The City of Concord Electric Systems earned the American Public Power Association’s Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2023. Concord Electric Systems earned the highest Diamond award in the category for utilities with 110,000-249,999 worker-hours of annual worker exposure.
“This award reflects our team’s hard work and dedication to achieving the highest safety standards,” said Alex Burris, Director of Concord Electric Systems. “I’m incredibly proud of the men and women on our team who work hard every day to keep the lights on for our community. They have dangerous jobs, working with heavy machinery and handling high voltage power lines 100 feet in the air and underground, through all types of inclement weather day and night. We’re committed to making sure our team is prepared for this demanding work, and ensuring they go home safe to their families every day is our priority. We’re proud to be recognized for all the work that goes into meeting this commitment.”
More than 160 utilities entered the annual 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).
“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.”
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.
The City of Concord is proud to be one of North Carolina’s public power communities. Concord Electric Systems is community-owned and operated and has been delivering exceptional reliability and superior service to customers since 1904. The city’s electric department currently has over 80 employees who operate more than 1,700 miles of distribution lines and 21 substations and deliveries, to serve over 34,000 residential and commercial customers.
.jpg?ver=Cz2_prFppOgLNOFipg76BA%3d%3d "Concord Electric Systems Earns National Safety Award")
Alex Burris, Director (left); Jenny Volpicelli, Safety Coordinator (center); Andrea Cline, Deputy Director (right)