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The dedication of PPL Electric Utilities' employees and management to preventing job-related injuries has earned the company a first-of-its-kind honor from a federal agency that regulates safety in the workplace.

PPL Electric Utilities is the first electric utility in the country to qualify all of its field worksites for "Star" status under the rigorous standards of the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration's Voluntary Protection Program.

"This honor verifies that our safety programs and work practices are among the best in the nation," said John F. Sipics, president of PPL Electric Utilities. "Meeting the criteria for VPP Star status at our field worksites places us in select company."

Teams of employees worked for more than two years to demonstrate that the company merited VPP Star status. To meet OSHA's performance-based criteria for the VPP Star, companies must have comprehensive safety and health programs with management leadership and employee involvement, work-site analysis, training, and hazard prevention and control.

OSHA created VPP to improve workplace safety and recognize companies that go beyond compliance in protecting their employees. Based on OSHA statistics, job-related injury rates for VPP Star worksites are more than 50 percent lower than their industry averages.

"The bottom line for VPP, and for all of our safety programs, is to prevent injuries and accidents," Sipics said. "Our employees face dangers every day. They know that their safety, the safety of their co-workers and the safety of the public depends on their skill, experience and attention to detail."

The pursuit of VPP Star status was a partnership between the company and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1600, which represents the company's physical and clerical workers.

Cooperation and teamwork between labor and management were critical to the success of the effort, Sipics noted.

PPL Electric Utilities has 2,500 employees and operates about 40 service centers, garages, warehouses and other facilities in the 29 counties it serves in eastern and central Pennsylvania.

OSHA officials awarded VPP Star certification to worksites in the western half of PPL Electric Utilities' service area on Wednesday (2/9) in Harrisburg. A presentation ceremony for worksites in the eastern half of the service area will be scheduled in the near future.

PPL Electric Utilities is not the first PPL-affiliate company to qualify as a VPP Star worksite. Other VPP Star worksites include PPL's Martins Creek, Susquehanna, Montour, Brunner Island and Holtwood power plants in Pennsylvania; PPL Interstate Energy, which operates a pipeline that transports fuel to the company's Martins Creek and Lower Mount Bethel Energy power plants; and PPL's System Facilities Center, a 290,000-square-foot testing, repair and laboratory facility near Hazleton, Pa.

PPL Electric Utilities Corporation is a subsidiary of PPL Corporation. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) controls more than 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to nearly 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America. More information is available at http://www.pplweb.com/.

SOURCE: PPL Electric Utilities

CONTACT: George Lewis, PPL Corporation, +1-610-774-5997, or Fax:
+1-610-774-5281

Web site: http://www.pplweb.com/