Safety leadership and training were the focus of the 2026 Safety and Energy Conference, held Jan. 28-29 in Springfield. The two-day event brought together electric co-op professionals, safety leaders and industry partners for educational sessions, networking and recognition of outstanding safety performance.
In addition to leadership training and sessions on workplace safety culture, several co-ops earned safety awards. These awards are based on OSHA documentation and underscore a cooperative’s dedication to maintaining a safe work environment, exceeding industry safety expectations, and cultivating a proactive safety culture.
The 2025 Best Loss Time Rate Award was given to cooperatives with the lowest amount of lost work time due to workplace injuries, relative to the number of hours worked. Recipients included Adams Electric Cooperative, Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative, Illinois Electric Cooperative, Prairie Power Inc., Rural Electric Convenience Cooperative and Shelby Electric Cooperative.
The 2025 Best Incident Rate Award recognizes the cooperatives with the lowest overall number of recordable workplace incidents, including minor injuries. Recipients included Adams Electric Cooperative, Coles-Moultrie Electric Cooperative, Egyptian Electric Cooperative Association, Illinois Electric Cooperative, Prairie Power Inc. and Tri-County Electric Cooperative.
In addition, several electric cooperatives were recognized with Certificates of Achievement for completing a 2025 RESAP — Rural Electric Safety Achievement Program. The program was developed to maintain a culture of safety at cooperatives. By participating in the program, cooperatives commit to safety as an organizational value through training, educating and assessing its workforce.
The RESAP Certificate of Achievement was awarded to Adams Electric Cooperative, Clinton County Electric Cooperative, Eastern Illini Electric Cooperative, M.J.M. Electric Cooperative, Monroe County Electric Cooperative, Prairie Power Inc., SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative, Tri-County Electric Cooperative and Wayne-White Counties Electric Cooperative.
