WASHINGTON, D.C., April 8, 2024 – Muscatine Power and Water (MPW) has earned the American Public Power Association’s (APPA) Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2023. The Utility earned the Diamond award in the category for utilities with 250,000 – 999,999 worker-hours of annual worker exposure. MPW staff worked 494,313 hours in 2023.

“MPW is committed to a culture of safety, where safety is everyone’s responsibility, with a belief that all accidents are preventable,” said MPW’s Manager of Safety and Training, Jim Garrison.

More than 160 utilities entered the annual APPA safety awards for 2023. 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. The incidence rate is 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).

MPW General Manager commented “MPW is proud of its safety record. This award is a testament to the hard work that goes into ensuring that our team members go home safe to their families every day.”

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

The safety awards have been held annually for more than 65 years. The American Public Power Association is the voice of not-for-profit, community-owned utilities that power 2,000 towns and cities nationwide.