The Village of Versailles Utilities Department has received national recognition for its safety practices.
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By Meladi Brewer
DailyAdvocate.com
VERSAILLES — The Village of Versailles Utilities received a first place Excellence in Safety Award.
The award was presented during the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) 2021 Engineering & Operations Technical Conference, which took place March 28 through 30 in Austin, Texas.
“Winning an American Public Power first place safety award highlights the commitment Versailles has to the safety of our employees,” Village Administrator Mike Busse said. “I feel winning a first place safety award is the highest honor the village and our employees can receive.”
According to APPA, 318 utilities from across the country entered the annual Safety Awards, and each participant had their number of worker-hours ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2021.
Busse advised that before starting a project, a tailgate meeting is set up to discuss the plans for the project and safety measures needing to be taken.
“This meeting allows all employees to ask questions about the plan, obtain their input, and discuss any concerns they have about completing the work safely,” Busse said. “Being a lineman is a hazardous job and the village takes every precaution to keep our employees safe.”
“In our industry, safety is a top priority, and utilities that receive an APPA Safety Award have demonstrated that they have made the health and safety of their employees a core value of their organizations,” Jolene Thompson, AMP President/CEO and Past Chair of the APPA Board of Directors said. “Congratulations to the team at Village of Versailles Utilities. Versailles should be very proud.”
The award was given as a recognition for the Village of Versailles Utilities’ safety practices demonstrated by having the lowest safety incident rate within its group.
“We tell our employees all the time, ‘if you have any concerns about safety, speak up.’ We expect that because at the end of the day the most important thing is for all of our employees to be safe and go home to their families,” Busse said.
For the official AMP news release, visit www.amppartners.org/newsroom.
To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].
