In January, Northern Neck Electric Cooperative received the Safety Excellence Award from the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives in recognition of outstanding dedication and leadership to the Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program and in appreciation of their contributions to furthering the safety culture among the Association’s member cooperatives.

The award is presented annually to recognize a member cooperative that has gone beyond the basic Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program criteria and has achieved the highest level of Safety and Regulatory Compliance.

“I am very proud of this accomplishment. It is a positive reflection on all of us and on the safety culture we have created here,” says Blaine Salmans, manager of safety and security for NNEC. “Every single person at NNEC has a role to play, and we are all committed to making sure everyone gets to go home at the end of the day.”

RESAP was established by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association to strengthen leadership engagement, create a continuous safety improvement plan, provide honest feedback to support improvement, promote employee involvement, and better enable co-ops to reduce injuries over time.