Workplace Health and Safety

At PPL, employee health and safety is always a top priority. The company’s goal is to build a culture that promotes continuous safety improvement, and it believes achieving that goal requires a companywide commitment by all employees.

To demonstrate this commitment, PPL facilities throughout the country are participating in the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Voluntary Protection Program. VPP encourages cooperation among government, industry and labor to protect worker health and safety. It establishes performance criteria for health and safety management programs, assesses companies that apply for VPP status and recognizes companies that meet its high standards with OSHA’s "Star" designation.

PPL business units that have received Star recognition are:

• PPL Electric Utilities, the first electric utility company in the country to have all field worksites qualify for Star certification, in February 2005.
   
• Brunner Island power plant near Harrisburg, Pa., on March 10, 2003, and recertified in November 2006.
   
• Holtwood hydroelectric plant in Holtwood, Pa., on Nov. 21, 2002, and recertified in November 2005.
   
• Martins Creek power plant in Mount Bethel Township, Pa., on Aug. 4, 1999, and recertified in July 2002 and January 2008.
   
• Montour power plant near Washingtonville, Pa., on Dec. 31, 2002, and was recertified in October 2005.
   
• Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa., on March 13, 2002. At the time of its recertification in November 2005, only 13 of the nation’s 103 nuclear reactors have earned VPP status.
   
• Corette power plant near Billings, Mont., became the first industrial site in Montana to receive VPP Star status on Feb. 14, 2005, and recertified January 2008.
   
• Kerr hydroelectric plant near Polson, Mont., on Jan. 24, 2006.
   
• Colstrip power plant in southeastern Montana on Oct. 9, 2007.
   
• PPL’s General Office complex in Allentown, Pa., in December 2005.
   
• PPL Interstate Energy, which operates a pipeline that transports fuel to the company’s Martins Creek and Lower Mount Bethel Energy power plants in Pennsylvania, on June 6, 2001, and was recertified January 2004.
   
• PPL’s System Facilities Center, a testing, repair and laboratory facility near Hazleton, Pa.

Companies that qualify for VPP status view OSHA standards as a minimum level of safety and health performance and set their own, more stringent standards for effective employee protection. VPP participant sites generally experience 60 percent fewer lost-workday injuries than would be expected of an average site of similar size in their industries.

In evaluating safety and health programs, OSHA looks at many components, including management leadership, employee involvement, worksite analysis, training, and hazard prevention and control. An OSHA team re-evaluates VPP Star sites every three to five years for recertification. To be recertified, sites must continue to show improvement in their safety and health programs.

Attaining VPP Star status involves an employee-driven effort. At PPL, both management and labor support the VPP program and the process needed to achieve and maintain VPP Star status.