FPUA Honored with National Award for Outstanding Safety Practices

Fort Pierce Utilities Authority (FPUA) has earned the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2020. The utility earned Second Place in Group D, the category for utilities with 60,000 to 109,999 worker-hours of annual worker exposure. Brandon Wylie, Chair of APPA’s Safety Committee and Director of Training & Safety at Electric Cities of Georgia, introduced the award during APPA’s annual Engineering & Operations Virtual Conference.

“Utilities that receive an APPA Safety Award have demonstrated that they have made the health and safety of their employees a core value,” said Wylie. “Designing and maintaining a top-notch utility safety program takes a lot of hard work and commitment. These utilities and their communities should be very proud.”

“FPUA values employee safety above all else,” said Paul Jakubczak, FPUA Director of Electric & Gas Systems. “We appreciate FPUA employees recognizing the importance of using safe practices in the workplace every day.”

329 utilities from across the country entered the annual Safety Awards. Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2020. 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 2020, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The Safety Awards have been held annually for the last 60 years. APPA is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.