The BPU earned the award in the E category for utilities with 150,897 worker hours of annual employee exposure.

“The BPU is proud of our safety record,” said David L. Leathers, BPU general manager. “This award is a testament to the hard work that goes into ensuring that our employees go home safe to their families every day, a goal that is number one on our priority list at the BPU.”

More than 160 utilities entered the annual Safety Awards for 2023. Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records and the overall state of their safety programs and culture during 2023. The incidence rate is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker hours during 2023, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“In our industry, safety has to be top of mind all day, every day,” said Scott McKenzie, chair of APPA’s Engineering and Operations Conference safety track and Senior Director of Member Training & Safety at AMP Inc. “These honored utilities have demonstrated a commitment to safety that runs through every aspect of their organizations.”

Employees of the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities’ Samuel Carlson Generating Facility are pictured.

The Safety Awards have been held annually for more than 65 years. The American Public Power Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.