Review of the 2019 Employee Work Safe Program

By Heather Blumenthal, Operations Manager

TKPOA STAFF HAS COME TO THE CLOSE OF THE 2019 WORK SAFE PROGRAM. TKPOA staff has been successful in achieving 365 days without recording a lost time from a work accident!

The number of medical-only workers compensation claims was reduced from five (5) for 2015 to two (2) for 2016, increased to three (3) for 2017, decreased to zero for 2018, and increased to two (2) for 2019.

A lost time from work accident is an accident or injury that causes an employee to miss time from work. A medical only accident is an accident based on an accident or injury that resulted in an employee visiting their doctor or the emergency room for treatment; however the injury was not severe enough to cause the injured employee to have to miss time from work.

TKPOA strives to prevent all injuries and accidents, however, lost time from work accidents tend to be more severe and are more costly to the injured employee and the Association. TKPOA’s Work Safe Program was implemented in 2015 and introduced regular monthly safety meetings and annual safety trainings that have assisted in reducing employee accidents and injuries, therefore creating a safe and healthy work environment for all Staff and TKPOA Volunteers.

In 2019, TKPOA conducted a total of two (2) Injury Illness Prevention Program (I.I.P.P.) trainings to include new employees and to achieve the required annual retraining for all employees. The first scheduled date for I.I.P.P. training in 2020 will be held in June and will include seasonal summer staff.

Maintaining a safe and healthy work environment has also assisted in reducing costs to the Association and we are looking forward to another successful year in 2020 by continuing to reduce TKPOA’s ex-mod rate for our Workers Compensation Insurance. TKPOA’s Workers Compensation Insurance premium is based on our Experience Modification (ex-mod) rate which is directly affected by the amount and severity of lost time and/or medical only accidents and claims filed within a five year period.

Since 2015, the TKPOA Board of Directors, Management, and Staff have worked to bring TKPOA’s ex-mod rate down in order decrease our annual Workers Compensation Insurance premium. For the 2019–2020 policy period, TKPOA’s exmod rate is set at 0.98, a 0.23 decrease from the 2018–2019 policy period, which resulted in a $25% (approximately $15,000) decrease in our annual Worker’s Compensation Insurance premium.

For the upcoming 2020–2021 renewal period, TKPOA’s ex-mod rate has decreased for the third year in a row from 0.98 to 0.81 and it is anticipated this will result in additional cost savings for TKPOA come renewal time in June 2020. In 2019, Staff did include additional Safety Tailgate Meetings for the Water Company, Water Quality, Maintenance and Landscape Departments. Staff has met with these department managers to review the Tailgate Safety meeting program and get their feedback on the effectiveness of the additional meetings held. The manager’s responses and comments helped determine the departmental needs for additional and specific department training. The Tailgate Meetings are held in addition to monthly safety meetings as required by the Work Safe Program for all departments.