JAY — The Police Department and Fire Rescue Department were recognized Monday night by the state for “excellence in safety and health management” in the work place.

Michael LaPlante, supervisor of the Occupational Safety and Health program from the Maine Department of Labor, told selectmen the two departments have outdone themselves to come into compliance.

LaPlante gave the leaders of each department a certificate and plaque from the Safety and Health Award for Public Employees.

“This is the best of the best,” LaPlante said.

The SHAPE program began in 2005. “We have only awarded 40 awards,” LaPlante said. Jay makes 41 and 42.

The award recognizes public sector employers who maintain an exemplary safety and health management system. Acceptance into SHAPE by the Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards is an achievement that distinguishes an organization as a model for workplace safety and health, according to the SafetyWorks! Department of Labor website.

“It’s a big deal to give out these awards,” LaPlante said.

Public Safety Director Larry White, also the Jay police chief, and Sgt. Troy Young accepted the award for the Police Department.

Fire Rescue Department Assistant Chief Mike Booker and White accepted the award for Fire Rescue.

Selectman Amy Pineau read a letter from Fire Service Compliance Associates consultant Lynn Gilley Orne.

“About 18 months ago, Chief White contacted me to assist (Jay Fire Rescue) with their compliance requirements for Bureau of Labor,” she wrote. During her interaction with the department, she wrote that she experienced a “very positive, enthusiastic, motivated and professional group of individuals,” she said. “I outlined what was necessary to bring (Jay Fire Rescue) up to standards. They were committed to this task, and with great passion, they began their mission.”

The Department “spent countless hours training, cleaning the stations, equipment, reviewing policies and protocols, and working together as a team, with one common goal — to be the best they can be,” she wrote.

Jay Fire Rescue achieved the standard for compliance. “However, that was not enough for this group, they wanted more,” Gilley Orne wrote. “They wanted a higher standard, to achieve an award that placed them ‘above standards,’ and tonight that is exactly what they achieved, an award that recognizes (Jay Fire Rescue) for exceeding standards,” she wrote.

She also commended White for having high standards, great values and expecting nothing less from those who work with him.

Gilley Orne congratulated Fire Rescue in the letter for a “job well done, and your continued commitment at making the world a safer, better place.”

Both departments received applause from the Board of Selectmen and the audience.

As a certified SHAPE site, the departments will be granted a one-year exemption from the Maine Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards scheduled inspections for the first year of their SHAPE participation.

Town Manager Ruth Cushman said the rest of the town departments are working on achieving this.

Caribou, Presque Isle, Brunswick and Kennebunk are the only towns in Maine to have all of the departments certified, LaPlante said.

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