1. Safety Training for Senior Leaders October 2013

2. 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.
Welcome to the Safety Training for Senior Leaders web-based training. This course is designed for senior leaders which we define as Bureau Directors and above, as well as field site managers. Supervisors will be offered a similar online course after the agency’s leadership is trained, and employees will be offered a web-based training after supervisors are trained.
This course has two main objectives. At the end of this training, participants will be able to explain the purpose of the safety initiative and understand their role and the roles of others within their agency to ensure success.

3. 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
The topics to be covered include:
Why should I focus on safety?
The basics of an effective safety program
Your responsibilities for safety, and
What to expect next as we engage in this journey to improve the commonwealth’s safety program.

4. 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.
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.

5. How much do you think the commonwealth spent in workers’ compensation dollars last fiscal year?
$120 million
$45 million
$100 million
$97 million
The commonwealth is self-insured for its workers’ compensation costs, so we pay the costs for each injury.
How much do you think the commonwealth spent on workers’ compensation last year?
$120 million
$45 million
$100 million or
$97 million.
If you guessed a. $120 million, you are correct. Last year, the commonwealth spent $120 million on workplace injuries and illnesses. These costs include payments made on claims that may have occurred years ago.
Of that $120 million, $23.6 million was spent for the new claims that occurred in the year.
Because most injuries are preventable, this money could have been better spent elsewhere.
Of that $120 million, $23.6 million was spent for the new claims that occurred in the year.

6. The Iceberg Theory of Costs
Direct costs - $2,808
Indirect costs - $6,815
Direct Costs
WC wage loss (indemnity)
$2,126
X-rays, crutches, splint, pain medication, and follow-up appointments
$ 682
Indirect Costs
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
(Picture)
The full cost of employee injuries is actually much greater than $120 million. There are other costs that are not typically tracked. The iceberg theory demonstrates the fact that there are hidden, indirect costs that are as much as four times as high as the direct costs. Direct costs are those that you can see, such as medical bills and wage loss benefits (also known as indemnity). Indirect costs are those that are hidden beneath the surface that are not usually considered.
Here’s an example using a claim that occurred earlier this year. (The employee’s name was changed.) Tom fell in the hallway and injured his right ankle. A co-worker took him to an urgent care center since he could not drive. X-rays revealed that his ankle was not broken, but it was severely sprained. He was provided crutches, splint, and pain medication. Tom’s job requires him to be on his feet. Therefore, his doctor would not allow him to return to work for one month.
Total direct costs for the injury were $2,808 for the workers’ compensation wage loss benefits and medical costs including an x-ray, crutches, splint, pain medication, and follow-up appointments. The indirect costs amounted to $6,815. These costs includes the time it took for another employee to drive Tom to the urgent care center and wait with him to be seen; the administrative cost charged to the commonwealth for each workers’ compensation claim reported to our claims administrator, Inservco; the cost to continue health benefits, which is nearly 70% of the employee’s salary; the cost to replace the employee with overtime of another co-worker; and the time it took to investigate the incident and manage the workers’ compensation claim. Not shown are costs for decreased morale.
Photo by Noël Kingsley 6

7. 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.
Last year, 5,779 employees were injured at work. So what is the commonwealth doing to reduce injuries and save money?
The goal of the initiative is to reduce the number of injuries by 25% by September Each agency has set a minimum injury reduction goal of 10% in FY 13/14. The goal includes several objectives that are designed to achieve the goal.
A safety consulting firm was hired to help us develop programs and educational materials which are designed to encourage employees to work more safely. However, there is only so much the safety firm can do; management support is imperative to the success of this initiative. Your role will be addressed later in the presentation.
Reducing the number of injuries will impact the associated costs, providing agencies with more money in their budgets. To see how many injuries were reported in your agency and to see your agency’s goal, click here. 7

8. 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.
To sum it up, a lot of employees are injured at work; the injuries are costing a lot of money, and not all of the costs are readily seen; so, each agency is being challenged to reduce injuries by at least 10% in fiscal year 13/14.

9. The Basics of Effective 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.
Now that you know about the costs and our goal, let’s talk about the basics that are included in an effective safety program. There is a lot which can be done to ensure your agency has an effective safety program.

10. 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.
Effective safety programs focus on a top down approach where senior management promotes a productive safety culture and the supervisors below engage, lead, and get their employees buy-in.
Organizations with effective safety programs don’t view safety separately from day-to-day operations; safety programs are integrated into daily operations and driven by the supervisors.
Safety Coordinators and safety staff work together with operations management to develop safety programs that are focused on preventing injuries.
Written programs are only effective when they are practiced and ingrained in the organization’s culture.

11. Safety is Everyone’s Responsibility
Senior Management
Manager
Line Supervisor
Employee
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. HR
Safety
In effective programs, safety is everyone’s responsibility and it starts with senior leadership taking ownership for the program, with managers and line supervisors taking responsibility for reinforcing safe work practices with employees.
Some may think that safety is the responsibility of the safety department; this is not true. Safety coordinators are a resource for operations for policy development and training. As shown in the chart, safety needs to be led by senior management, then managers, line supervisors, and lastly to the employees.

