KINGFIELD — The Fire Department was recognized at Monday night’s selectmen meeting for excellence in meeting state standards.

Mike LaPlante and Steven Greeley of the Maine Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Standards on Monday night presented Assistant Fire Chief Fred Nichols with the Safety and Health Award for Public Employees.

“We don’t give out these lightly,” LaPlante said. “In the 11 years of this program, we have given out 77 awards.”

The award requires reviews of logs to document injuries or illnesses; all safety and health policies, procedures and programs; training programs; and inspections of facilities and equipment.

The program aims to lower employee injuries and illnesses and to improve employee morale and retention, LaPlante said.

The SHAPE award was conceived in 2005 to recognize exemplary public-sector employees and employers, and the Kingfield Fire Department has met and exceeded those standards, LaPlante said.

The statewide program includes unannounced inspections, but inspectors always found Nichols’ paperwork completed accurately and available for inspection, even with no notice.

Fire departments have more demands than many other public sectors to provide a safe and healthful workplace, according to Maine Department of Labor representatives.

“You guys get it,” LaPlante said.

Fire Chief Chuck Twitchell could not attend Monday’s  meeting, but he told selectmen at an earlier meeting that Nichols had applied for the recognition award. Twitchell also noted at that earlier meeting that Mt. Abram High School student Brooklyn Brown, a junior firefighter, raised $800 to buy smoke detectors for all children at Kingfield Elementary School to take home.

Brown and Fire Department personnel presented them at the school as part of Fire Prevention Week activities.

In other matters, selectmen announced that Brian Collins has been hired as road commissioner.

“We hope we don’t have any major storms, so he can have a chance to get his feet wet more gradually,” Selectman Wade Browne said.