NMCC awarded safety enhancement grants

    PRESQUE ISLE — Officials from the Maine Municipal Association have selected Northern Maine Community College to receive two 2012 safety enhancement grants. The awards will aid the college in the purchase of new equipment.
    NMCC officials were recently notified that out of a total of 190 applications, the local institution had been selected to receive two grants totaling $1,700 from MMA. The college will use the funds to purchase two emergency eye wash stations and two ergonomic workstations.
    “The grant process is very competitive, so we are appreciative to have been at first considered and then selected,” said Carl Allen, NMCC safety and security manager. “Receiving this grant gives us the opportunity to enhance employee safety while reducing and even eliminating potential hazards here on campus.”
    Grants, awarded annually in both May and October, provide financial assistance needed for organizations to give employees the proper tools and training required to promote workplace safety. Improving workplace safety for municipal employees helps to reduce costs to taxpayers by reducing the amount of lost work hours, insurance claims and overtime expenses paid to other employees who might have to fill in for a co-worker injured on the job.