OCWD Online - Press Release: 07.30.2001 - District Employee Receives Safety Award

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – Maintenance Supervisor Patrick Lewis of Orange County Water District (OCWD) was recently rewarded with the Worker’s Compensation Safety Recognition Award from the Association of California Water Agencies Joint Powers Insurance Authority (ACWA/JPIA). Pat earned the Award for making significant improvements to OCWD’s safety program and working environment. Along with the award he received a check for $200.

Each year, the ACWA/JPIA selects employees from its member agencies throughout California to receive a cash reward for their efforts to make their agency a better place to work. Pat Lewis was nominated for the Worker’s Compensation Safety Award by OCWD’s Safety Department. Some of Pat’s notable accomplishments that earned him this award include managing a system where no lost-time accidents occurred over a two-year period among 38,000 employee hours worked. In addition, Pat implemented an innovative policy where any maintenance worker caught committing an unsafe act will be required to instruct or co-instruct the employee safety briefing for the week and Pat prevented near-misses of vehicles vs. pedestrians on the OCWD property by setting up a speed detector so people driving through OCWD’s parking lot know what speed they are driving and can maintain a safe speed.

OCWD’s Safety Department is helping to maintain a nearly risk-free environment through an ongoing safety and risk management program for the employees. OCWD employs nearly 200 people with job diversity ranging from working with chemicals in the water quality laboratory to operating heavy machinery – such as bulldozers – to create levees in the Santa Ana Riverbed

The Orange County Water District is a special water agency created by the California Legislature in l933 to maintain and manage the huge groundwater basin under northern Orange County. The groundwater basin managed by OCWD supplies 75% of the water needs to more than 2 million residents in the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Costa Mesa, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington and Newport Beach, Irvine, La Palma, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster and Yorba Linda.