Safety and Training
One of the primary objectives of the department has been to implement a Loss Control Management and Safety Program. The City Commission has adopted a set of policies and procedures covering several aspects of this program. The program's purpose is to increase productivity, improve the work environment and enhance public safety, reduce employee injuries, prolong the usefulness of equipment and vehicles, minimize financial loss to the City, and comply with various federal and state mandated job safety and health standards.2007 - Risk Management Annual Report
Programs that have been implemented include the following:
- Commercial Driver's License Program: requires certification and drug testing for over 30 City employees who drive vehicles qualifying under this federal regulation.
- Confined Space Entry: covers Street Division employees who enter storm drains and other confined spaces containing potentially hazardous atmospheres.
- General Driving Rules and Regulations: covers all City-owned vehicles and equipment, and employees who drive on City business.
- Personal Protective Equipment: identifies specific tasks and the hazards associated with those tasks, and identifies types of personal protective equipment required for non-sworn public safety positions.
- CDL Random Drug & Alcohol Testing: procedures for random testing of employees who drive equipment requiring a commercial driver's license, and substance abuse awareness training for all supervisors.
- Lock-Out/Tag-Out Energy Control Program: procedures to prevent injuries by properly marking/locking out equipment when not in use.
- Accident/Injury Reporting: procedures for proper reporting of all accidents and injuries to the Risk Management Division. The proper reporting of accidents and injuries reduces potential liability and allows for efficient handling of claims
- Emergency Action Plans: procedures for employee safety and health in the event of an emergency such as fire, tornado, blizzard, flood, or violent crime.
- Respiratory Protection: procedures to protect non-firefighting employees from exposure t work-related respiratory contaminants, and requires the use of respirators in performing certain job functions.
- Facility Inspections: Requires each department to organize and perform scheduled safety inspections of each city owned facility. Many of the inspections are mandated by federal regulations.
Another primary reason for implementing a safety program related to the City's high workers' compensation insurance premiums. Having reached well over $400,000 per year through fiscal year 1996, an effective loss control program was established and save the City a considerable amount of money. The safety/training manager was hired in late 1994, and is responsible for implementing the safety program. Since the filling of this position, the following loss statistics have been observed:
| OSHA Recordable Frequency (per 100 employees) |
FY96: 16.4 | FY04: 7.7 | -53% |
| Lost Time Frequency (per 100 employees) | FY96: 5.2 | FY04: 2.0 | -61% |
| Number of Claims | FY96: 76 | FY04: 42 | -45% |
Effective July 1, 1996, the City initiated a partial funding of its workers' compensation claims, through the Kentucky League of Cities. The City is responsible for paying claims up to the first $100,000, with stop-loss insurance to cover amounts in excess of that amount. Even with good experience and reductions due to recent safety efforts, the FY98 premium for conventional coverage would have been approximately $464,000. Instead, we established a reserve of $425,000 and expenditures were just over $200,000. The difference will remain in the City's reserve. By continuing to fund the workers' compensation trust at a level amount, the City will have a reserve of over $500,000 in a few years. City expenditures for workers' compensation costs have been reduced for the past several years.
Training and employee development are key aspects of loss control, and developing employees' skills. Training programs being offered in the FY04 budget include:
- Offering several different safety seminars performed primarily in-house by the Safety Manager.
- Continuation of an organized employee development program.
- Leadership Development program at the University of Virginia. This course was attended by all department heads in FY95, and over thirty assistant directors or division heads have had the opportunity to learn new management techniques and how to develop a high performance organization, in an intense week-long program. Funds are included in the annual budget so that other supervisors are exposed to this training.
- Continued funding for employee education/tuition assistance, primarily at WKU. Funds include support for the police/cadet/teleserve program which was started in 1996.
- Team Bowling Green is a leadership development program designed to give new and prospective supervisors a year long exposure to supervisor skills and internal City operations through a combination of seminars, presentations, team building activities and tours. The 20 member class meets one day per month. The first class graduated in November 1998. There are over 100 graduates of the year-long program working in City Government.