The National Safety Council (NSC) announced July 18 that Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority has been honored with a 2019 Industry Leader Award.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>

The award is a component of the Council's member-exclusive Safety Awards Program. The Industry Leader Award benchmarks outstanding safety achievements among member companies based on self-reported data.

Beaufort-Jasper Water and Sewer Authority (BJWSA) is one of 63 companies honored with the 2019 Industry Leader Award. The award recognizes the top five percent of member companies, units and facilities that have met the criteria and qualified for the 2019 Occupational Excellence Achievement Award (based on 2018 calendar year data) from NSC. NSC selects winners based on employee work hours, lowest total incident rate and North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code.

Under the guidance of Safety Specialist Steve Lee, staff accumulated 1,388,395 safe work hours without a preventable lost workday, which included 1,559 safe working days. BJWSA’s current injury rate is 1.8, while the industry average is 5.4. The authority achieves these measurements through initiatives such as the 901 Safety Talks that took place within departments of the Authority, as well as 1,800 hours of Safety Training. Staff completed 2,186 Take Twos – pre-task inventories that support the “Take Two for Safety” program.

“Safety is engrained in the culture at BJWSA and this award is a testament to our nearly 200 employees who take very seriously our commitment to maintaining a safe working environment,” general manager Joe Mantua said in a release. “Our staff does a tremendous job providing a vital service to the community and often under difficult weather conditions and challenging circumstances. To achieve such recognition speaks volumes about the caliber and professionalism of our team members.”