, and federal agencies earned the safety award.
“Safety should always be priority number one for electric utilities,” said Darrell Shaw, chair of the APPA Safety Committee and safety and technical training specialist at Memphis Light Gas & Water in Tennessee. “Sending each and every one of our employees home safe to their families every night is what itÕs all about.”
In judging the annual contest, the APPA Safety Committee reviews three years worth of data prior to considering utilities for an award. Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and judged for the most incident-free records during 2011. The incidence rate is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during 2011, as defined by the U.S. Occupational Safety and pharmacy Health Administration.
The winners are grouped by worker-hours of exposure. The following utilities received first place awards, unless otherwise noted.
Group C (utilities with 30,000 to 59,999 worker-hours of exposure) Bryan Municipal Utilities, Ohio City of Winfield Electric, Kan. Springville City Municipal Power & Light, Utah City of Mesa Energy Resources, Ariz. City of Gillette Electrical Services, Wyo. Shelby Division of Electric & Telecommunications, Ohio Chillicothe Municipal Utilities, Mo. Sturgeon Bay Utilities, Wis. Erwin Utilities, Tenn. City of Bowling Green Municipal Utilities, Ohio Mayfield Electric & Water Systems, Ky. Pascoag Utility District, R.I. Greer Commission of Public Works, S.C. City Of Higginsville, Mo. City of Monroe, N.C. City of Princeton Electric Department, Ill. Tuscumbia Electric Department, Ala. City of Oconomowoc Utilities, Wis. Stoughton Utilities, Wis. Marshall Municipal Utilities, Minn. (Second Place) Marblehead Municipal Light Department, Mass. (Third Place) Massena Electric Department, N.Y. (Honorable Mention)