New Jersey American Water Receives Governor's Awards For Excellent Safety Record

Cherry Hill, NJ /PRNewswire/ -- By committing itself to maintaining a safe workplace, New Jersey American Water continues to earn the distinction of being an award-winning workplace.

At the 25th Annual Mid-Atlantic Region Safety, Health & Wellness Expo 2009 in Atlantic City on April 21, New Jersey American Water was honored in various categories with Governor's Annual Occupational Safety and Health Awards. The company received 40 awards presented by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development.

"Safety is a top priority at New Jersey American Water and our employees are earnest in reducing and eliminating hazards," said John Bigelow, president of New Jersey American Water. "Fulfilling our mission of delivering high quality, reliable water service to our customers depends on providing conditions for our dedicated and talented employees to do their jobs well. We are proud of our safety record and deeply honored to receive recognition of our efforts from the governor and the state of New Jersey."

The Governor's Awards are presented to departments that have a lost time incident rate of 3.0 or less. New Jersey American Water lost workday incident rate for 2008, the latest complete year, stands at 1.53. New Jersey American Water was honored in the following categories:

Governor's Continued Excellence Award - awarded for working five or more consecutive calendar years without lost time from a work-related injury or illness

• Belle Mead Production and Maintenance
• Canal Road Operations Center
• Mount Holly Maintenance and Production
• Washington Operations Center
• Washington Transmission and Distribution and Field Services
• New Jersey American Water Administrative Office

Commissioner's Continued Excellence Award - awarded to departments that have worked four or more consecutive calendar years without lost time from a work-related injury or illness

• Atlantic/Cape May Transmission and Distribution
• Belle Mead Engineering
• Camden/Burlington Field Services
• Camden/Burlington Production
• Environmental Management and Compliance
• Mt. Holly Production
• Raritan-Millstone Water Treatment Plant Laboratory
• Raritan-Millstone Water Treatment Plant Production
• Short Hills Production
• Washington Production and Maintenance

Commissioner of Labor Award - awarded for working three consecutive calendar years without lost time from a work-related injury or illness

• Lakewood Customer Advocacy
• Atlantic/Cape May Field Services

Division of Public Safety and Occupational Safety and Health Award - awarded for two consecutive years without lost-time from a work-related injury or illness

• Camden/Burlington Operations Center
• Camden/Burlington Environmental Compliance
• Camden/Burlington Transmission and Distribution
• Netherwood Maintenance
• Atlantic/Cape May Environmental Compliance
• Raritan-Millstone Operations Center
• Short Hills Environmental Compliance
• Shrewsbury Environmental Compliance

Citation of Merit - awarded for a calendar year without lost time from a work-related injury or illness

• Atlantic/ Cape May Operations Center
• Atlantic/Cape Production
• Lakewood Transmission and Distribution
• Lakewood Production
• Netherwood Production
• Belle Mead Transmission and Distribution
• Shrewsbury Production

Departmental Group Award - awarded for achieving a lost-time incident rate or 3.0 or less

• Netherwood Field Services
• Netherwood Transmission and Distribution

Recognition Award - awarded for achieving a lost-time incident rate or 3.0 or less

• New Jersey American Water Administrative Office
• Netherwood Operations Center
• Shrewsbury Operations Center
• Lakewood Operations Center
• Belle Meade Operations Center

New Jersey American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water (NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater services to approximately 2.5 million people. Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest investor-owned U.S. water and wastewater utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company employs more than 7,000 dedicated professionals who provide drinking water, wastewater and other related services to approximately 15 million people in 32 states and Ontario, Canada.

SOURCE New Jersey American Water