Chillicothe and Higginsville among the 80 utilities Honored by APPA for Good Safety Records

-APPA, Washington, D.C.    Eighty public power utilities earned awards from APPA for safe operating practices in 2009. The awards were presented early this week during the Engineering & Operations Technical Conference in Omaha, Neb. Chillicothe and Higginsville represent the two Missouri cities honored.

Marc Gerken, chair of the APPA board of directors and president/CEO of American Municipal Power, Inc. in Columbus, Ohio, presented the award March 29 at the conference in Omaha.

"Safety is the top concern when it comes to working with electricity," said Gerken. "These utilities have demonstrated that they are the best of the best when it comes to guaranteeing that safety is always top of mind."

More than 200 utilities entered the annual contest, which reviews three years worth of data prior to considering utilities for an award. 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.