NECA Presents 2008 Industry Partner Award to OSHA
October 4, 2008
Agency Spearheaded High-Voltage Worker Safety
Through Transmission & Distribution Partnership
As part of the National Electrical Contractor Association (NECA)’s annual convention being held this week in Chicago, this year’s Industry Partner Award ceremony celebrated NECA’s renewed Electrical Transmission & Distribution Partnership Agreement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) by recognizing the leadership of Assistant Secretary of Labor Edwin G. Foulke, Jr.
Assistance Secretary Foulke Accepts 2008 NECA Industry Partner Award for OSHA Established in 2004 with six founding members, the Partnership was originally intended to last for two years. But on Sept. 16, OSHA invited industry stakeholders, including NECA, NECA members MDU Construction Services Group, MYR Group and Quanta Services, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Edison Electric Institute and leading U.S. line contractors to once more sign the agreement that will extend the formal collaboration for two more years.
The Partnership was first extended in 2006, demonstrating the organizations’ commitment to improving worker safety in the high-voltage electric line construction industry. Today, the OSHA T & D Partnership covers an estimated 80 percent of total workers in the line construction industry.
During the luncheon program Assistant Secretary Foulke commended NECA members for making safety an industry-wide priority. “We don’t often hear about the lives we save with our safety precautions, but through the T&D Partnership, we have concrete evidence that we are saving lives," Foulke said. "When we think of the families of your workers, you have to remember how important it is to them that you get your workers home safe and sound at the end of day. That's what the T&D Partnership is doing – making sure those workers get home safely.”
“Leadership in safety, both for workers and end-users, is part of NECA’s legacy and something I will continue to champion,” said NECA President Elect Rex Ferry president of the organization Rex Ferry of Valley Electric Consolidated. “We are grateful to Assistant Secretary Foulke and OSHA for their cooperative approach to working with our industry.”
The NECA Industry Partner Award recognizes those organizations or individuals that, though not members of the National Electrical Contractors Association, contribute to the electrical contracting industry’s success through their decisions, actions, or cooperation with NECA. Previous winners of the Industry Partner Award include the National Fire Protection Agency (1996), Graybar Electric Co. (2004), and University of Kansas professor and ELECTRI International researcher Thomas E. Glavinich (2007).
NECA is the voice of the $130 billion electrical construction industry that brings power, light, and communication technology to buildings and communities across the U.S. NECA’s national office and 119 local chapters advance the industry through advocacy, education, research and standards development. For more information, visit www.necanet.org
Contact Information
Beth Margulies, Director, Public Relations
301-215-4526, beth.margulies@necanet.org
