National Grid Wins Interactive Media Award (IMA)

July 10, 2017 WALTHAM, M.A.—Recognized for attaining the highest standard of excellence in website design and development, National Grid’s First Responder Utility Safety Training website, firstresponder.ngridsafety.com, has won the Interactive Media Award’s “Best in Class Award” with an overall score of 482 out of a possible 500.

“We are honored to have received this prestigious award for a second time,” said Daniel F. McNamara, Vice President, Pipeline Safety & Compliance for National Grid. “Our goal is to provide critical public awareness education that equips first responders and other public officials with the advanced training they can rely on to safely and decisively respond to electrical and natural gas emergencies.” 

National Grid’s First Responder Utility Safety is an online program that provides in-depth training in natural gas pipeline operations and incident response, LNG incident response, LNG transportation safety and electric utility safety. When first responders successfully complete the e-learning, National Grid presents them with Certificates of Completion, which firefighters, law enforcement personnel and other public safety and emergency response officials can use toward satisfying annual in-service training requirements.

This is the second time the IMA has given the Best in Class Award to National Grid for this website. The first award was provided in 2015 in recognition of the first six utility natural gas safety e-learning modules. To win this highest level of award, the site must pass through IMA’s comprehensive judging process, an achievement only a few sites can achieve. 

National Grid has been steadily expanding its online safety training and is currently developing new training that focuses on responding safely to incidents that involve photovoltaic solar energy systems.

Earlier this year its natural gas safety e-learning became a regional standard when the Northeast Gas Association – a regional trade association that represents natural gas distribution companies, transmission companies, liquefied natural gas importers, and manufacturers and suppliers to the industry – launched in April a similar gas safety training portal. National Grid licensed its natural gas pipeline e-learning to the association for the benefit of all its members and the stakeholders they serve.

National Grid partnered with Culver Company to develop the e-learning. Culver Company is an industry expert in utility public safety, energy efficiency and water conservation outreach initiatives. In creating the training, National Grid and Culver Company also consulted with numerous local fire departments, training academies, and a panel of more than a dozen independent emergency response experts.

“We know that this site must always be evolving to meet the changing needs of the first responder community. That’s why we constantly collaborate with regional and national experts,” said McNamara.  

The IMA competition is sponsored by the Interactive Media Council, Inc., a nonprofit organization of leading web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other web-related professionals, to elevate the standards of excellence on the Internet. Its Best in Class Award is the highest honor bestowed, representing the very best in planning, execution and overall professional achievement. 

About National Grid

National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is an electricity and natural gas delivery company that connects nearly 7 million customers to vital energy sources through its networks in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast. National Grid also operates the systems that deliver gas and electricity across Great Britain.

Through its U.S. Connect21 strategy, National Grid is transforming its electricity and natural gas networks to support the 21st century digital economy with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions. Connect21 is vital to our communities' long-term economic and environmental health and aligns with regulatory initiatives in New York (REV: Reforming the Energy Vision) and Massachusetts (Grid Modernization).

For more information please visit our website, or our Connecting website, follow us on Twitter, watch us on YouTube, friend us on Facebook, find our photos on Instagram

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