April 6, 2010

Bryan Municipal Utilities honored for outstanding safety practices

Bryan Municipal Utilities has earned the American Public Power Association’s Electric Utility Safety Award for safe operating practices in 2009. The utility earned a first place award in the category for utilities with 58,144 worker-hours of annual worker exposure.

Marc Gerken, chair of the APPA Board of Directors and President/CEO of American Municipal Power, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio, presented the award on March 29, during the association’s annual Engineering & Operations Technical Conference, held in Omaha, Neb. “Safety is the top concern when it comes to working with electricity,” said Gerken. “Bryan should be proud of the efforts they’ve put forth to guarantee that safety is always top of mind.”

More than 230 utilities nationwide entered the annual contest. Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker hours and judged for the most incident-free records during 2009. The incidence rate, used to judge contest entries, is based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during 2009, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“A lot of work goes into building a strong safety record,” said Steve Casebere, BMU director of utilities. “Bryan Municipal Utilities looks forward to continuing to improve its safety practices as it provides reliable service to the community.”

The safety contest has been held annually for the last 50 years. APPA is the national organization representing more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community- and state- owned electric utilities.