NY Power Authority Receives Highest Award For Work Place Safety

Contact
Connie Cullen
1914-390-8196
connie.cullen@nypa.gov

April 19, 2005

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WHITE PLAINS—The New York Power Authority (NYPA) has earned the highest award presented in American Public Power Association’s (APPA) 2004 Electric Utility Safety Awards for safe operating practices. The award was announced Monday during APPA’s 2005 Engineering & Operations Technical Conference in Memphis, Tenn. This is eighth time, in nine years, NYPA has taken the first place award in its category for achieving safety in the work place among the nation’s public power organizations.

“This remarkable record is the result of NYPA’s all-out commitment to safety—to planning and practice, to training, to attention to detail and to a willingness to learn from experience. It is a tribute to our employees at all locations and to our safety and health professionals,” said Eugene W. Zeltmann, president and chief executive officer, NYPA.

“Safely operating your electrical system ensures the safety of local residents and businesses as well as utilities workers,” said Jan Schoir, chair of the APPA Board of Directors. “Winning this award shows that your utility not only talks the talk, but when it comes to safety, they walk the walk.”

NYPA earned a first place award in the category for utilities with 1,000,000 to 3,999,999 worker-hours of annual worker exposures. The award is based on the Authority’s recordable injuries, number of workers and total hours worked during the year as judged against comparable public power organizations.

Ed Smith, a Brewster resident, in NYPA’s White Plains Office Safety Oversight Group, accepted the award from Schoir, who is also general manager of Sacramento, Calif., Municipal Utility District.

More than 200 utilities competed in seven different categories. The safety contest has been held annually for the last 45 years. APPA is the national organization representing more than 2,000 not-for-profit, community- and state-owned electric utilities.

NYPA, the nation’s largest state-owned utility, generates, transmits and sells power to New York government agencies, community-owned electric systems, job-producing companies, and to private utilities for re-sale without profit to their customers.