Fitchburg, MA; June 18, 2003: Unitil/Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company (FG&E), the wholly-owned Massachusetts subsidiary of New Hampshire-based Unitil Corporation (AMEX: UTL) (www.unitil.com) has received worker safety awards from three separate organizations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
In recognition of 365 days without a lost-time injury, the men and women of FG&E received the Outstanding Service to Safety Award from the Safety & Health Council of New Hampshire. They also received three other awards: the New Hampshire Work Place Safety Award for the Best Safety Record in the year 2002; the Outstanding Safety Achievement award from the Energy Council of the Northeast; and, from the Central Massachusetts Chapter of the National Safety Council, the Industrial Award of Merit.
"It's a matter of culture," said Lyman A. Cousens, Executive Director of the Safety & Health Council. "Workplace safety starts at the top, with your CEO saying 'safety makes sense.' Successful companies adopt that mind set all the way through the organization. You want to assure that every single employee goes home every day with 10 fingers and 10 toes. You believe in safety."
FG&E's performance represents more than 193,000 work-hours over the last year. Through-out that period, there was no injury to any of FG&E's employees that prevented them from returning to their next regularly scheduled work shift - in other words, zero lost time.
How does a company achieve this enviable record of zero lost time accidents?
Unitil's Senior Vice President Operations Tom Meissner answered that question: "The people who determine our safety record are all right here," he told FG&E's 85 employees at a celebration event yesterday in Fitchburg. "Nobody can do it but you. Zero lost time doesn't happen without every employee taking personal responsibility for job safety, all the time."
Unitil is a public utility holding company with subsidiaries providing electric service in New Hampshire and electric and gas service in Massachusetts and energy services throughout the Northeast. Its subsidiaries include Unitil Energy Systems, Inc., Fitchburg Gas and Electric Light Company, Unitil Power Corp., Unitil Realty Corp., Unitil Service Corp. and its unregulated business segment Unitil Resources, Inc. Usource L.L.C. is a subsidiary of Unitil Resources, Inc.
The Safety & Health Council of New Hampshire is a not-for-profit [501c(3)], non-governmental accredited chapter of the National Safety Council. The Council serves northern New England with primary focus on the State of New Hampshire.
Contact
Pat Stagno
Phone: 978-353-3212
Fax: 978-353-3312
stagno@unitil.com
Corporate Office
Liberty Lane West
Hampton, NH 03842-1720
800/999-6501
