The Town of Smithfield Public Utilities Department has earned the American Public Power Association’s Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2019. Smithfield earned First Place in the category for utilities with 10,000-20,000 worker-hours of annual worker exposure.
“Strong safety programs are essential to ensuring that electric utility employees are informed and trained on safe work procedures,” said Brandon Wylie, Chair of the Association’s Safety Committee and Director of Training & Safety at Electric Cities of Georgia. “The utilities receiving this award have proven that protecting the safety of their employees is a top priority.”
More than 335 utilities entered the annual Safety Awards, which is the highest number of entrants in the history of the program. Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2019. 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 2019, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
“The Public Utilities Department is proud of its safety record,” said Ted Credle, Public Utilities Director. “This award shows the commitment of the entire staff to safety and serves as a testament to the hard work that goes into ensuring that our team members go home to their families every day.”
The Safety Awards have been held annually for the last 60 years. The American Public Power Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.
