Santee Cooper awarded for excellence in safety

Santee Cooper earned a second place American Public Power Association annual Safety Award of Excellence for safe operating practices in 2017. The award is in the category for large utilities, with 1,000,000 to 3,999,999 worker-hours of annual worker exposure.

“Safety is something we focus on daily at Santee Cooper and we are proud that our efforts are recognized by the American Public Power Association,” said Ken Lott, Santee Cooper’s vice president of human resource management. “This award is a tribute to the daily effort our employees put into ensuring a safe environment for each other and our customers.”

Santee Cooper has over 1,700 employees and had 16 recordable incidents in 2017. The award was presented Monday, April 30, by Mike Hyland, APPA’s senior vice president of engineering services, during the Engineering & Operations Technical Conference held in Raleigh, N.C.

Utilities that entered were placed in categories according to their number of worker-hours and ranked based on the most incident-free records during 2017. 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 2017 as defined by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

APPA’s safety awards program has been held for the last 59 years. The organization represents 2,000 not-for-profit municipal, state and district utilities.

Santee Cooper is South Carolina’s largest power provider, the largest Green Power generator and the ultimate source of electricity for 2 million people across the state. Through its low-cost, reliable and environmentally responsible electricity and water services, and through innovative partnerships and initiatives that attract and retain industry and jobs, Santee Cooper powers South Carolina. To learn more, visit www.santeecooper.com and follow #PoweringSC on social media.