12. 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.
As you would expect, the unions that represent our employees have an interest and role in ensuring employee safety.
Most of our collective bargaining agreements have language that deals with safety in one way or another, for example by addressing local and agency safety committees, training needs and sharing of safety-related information. Language and associated obligations vary across agreements.
We will inform the unions of our plans in the near future and expect input from them.
As we move forward with the initiative we expect them to be involved.

13. 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.
So, why is it important for you to be involved? Leadership involvement is important to ensure 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.

14. 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.
To sum it up, an effective safety program starts with you. To truly change the culture, managers and supervisors must 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.

15. Responsibilities
In this section, we will review roles and responsibilities you have as they relate to safety.
Now that you know what is required of an effective safety program, this next section reviews specific responsibilities that you will have throughout the initiative.

16. 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
Safety goals and objectives have been established to reduce injuries. You should be aware of these. To ensure that the goals and objectives are met, reinforce safety roles and responsibilities for all levels of employees. The progress of stated goals and objectives should be assessed periodically. Communicate the goals and objectives and promote them. In addition, the progress toward meeting the goals should be shared at key meetings with managers and supervisors.

17. 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
Another responsibility focusses on continually monitoring causes for the most frequent injuries. Review the information from safety metrics reports with managers and supervisors during meetings. Collaborate with safety staff to develop policies to address the most frequent injuries and then ensure training occurs to prevent them.
Finally, ensure that equipment, tools and personal protective equipment is available if needed. Keep in mind that when adding new equipment or processes, safety policies for the use of the equipment or for that process should be developed and understood by employees.

18. 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
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

19. 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.
You should ensure that your subordinate supervisors communicate safety rules and policies to employees and that the policies are reinforced when not followed.
When an incident investigation reveals that the reason for an injury was due to a violation of a safety rule, it is important to hold the employee accountable, even if the employee was injured.
For example, the supervisor provided training to Jose on the procedure for performing maintenance work on a machine about two months ago during orientation, which was when he transferred from another work location. When the supervisor noticed Jose not following proper procedures, he counseled and retrained him last week. This week, Jose was doing maintenance on the machine. His arm was injured when he attempted to grab a screw that had fallen into the machine while it was running. While the workers’ compensation claim may be approved, Jose should receive appropriate discipline for not following policies since he was trained and counseled, which were documented.
Consistent reinforcement of safety rules will help to change the organization’s culture.

20. 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.
To sum it up, senior leadership must be aware of goals and objectives and hold subordinates accountable for ensuring that safety polices 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.

21. What to Expect Next
This 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.
This 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.

22. 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!
The commonwealth is on a journey to improving workplace safety.
The National Safety Council provides this illustration on the journey to safety excellence. The four pillars are the core of safety excellence; it begins with leadership and engagement, followed by safety management systems, risk reduction and performance measurement. The outer shell illustrates steps to achieve safety excellence.
We have begun our initiative by measuring the number and costs of injuries, which is shown in the upper right. Moving to the next phase, many agency safety coordinators have begun to determine gaps, and all of them have set an injury reduction goal. At the bottom of the illustration, the safety consultants have developed plans, and we have now moved to the arrow on the left, as we are implementing plans.
This process is a continuous cycle and should not stop. We will continue to strive for safety improvement in many years to come.

23. 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 safety coordinator, in cooperation with a leader in your agency, will be providing information about the initiative over the next several months. You should become aware of the goals and objectives set for your agency, and you should consider setting specific goals for your organization.
Be proactive, if you think specific programs are needed to address safety concerns, inform your safety coordinator of those.
You are being trained first. In a few weeks your managers and supervisors will be trained, and they will be notified of their roles. If you would like to see the presentation made for them, you may take the course through ESS LSO. The employee course will be available later after supervisors receive training within approximately one month from now.
Additional training programs will be made available to your safety coordinator for delivery to you, supervisors and employees in the coming months.
Ensure safety is integrated into communications. An awareness campaign will be part of the initiative too, which includes posters and newsletter articles. Stay tuned for more information about these awareness initiatives.

24. Your Commitment Contact your safety coordinator with questions.
Your commitment to the safety program will be valuable to your employees. While implementing safety programs is important to saving money for the commonwealth, it’s not just about the money; it’s also about the employees. Our goal is to ensure each employee goes home to their family in the same way they came to work!
If you have any questions, refer them to your safety coordinator. If you do not know who your safety coordinator is, you may click here to see the list of coordinators by agency.
So everyone can return home to their families
Contact your safety coordinator with questions.
Click here for your safety coordinator’s contact information. 24

25. Knowledge Check
The following questions are provided to verify your understanding of the initiative and your role and to give you credit for taking this course.
The following questions are provided to verify your understanding of the initiative and your role and to give you credit for taking this course.

26. Knowledge Check Direct costs are typically less than indirect costs
True
False 26 26

27. Knowledge Check a. 7% b. 4% c. 10%
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 27 27

28. Knowledge Check
You, as a leader, have a critical role in an effective safety program within your agency
True
False 28 28

29. Thank you for attending this course29