25 Employee reclassifications - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

3. The city's accident investigation policy should be reviewed to assure its effectiveness. 4. A process for regularly providing loss data to the departments in the form of charts, graphs, loss runs, or written descriptions should be developed. 5. The city should develop a written return-to-work program that defines the city's expectations for returning injured employees to work. 6. The city's written drug and alcohol testing policy should be reviewed with all managers and supervisors. 7. Safety meetings addressing back injury prevention should be provided to employees on at least an annual basis. 8. Safety meetings addressing driving exposures or drivers training should be provided to all employees on at least an annual basis. 9. Safety meetings should be held on at least a monthly basis and documentation of the topic discussed should be maintained for future reference. THE SOLUTION During the time Ernie Clark was interim manager, the city under took a pilot program to assess the effectiveness of TML's recommendations. A qualified employee was selected, and he agreed to act as a part-time safety coordinator in addition to his regular job duties. A safety committee was established utilizing a cross section of city employees. The safety coordinator and safety committee met and eventually produced a city-wide safety policy which addressed the specific needs of the various departments. The safety coordinator began producing reports for the departments involving work related accidents and monitoring accident investigations to ensure the consistency of investigations from department to department. He also helped streamline the process for investigating job applicants. The process for conducting random, DOT, and post accident drug testing was updated and clarified. A more efficient process for investigating job applicants was implemented as well as a means for periodic checking of driving records and vehicle license status for city employees who drive city vehicles. Additionally, he was asked to work on building security issues such as alarm systems and security cameras. The time dedicated to safety issues in the test program provided fruitful results though this required more of the safety coordinator's time than we originally planned in addition to support given by other finance and HR staff. For the year 2006-07 workers' compensation claims totaled only 34 with incurred claims of $96,352 with premiums of $290,048. (It should be noted that there is some lag time between changes in the number and costs of claims and changes in premiums paid by the city.) In 2007-08, 30 claims were filed, and the city's current workers' compensation premium of $288,528 reflects the financial impact that careful monitoring of safety issues can bring about. However, it was clear that there was significantly more work to do than a part-time security office could perform. Due to the progress made under the test program, I concur with the TML recommendation that the security coordinator position be a full time position with additional related duties added to the job as outlined in the job description. These additional duties cover areas that the city has not paid sufficient attention to such as random drug testing. TML's suggestion of additional HR staff was rejected because it was felt that field staff not office staff was needed to address the situation. This is a rare case where a position should more than pay for itself due to savings on insurance premiums and reduction of lost duty time by employees. The biggest plus, however, is that the safety of city personnel will be significantly improved. In addition to the recent fatal accident of a contract worker at the water plant, there have been 4 other job related fatalities in the city's history. I mention them as a reminder that it can happen here. Charles Ball 08-19-1997 David Roberts 10-21-1985 Sarah McCool 08-22-1983 Duain Cross 07-20-1920 Tractor accident. Police officer shot. Traffic accident. Police officer shot. U00353 . _ _ T. - i T_ 7