Five ElectriCities of North Carolina member utilities have earned the American Public Power Association (APPA) Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2021.
Recipients of the 2021 Safety Award of Excellence are:
- Greer Commission of Public Works, S.C.: First in Group B (systems with 15,000 to 29,999 worker-hours of exposure
- City of Newberry, S.C.: First in Group B (systems with 15,000 to 29,999 worker-hours of exposure)
- Town of Granite Falls, N.C.: First in Group B (systems with 15,000 to 29,999 worker-hours of exposure)
- Town of Smithfield, N.C.: First in Group B (systems with 15,000 to 29,999 worker-hours of exposure)
- City of Shelby, N.C.: Third in Group B (systems with 15,000 to 29,999 worker-hours of exposure)
Greer Commission of Public Works, City of Newberry, Town of Granite Falls, and Town of Smithfield also received APPA Safety Awards of Excellence in 2019 and 2020. City of Shelby received APPA Safety Awards of Excellence in 2018 and 2020.
“ElectriCities and our members value safety above all else,” said Craig Batchelor, ElectriCities Manager of Safety and Training. “We’re proud of these public power providers for their dedication and for putting in the hard work it takes to create and maintain an exceptional safety program.”
According to an APPA news release, 138 utilities nationwide earned Safety Awards of Excellence in 2021 out of the 318 utilities that entered.
Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2021. The incidence rate, used to judge entries, is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during 2021, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
“In our industry, safety is the top priority,” said Bob Scudder, Chair of APPA’s Safety Committee and Industrial Hygiene and Corporate Risk Manager at Grand River Dam Authority. “This is a commitment that needs to come from the top down and permeate every aspect of operations. These awarded utilities have embraced this priority, and they deserve to be celebrated.”
View the national list of 2021 Safety Awards of Excellence honorees at www.PublicPower.org. For a list of awards ElectriCities member utilities have won since 2019, visit the Awards and Accolades page on the ElectriCities website.