Safety Training for Senior Leaders

October 2013

Welcome and Objectives

This web-based course is designed for senior leaders of all commonwealth agencies. This includes field site managers, bureau directors and all those above.

• To explain the purpose of the safety initiative and provide information to fully understand its importance.

• To understand your role and the roles of others in your agency to ensure the implementation of successful safety initiatives to reduce injuries.

Topics to Be Covered

• Why should I focus on safety?• The basics of an effective safety program• Your responsibilities for safety• What to expect next

Why Should I Focus on Safety?

This segment of the course provides an introduction to the costs of workers’

compensation claims and provides information about the goal of the safety initiative.

How much do you think the commonwealth spent in workers’ compensation dollars last fiscal year?

a) $120 millionb) $45 millionc) $100 milliond) $97 million

Of that $120 million, $23.6 million was spent for the new claims that occurred in the year.

The Iceberg Theory of Costs

Direct Costs

Indirect Costs

Direct costs - $2,808

Indirect costs - $6,815

WC wage loss (indemnity) $2,126

X-rays, crutches, splint, pain medication, and follow-up appointments

$ 682

Co-worker takes employee for medical treatment

$ 100

Inservco per claim charge $1,235

Health benefits continuation $1,680

Overtime replacement $3,600

Injury investigation and claim management

$ 200

Photo by Noël Kingsley

The Safety Initiative Goal…

Last year 5,779 commonwealth employees were injured at work! • The commonwealth’s goal through this safety

initiative is to reduce injuries by 25% by September 2015.

• For fiscal year 13/14, each agency’s goal is set to at least a 10% reduction in injuries.

To see how many employees were injured in your agency and to see your agency’s goal, click here.

To Sum it Up:

• A lot of employees are injured at work.

• Injuries and illnesses are expensive, and there are costs beyond what are traditionally shown in workers’ compensation metrics.

• Every agency is being challenged to reduce injuries by at least 10% in fiscal year 13/14.

The Basics ofEffective Safety Programs

A lot can be done to ensure your agency has an effective safety program. The following slides

explain the basics of an effective program.

What makes a safety program effective?

• Senior managers provide leadership and remain engaged in the safety program.

• Safety is integrated into daily operations driven by supervisors.

• Safety programs focus on preventing injuries and are developed collaboratively by safety coordinators and operations management.

• Written programs are only effective when they are practiced and ingrained in the organization’s culture.

Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility

Safety starts with senior leaders taking ownership, with managers and line supervisors taking responsibility for implementing and reinforcing safe work practices with employees every day.

Senior Management

Manager

Line Supervisor

EmployeeEmployee

Line Supervisor

EmployeeEmployee

Safety

HR

Unions’ Role

• The unions have an interest and role in ensuring employee safety.• Safety is covered by most collective bargaining

agreements—e.g., local and agency safety committees, training and information sharing.

• Unions will be afforded an opportunity for input as we get underway.

• Expect them to be engaged as we progress.

Leadership

Leadership involvement is important! It ensures that managers and supervisors make safety a core value to ultimately change the culture to think about safety in everything that we do.

It also shows that you care about employees’ well-being when you encourage them to work safely.

To Sum it Up:

• An effective safety program, which will ultimately change our safety culture, starts with YOU.

• Managers and supervisors must implement and reinforce safety rules to ensure that each employee has a safe place to work.

• All employees—and their union, where applicable—have a role in the safety program.

ResponsibilitiesIn this section, we will review roles and

responsibilities you have as they relate to safety.

Leadership Responsibilities

Be aware of the agency goals and objectives that have been established to reduce injuries, and• Reinforce safety roles and

responsibilities for all levels of employees

• Promote the goals and objectives within your organization

• Monitor the progress that your organization is contributing to the overall success

Leadership Responsibilities (continued)

Continually review safety metrics reports to understand top causes of injuries, then• Review the information from reports with

managers and supervisors during meetings• Collaborate with safety staff to set safety policies

that address the most frequent types of injuries and ensure training is provided to employees

• Ensure equipment, tools and personal protective equipment are available if needed

Leadership Responsibilities (continued)

Hold subordinates accountable for• Conducting thorough training for all new hires

and when an employee is assigned new duties or is exposed to different hazards

• Listening to employee concerns and reviewing reported hazards to resolve issues and update policies, and appropriately involving union representatives in the safety program

• Ensuring that accidents are investigated and corrective actions are implemented to prevent future, similar injuries

Accountability for Safety

Ensure safety rules and policies are communicated to all employees and reinforced by supervisors.

Even when an employee is injured, it is important to hold the employee accountable if they were not following safety procedures or rules.

To Sum it Up

• Senior leaders must be aware of goals and objectives and hold subordinates accountable for ensuring that safety policies are developed, implemented and reinforced.

• It is important that you understand what injuries are occurring and work with safety staff to prevent recurrences through implementing corrective actions.

What to Expect NextThis initiative is just beginning, and we have a

lot of work to do to achieve the ultimate goal of a 25% reduction in injuries and 10% during this fiscal year. The next slides provide insight to the

journey to achieve success.

Journey to Safety Excellence

The National Safety Council provides this model for the journey to safety excellence.

Notice the first pillar in the center – it is leadership and engagement!

Next Steps

• Your safety coordinator will be providing the agency goals and objectives to you, consider setting additional goals for your organization.

• Be aware of the safety policies in place and determine if additional ones are needed.

• Training will be provided to managers and supervisors to explain their role and employees will receive training after supervisors.

• New programs and additional training will be made available by the safety coordinator to focus on the most frequent and costly injuries.

• Ensure safety is integrated into communications.

Your Commitment

Contact your safety coordinator with questions. Click here for your safety coordinator’s contact information.

So everyone can return home to their families

Knowledge CheckThe following questions are provided to verify your understanding of the initiative and your

role and to give you credit for taking this course.

Knowledge Check

• Direct costs are typically less than indirect costs True False

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Knowledge Check

• Each agency must have a FY 13/14 injury reduction goal of at least:a. 7%b. 4%c. 10%d. An injury reduction goal is not required

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Knowledge Check

• You, as a leader, have a critical role in an effective safety program within your agency True False

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Thank You

Thank you for attending this course