Page 12 - Demo

COUNTY COMMENT %u2022 March 2025 12 continuedA couple key factors fell into place that helped drive the building of a %u201cculture of safety%u201d across the county. Administration took a lead role in the process and the county turned to risk management and safety program expertise within the county%u2019s insurance company to help build the program. Administration involvement was important to build a program for all county departments. Also, this process evolved into more than just an employee safety program. It included looking at all types of incident reports and near misses involving patrons and constituents while conducting county business. The county%u2019s insurance company would provide the expertise, leadership, and tools to help build a comprehensive safety program.Building the county%u2019s comprehensive safety program started with the creation of a safety committee that included the department heads of all the departments with the highest exposure rates, the assistant county administrator, the risk management expert from the county%u2019s insurance company, facilities management leadership, and a few other key support members. The committee was charged with meeting monthly to review all accident claims and incident reports. They helped develop a progressive discipline policy tied to the number of incidents for an employee and helped develop a %u201cnear-miss%u201d reporting incentive program. They developed a standardized incident reporting program, a flow chart for incident response related to medical follow up and/or drug and alcohol testing and recommended minimum annual safety training for all county employees. The committee produced a monthly report of all accident claims received and reviewed and included a status of all current claims or reports as well as for past reports that were still open. They eventually adopted a monthly safety topic. The incident report along with a flyer on the monthly safety topic went out to all employees. The insurance company also helped develop standard forms for assessing various tasks, for performing work site safety assessments and for doing random workplace inspections. The insurance company provided access to online safety training videos and testing to support new safety training requirements for employees.Building a %u201cculture of safety%u201d does not just happen because we want it. It required a whole new mindset for department heads as well as every employee. Safety had to become primary in every task, every decision, and every action. Safety could no longer be passive. We had to build an expectation that each employee is responsible not only to themselves, but to their co-workers and to their families. We had to set a primary goal of making sure we all helped send everyone home safely at the end of the day. Employees were challenged to consider putting themselves in