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Our renewal for insurance is coming due April 1,
2004. This means we can look back over the past year and see how we
did for safety. Our incident rate was up, but the cost per incident
was down. In other words, we had more claims, but they cost less.
We did not have any major or severe claims. This is good news
because our insurance is ‘first cost’, with a deductible of
$250,000. While our costs are down, it is disturbing that our
incidents are rising. The insurance industry looks at both
incidents and costs. The worker’s compensation mod is also based on
incidents and costs, but the number of incidents affects the rate
more than costs. We have been told our mod will be lower, but only
by a couple hundredths.
I believe many positive things are happening with
safety. We have established more safety committees among
divisions. This will provide a closer review of accidents and how
to avoid them. There are more safety classes available; i.e.,
forklift training, lock out-tag out, etc. I believe people are
becoming aware of their actions and are putting safety first.
There are better reports coming from Nancy, not only
the weekly accidents, but quarterly and yearly reports. We now have
a report that keeps track of the number of accidents an employee
has.
A review of the PCC division, of which I am most
familiar with, shows some concerns. We had over 1/3 of the total
loss time days. Most came from two incidents, one in Kansas and one
in Iowa. We had three finger claims; luckily no one lost a finger.
Our incidents were higher, but no major claims. Quite a few of our
claims came from Kansas and 1st
year employees. We plan on our PCC safety to meet more often and we
don’t plan any out of state work except to finish the small job in
Missouri.
Many of you may think the company is just concerned
about cost of insurance, the claims, and loss productivity. The
real concern about safety is you. Think about if you are injured,
maimed, or killed. Think about your family and how it would affect
them. We want you to return home every day after work to enjoy your
family.
So, let’s experience a safe, quality of work and
productive construction season.
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