Hard work in the area of workplace safety does pay off as one Ohio town recently discovered.
Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer recently visited St. Marys (Auglaize County) to recognize the city’s exceptional efforts to maintain a safe workplace. Buehrer presented St. Marys Mayor Patrick McGowan with a $30,000 check to purchase cot lifters for the city’s medic units through BWC’s Safety Intervention Grant Program.
“These cots are proving to be very useful for fire departments across the state to make a dramatic improvement that protects first responders so they can do their jobs more safely,” Buehrer commented. “I applaud the city for recognizing that investments in workplace safety can lead to positive results, both in terms of fewer injuries and in keeping workers’ comp costs low and employees healthy and productive.”
First Responders Prove Vulnerable to Injury
The City of St. Marys Fire Department is one of two full-time fire/paramedic institutions in Auglaize County, covering a 123 square mile area, and averaging 1,500 calls per year. The loading and unloading of patients leaves the city’s first responders vulnerable to injury.
Common injuries include back and shoulder sprains, crushed fingers, lacerations, and sprains to upper extremities. To alleviate the process for workers, the city is purchasing a Power-LOAD cot fastener system that mechanically lifts and lowers the cot into and out of the ambulance.
“The City of St. Marys is happy to partner with the Bureau of Workers Compensation in receiving this safety grant to aide in the prevention of potential back injuries and to protect patients during the loading and unloading process,” said Mayor McGowan.
BWC’s Safety Intervention Grant Program assists Ohio employers in reducing illnesses and injuries and to create a partnership with them to establish best practices for accident and injury prevention.
Ohio private and public employers are eligible for safety intervention grants, which include a 3-to-1 matching amount up to a maximum of $40,000. Quarterly data reports and follow-up case studies help BWC determine the effectiveness of employers’ safety interventions and establish best practices.
The total amount of available money was recently tripled to $15 million as part of the bureau’s Billion Back plan, which also included $1 billion in rebates and steps to modernize BWC’s billing processes.
Author Kori Shafer-Stack, Editor, Amaxx Risk Solutions, Inc. is an expert in post-injury response procedures and part of the Amaxx team helping companies reduce their workers compensation costs by 20% to 50%. www.reduceyourworkerscomp.com. Contact: kstack@reduceyourworkerscomp.com.
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