FirstEnergy Utilities Receive Energy Association of Pennsylvania Safety Awards

READING, Pa., Sept. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Three FirstEnergy Corp. FE electric utility operating companies –  Pennsylvania Electric (Penelec), Pennsylvania Power (Penn Power) and Metropolitan Edison (Met-Ed) – were recently recognized for outstanding safety performance by the Energy Association of Pennsylvania, an association of the Commonwealth's electric and natural gas utilities.   

The safety awards are selected annually by the association's Accident Prevention Committee.  The FirstEnergy utilities were honored in several categories:

• Met-Ed and Penn Power won the 2013 Safety Achievement Award for having a low number of injuries based on employees working 100,000 hours or more.  Compared to the previous year, Met-Ed's incident rate decreased nearly 22 percent; Penn Power's incident rate decreased about 46 percent.
• Penn Power won the Safety Sustainability Award for its ongoing focus on safety, including the low number of injuries reported in 2011, 2012 and 2013.  Overall, Penn Power reported zero injuries in 2011, six in 2012 and four in 2013. 
• Penn Power received the Safety Improvement Award for reducing the total number of injuries from six in 2012 to four in 2013.
• Met-Ed, Penelec, and Penn Power received the Motor Vehicle Fleet Safety Improvement Award for reducing the number of motor vehicle incidents in 2013 compared to 2012.  Met-Ed's vehicle incident rate was reduced by about 36 percent – from 52 in 2012 to 29 in 2013; Penelec's vehicle incident rate was reduced by about 36 percent – from 28 in 2012 to 18 in 2013; Penn Power's vehicle incident rate was reduced by nearly 69 percent – from nine in 2012 to three in 2013.

"Employee safety is paramount in everything we do at FirstEnergy," said Dave Karafa, president of FirstEnergy's Pennsylvania Operations.  "I am proud of our employees' efforts to ensure their own safety, as well as the safety of their coworkers and our customers."

"The awards are a result of FirstEnergy's overall corporate philosophy to emphasize safety," said Terry Fitzpatrick, Energy Association President and Chief Executive.  "I am very proud of FirstEnergy's commitment to and achievement of greater safety in the workplace and in the electric utility industry."

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence.  Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York.  FirstEnergy serves approximately 2.1 million Pennsylvania customers.  Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp. 

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.