News
4/12/2010
OTEC Earns 1st Place in Safety - Again
Baker City, OR – April 12, 2010 – Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative (OTEC) earned a First Place safety award at the 2009 Northwest Public Power Association’s (NWPPA) Engineering & Operations Conference on April 1st.
“Our employees’ safety recognition and good work habits are on a positive uphill climb with true effort being exerted to work safer,” says Ned Ratterman, OTEC Manager of Loss Control. “Our safety record over the past few years is outstanding because of each employee continuing to make good decisions on a regular basis when confronted with potential hazards.”
NWPPA Safety contest awards are based upon a review of each utility’s safety contest form, the number of recordable injury/illness cases (the incident rate) in 2009, and the lost work days (the severity rate) in 2009. According to an NWPPA release, “Safety continued to be a top priority in 2009, as evidenced by no decline in the number of utilities that worked hard to maintain or improve their safety records as well as participated in the annual safety contest.”
For the second consecutive year, OTEC earned 1st place in the “160,001-240,000 hours of exposure” category.
"In our industry, we cannot afford to be complacent. The more we educate employees about safety the better we position ourselves and our families to prevent accidents. If we do nothing else, I hope that OTEC helps employees to develop the concept of safety awareness in their personal lives and have that example spread like wildfire to those whom they care for,” suggests Ratterman. “If we accomplish this goal, safety in the workplace will definitely occur through the evolution of our safety culture.”
NWPPA is an international association representing and serving customer-owned, locally controlled utilities in the Western U.S. and Canada. The Association also serves more than 250 associate members across the U.S. and Canada who are allied with the electric utility industry. Visit the NWPPA Web site at www.nwppa.org for more information.
