The City of Newberry Utilities Department has earned the American Public Power Association’s Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2019. The utility earned the first-place award in the category for utilities with more than 25,000 worker-hours of annual worker exposure. The city’s employees in the electric department experienced zero workplace accidents/incidents in 2019 and the department sustained no days away from work, no restricted job activity and no medical treatment related to workplace injuries or illnesses during 2019.

“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). To be eligible for the award, the city had to submit data each year over a three-year period.

“The City of Newberry is proud of its safety record,” said Tim Baker, city of Newberry utilities director. “This award is a testament to the hard work that goes into ensuring that our team members go home safe to their families every day.”

Tamra Tootle, division director and risk management for the City of Newberry said it was extremely rewarding to have this group recognized nationally among their peers.

“While this award is well deserved among the electric division, we are particularly proud of the city’s overall safety performance as relates to so many high-risk positions across our multifaceted departments,” she said.

City Manager Matt DeWitt said it was very nice to be recognized by APPA for this national safety award.

“The City of Newberry is pleased to not only offer a safe and reliable public power system for our residents, but a safe and reliable workplace for our employees as well – making Newberry the perfect place to live, work and play.”

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.