Met-Ed Employees Achieve Safety Milestone by Working Full Year without Major Injury

Line Workers, Meter Readers, Foresters, Substation Workers and Other Personnel Combine for More Than 1.3 Million Hours of Safe Operation

News provided by

FirstEnergy Corp.

Sep 27, 2016, 01:18 ET

READING, Pa., Sept. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- For the first time in the company's 133-year history, Metropolitan Edison Company (Met-Ed) employees throughout its 15-county Pennsylvania service area have worked safely for one full year without incurring an injury that requires medical treatment beyond basic first aid.

Overall, about 650 Met-Ed employees achieved this safety record by working approximately 1.3 million combined hours without incurring an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)-recordable injury. The employees include line workers, meter readers, substation workers, forestry and meter services personnel, managers and other support personnel.

"We are proud of this impressive achievement because Met-Ed employees make working safely a top priority when providing reliable electric service to our customers," said Ed Shuttleworth, regional president, Met-Ed. "Achieving this milestone took a strong commitment by our employees and management leadership to ensure everyone returns home safely to their families and friends each and every day."

The safety mark is even more impressive since Met-Ed employees work with high voltages of electricity, and often operate in some of the most dangerous conditions, including ice and snow, high winds and thunderstorms and wide-spread flooding.

More than 782,000 customers in the Met-Ed territory have had their power restored since any Met-Ed employee last sustained an OSHA-recordable injury.

During the past year, Met-Ed employees have responded to twenty significant weather events such as thunder and lightning storms, wind storms, and the January 2016 snowstorm which blanketed the Met-Ed service area with more than 30 inches of snow. In addition, company meter readers have read more than 4,487,000 meters while walking and driving more than 900,000 miles without injury.

Met-Ed, a FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) subsidiary, serves approximately 560,000 customers in 15 Pennsylvania counties. Follow Met-Ed on Twitter @Met Ed and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MetEdElectric.

FirstEnergy is dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies form one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems, serving customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Maryland and New York. The company's transmission subsidiaries operate more than 24,000 miles of transmission lines that connect the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic regions. Follow FirstEnergy on Twitter @FirstEnergyCorp or online at www.firstenergycorp.com.

SOURCE FirstEnergy Corp.