BUSINESS MEMO: PLANT EARNS SAFETY AWARD

A New Madrid Power Plant reached a safety milestone earlier this month: two years without a lost-time accident.

Safe operations are a high priority with Associated Electric Cooperative Inc., said Bruce Stone, director of power production. "This is an impressive record in the industry."

Duane Highley, plant manager, agreed "Safety is a quality-of-life issue, because we are talking about people's lives."

The two-year mark equals 720 days without an accident severe enough to require employees to miss their next scheduled work shift. The plant's previous record was 476 days, from March 1994 to mid-1995.