Mason PUD 1 Honored with National Award for Outstanding Safety Practices

WASHINGTON, D.C.– For the second consecutive year, Mason County PUD No. 1 has earned the American Public Power Association’s Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices. The utility earned another first place award in the category for utilities with 30,000-59,000 worker-hours of annual worker exposure. Brandon Wylie, chair of the APPA’s Safety Committee, presented the award during the Association’s annual Engineering & Operations Technical Conference, held in Kansas City, Missouri. “Strong safety programs are essential to ensuring that electric utility employees are informed and trained on safe work procedures,” said Wylie. “The utilities receiving this award have proven that protecting the safety of their employees is a top priority.”

More than 335 utilities entered the annual Safety Awards contest, which is the highest number of entrants in the history of the program. Entrants were placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2019. 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 2019, as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

“We are very proud of our safety record, which is a direct carryover of our continuous-improvement safety culture,” said Kristin Masteller, general manager of Mason PUD 1. “This award reflects the leadership from our operations director and foremen, our safety training program, and the hard work that goes into ensuring that our team members go home safe to their families every day.”

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