Olean's Key to Success
Voorhees should know. He's a hometown boy and the guiding force behind
the city's safety committee a rare occurrence for a broker. Before
joining PERMA in 2003, Olean was not particularly safety-conscious. It
had no active safety committee and recommendations from its former
insurance carrier were not implemented. It took several large workers'
compensation cases and a shrinking budget for Olean to focus on safety.
With a new partner in PERMA, the city began to take action. As Janet
Jones, the current City Auditor, puts it, "We needed people working, not
on comp, so we had to beef up the safety program."
Right after Olean joined PERMA, a safety committee was formed. It
stalled until the former City Auditor, Steve Pachla, got managers more
interested in safety to join. But just as the committee was hitting its
stride, Pachla left the city. Pete Archbold, PERMA senior loss control
representative, noticed the committee stopped meeting regularly. "Pete
told me the city had to get its act together," says Voorhees, so he
stepped in, enhancing the committee with active members like Mark
Whiteman, the water superintendent, as well as the buildings and codes
supervisor, the police chief, the city clerk, Jones and Archbold.
"Everybody brings a lot to the table,' says Voorhees. The committee
meets quarterly and meetings are attended by all supervisors in the
public works, fire and police departments. Each supervisor is required
to monitor the safety compliance of his or her own department. The DPW
also holds well-attended weekly "tailgate" meetings. The meetings deal
with a variety of topics, including those reviewed in PERMA safety
videos, OSHA regulations, and the city's safety manual, and are about 10
to 15 minutes long.
For the past year, Olean has been utilizing a PERMA safety grant that
pays for various training, but the city hasn't stopped there. They have
partnered with Compliance Management International (CMI) to utilize a
$17,500 safety grant Olean received from the New York State Department
of Labor Hazard Abatement Bureau. To date, Olean has completed over 100
hours of CMI's training in areas such as electronics, confined spaces
and workplace violence. The state grant expires at the end of July, but
Voorhees, instrumental in its procurement, will pursue another grant at
the end of the year.
Olean also focuses on wellness, combining resources and a wellness grant
from PERMA along with resources of its health insurer, to put on a busy
Wellness Fair at the beginning of the year, which was followed by a
16-week walking/weight loss challenge. Currently, they are operating a
summer walking program and are planning a Wellness Fair for the fall.
PERMA's Director of Medical Services, Genie Mayo, and Senior Patient
Advocate, Maureen Flynn, work closely with the Olean Wellness Committee,
and are impressed by the city's quick progress. "Their enthusiasm and
commitment is truly commendable," says Mayo. By utilizing this variety
of resources, Olean has seen some wonderful results. "Over the past
three years or so, the employees have been pretty responsive," says
Jones. "Employee buy-in is key - safety can't be accomplished if our
employees aren't willing to alter their habits." And safety has been
accomplished: accident rates have gone way down, as has accident
severity. The safety committee regularly reviews incident reports and
loss runs, and all accidents, no matter the severity, are investigated.
The investigations determine whether training to avoid a similar
incident will be required.
"Overall, the City of Olean has done a remarkable job in maintaining an
effective safety program during these difficult times," says Pete
Archbold. And because of Olean's proactive stance on workplace health
and safety, its PERMA annual premium has gone down 43% since 2005. The
city has accomplished a great deal, but it will continue in its quest
for lower losses... and lower premiums. And it will continue to utilize
what PERMA has to offer. Jones says it best: "PERMA has a wealth of
resources and has been willing to help. You only have to reach out for
it."