OMU wins safety award
Owensboro Municipal Utilities was recently awarded the American Public Power Association's top safety award, which recognized the utility for its worker safety record and safety policies.
Thursday afternoon, OMU General Manager Tim Lyons told city utility commissioners the agency had received a Diamond Award in the APPA's 2024 Safety Award for Excellence for utilities that worked 110,00 to 249,999 work hours last year. The Diamond Award is the highest safety award the APPA presents to utilities.
According to the APPA website, the annual safety awards, 'recognize utilities' incident rates and the overall state of their safety programs and culture.'
In a press release, APPA safety committee chairman Jon Beasley said, 'Harnessing electricity to keep our communities powered is vital work that can be dangerous, even deadly, if the proper attention isn't paid to tried-and-true safety practices.
'This award honors utilities that hold fast to these practices and, in doing so, put the safety of their personnel and their customers above all else.'
Utilities are ranked based on the number of incident-free records during the year.
This year was the first year OMU entered the APPA contest.
'This reflects all OMU employees' in the power and water utilities, said Brad Howton, OMU's director of customer and shared services.
The water utility hasn't had a workplace accident in more than four consecutive years, Howton said.
Sonya Dixon, OMU's public relations and communications manager, said of the agency: 'We have a very conscientious workforce' when it comes to workplace safety.
OMU has a safety team that coordinates policy, and workers are involved with crafting the policy, Dixon said.
'It's obviously policy driven and culture driven ... all the way down to the daily (safety) discussions,' Dixon said.
The award 'is from an electric entity, but certainly it's an honor we accept company-wide,' Dixon said.
In a written statement, Lyons said, 'This award is a testament to the safety culture we have built, and the hard work that goes into ensuring that our team members have a safe work environment.'
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