Southwestern Power Administration (Southwestern or SWPA) has been recognized for its safe operating practices with the Safety Award of Excellence from the American Public Power Association (APPA), an honor for which over 150 utilities were in the running. Southwestern earned Gold status in its category for utilities with 250,000 to 999,999 worker-hours of annual worker exposure.

The APPA Safety Award of Excellence is an honor given to a company based on incident-free records and the overall state of the safety programs and culture - measurements that Southwestern works towards always.

In 1996, the National Safety Council designated June as National Safety Month. The goal was to increase awareness of the leading safety and health risks facing employees and decrease the risk for workplace injuries and deaths in the U.S.

"June, Safety Month, is a time to reflect on the safety values, safety practices and safety norms we instill at Southwestern," Karim Williams, Director and Program Manager of Southwestern’s Division of Environmental, Health, Safety and Security (EHSS), says. "Safety is the most important power we create."

Southwestern employees practice safety every day and celebrate safety as often as possible.

"Everyone at Southwestern plays a part in organizational safety performance," John Woodard, EHSS Safety & Occupational Health Manager, says. "Our frontline field folks require the most vigilance due to their magnitude of exposure. They care about and look out for each other - that makes a difference."

Mike Wech, Southwestern Administrator, echoes Woodard’s thoughts on the importance of safety at Southwestern.

"There is no greater area of focus in our Agency than keeping our personnel safe. Talking about safety is great, but DOING it daily is what matters!"