PUD 3 Earns National & Regional Safety Awards

Congratulations, everyone, on making “Safety First” a true value! Below is the news release sent to the media. Keep up the safe work!

Mason PUD 3 has earned first place recognitions in both the American Public Power Association’s Safety Award of Excellence and Northwest Public Power Association’s Safety Contest for safe operating practices in 2023.

For APPA, PUD 3 earned a first-place (diamond) award in the category for utilities with 250,000-999,999 annual worker-hours of exposure. For NWPPA, PUD 3 earned a first-place award in the category for utilities with 260,001-750,000 annual worker-hours of exposure. Both awards were presented during the week of April 8 at industry conferences.

“Earning the highest levels in both regional and national safety awards shows that safety is truly our highest priority at PUD 3,” Manager Annette Creekpaum said. “’Safety First’ isn’t just a motto; the safety of our staff and our communities affects everything we do and how we do it.”

Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records and overall state of their safety programs and culture during 2023. Incidence rates are based on the number of work-related reportable injuries or illnesses and the number of worker-hours during 2023, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“In our industry, safety has to be top of mind all day every day,” said Scott McKenzie, Chair of APPA’s Engineering and Operations Conference safety track and Senior Director of Member Training & Safety at AMP Inc. “These honored utilities have demonstrated a commitment to safety that runs through every aspect of their organizations.”