25 Employee reclassifications - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

6-16-2008 (updated 10/10/2008) MEMO TO: Kevin Carruth, City Manager FROM: Gene Anderson, Finance Director SUBJECT: Safety Coordinator THE PROBLEM The City of Paris has had less than a successful history in controlling the frequency and severity of its workers' compensation claims. To illustrate this point, in the past the city has been declared a "hazardous employer" by the Texas Workers Compensation Commission due to the number of workers' compensation claims in certain areas of its operations. (The hazardous employer program was eliminated when the Texas Department of Insurance recently took over TWCC duties.) The departments and time periods that were involved in the hazardous employer program are as follows: 1. Street Department 2. Sanitation Department 3. Sanitation Department 4. Fire Department 6/15/1998through 3/29/1999 3/07/1999through 4/26/2000 4/22/2002through 5/13/2003 9/13/2002through 5/13/2003 8 months 13 months 13 months 8 months Workers' Compensation history is as follows: 1. 2001-02 77 claims $280,880 incurred claims 2. 2002-03 130 claims $403,963 incurred claims 3. 2003-04 74 claims $172,288 incurred claims 4. 2004-05 68 claims $ 78,021 incurred claims 5. 2005-06 77 claims $342,427 incurred claims 6. 2006-07 34 claims $ 96,352 incurred claims 7. 2007-08 30 claims $ 19,793 incurred claims 8. 2008-09 future future $238,505 in premiums $ 362,860 in premiums $ 429,967 in premiums $ 463,491 in premiums $ 395,414 in premiums $ 290,048 in premiums $ 288,528 in premiums $ 239,985 in premiums This situation has been addressed in the past with temporary success by emphasizing the importance of the problem, but long term success has eluded us generally. The reason the city has been unsuccessful, in my opinion, is that safety is nobody's rip mary responsibility. While all employees know that safety is important, that focus is lost in the hustle and bustle of the accomplishing the details of daily assignments. In other words, safety is important, but today's business is urgent. It is too easy to rationalize that safety issues can be addressed tomorrow. It's just that tomorrow rarely comes. A sound risk management program overseen by someone who is accountable for dealing with and following up on safety issues has the potential for long term significant savings by reducing premium costs and avoiding loss time by city workers. Changes in how the city conducts its business must be monitored over time to assure that those changes remain effective. Supervisors have been too easily distracted by the urgent matters of the day to be consistent in following up on safety issues over the long term. THE STUDY In 2006, the city elected to participate in TML's Discovery Team process. Under this program, TML sends a team of their experts to the city for onsite fact finding and evaluation of the city's circumstances. Besides reviewing statistical data, visits were made to most departments and interviews were held with key city personnel. The end result of the study was a list of 9 recommendations to help improve the city's safety record. In abbreviated form, the following items make up the "need to do" list per TML. 1. The city should coordinate its loss prevention efforts among its departments by (a) adding HR staff (b) adding a safety coordinator position and (c) establishing a safety committee. 2. A single city approved accident prevention plan should be provided for all departments. » 000356";',, - - _ T - T T._. _.T