WELLNESS AND SAFETY A WINNING COMBINATION 2018 SAFETY AWARD ENTRY BEST SAFETY IMPROVEMENT

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1 WELLNESS AND SAFETY A WINNING COMBINATION 2018 SAFETY AWARD ENTRY BEST SAFETY IMPROVEMENT Technical Division: Communication, Education, and Marketing Entrant Organization: Atlantic County Utilities Authority Contact Name: Janette Kessler jkessler@acua.com (609) Member ID: Jurisdiction: Atlantic County, New Jersey Approximate Population: 250,000

2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Atlantic County Utilities Authority, locally known as the ACUA serves 20 of 23 Atlantic County towns for solid waste collections. The ACUA employs 250 employees and has a state of the art landfill, recycling center, transfer station, compost facility, collections facility, and vehicle maintenance shop to care for our fleet of over 150 vehicles. Because of our willingness and determination to transform, we believe the ACUA is well-positioned to provide essential environmental services that our community needs and relies on now, and for the future. This same willingness and determination to transform has allowed us to introduce a wellness component to ACUA in hopes to better our already robust safety program. The addition of wellness has already proven to be a win for ACUA. THE ADOPTION OF OUR WELLNESS COMMITTEE In the last quarter of 2016, ACUA s Safety and Risk Coordinator presented the idea of creating a Wellness Committee to the ACUA Executive team. The goal was to improve the overall wellness of our employees, including physical, emotional, financial and social components as part of our plan to improve overall safety, reduce absenteeism and reduce the frequency of Workers Compensation claims and auto liability claims and their severity. 1

3 The original plan was to measure our Wellness Committee over a 5-year period. The information gathered and presented boasted that businesses with wellness programs average a 28% reduction in sick leave absenteeism, health care costs on average are 26% lower in companies with a robust wellness program, and Workers Compensation claims are reduced by 30% on average in companies with a strong wellness program. Because of the insurance implications with the monitoring of safety through Workers Compensation, a 5- year look-back period provides the most accurate information and allows us to calculate those hidden costs that don t show up on the safety ledger sheet, such as: productivity lost as a result of dealing with incidents and distraction by others reduction in morale time spent by supervisors, management and those handling the claim loss of production of the employee while out of work or on modified duty expenses of rescheduling and paying for overtime as a result of incidents costs related to new hires that may now be necessary increases in insurance premiums costs of equipment damaged or supplies lost or damaged the cost of bad PR According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employees who are obese filed 45% more Workers Compensation claims than none obese workers, had almost 13 times the number of lost time days in the event of a workplace incident and had medical costs that are 7 times higher and indemnity costs that are 11 times higher than non-obese employees. And that is just one of the risk areas our wellness program targets. Other areas that we have been targeting with our Wellness Committee are: high blood pressure tobacco use physical inactivity substance abuse poor diets fatigue mental health financial health By joining our occupational health and safety initiatives with wellness programs, our goal is to see improvements in safety, morale and health, and see reductions in frequency and severity of safety related Workers Compensation claims and the costs associated with them. This information alone was enough to grant positive feedback from the Executive Office to move forward with the establishment of our Wellness Committee and showed 2

4 visible commitment to this program from upper management. The Wellness Committee has a variety of members from various departments. In an attempt to gain that same commitment from ACUA employees that was already demonstrated by upper management, ACUA launched a contest to name the newly formed Wellness Committee, allowing all employees to be part of name suggestions, and the voting process for the final name. The name organization. was the winner, and the buy-in was now top to bottom within the WAIST MANAGEMENT CONTEST Our first large wellness event was our Waist Management Contest which was a 13- week challenge that created a fun and healthy way for ACUA employees to come together to eat healthier and exercise to improve their overall well-being. Out of 250 employees, 40 participated that s 16%, of all employees. All registered participants received one month of free membership to the employee gym: (Get it? Recycling body waste). This also included any current ACUA Body Recycling Gym Members. Our employee gym costs $2.50 per biweekly payroll deduction just $5 a month, where employees are provided with state of the art equipment. Five dollars to stay fit and practice wellness is a great deal! Everyone in the Solid Waste industry knows the significance of the Scalehouse!! All participants stepped onto the scale together and were weighed as a team. They didn t even have to pay the $8.00 minimum tipping fee! Employees had thirteen weeks to eat healthy and exercise to try and lose as much weight as possible as a team. The teams worked together to motivate one another to achieve a healthy routine in all aspects of their lives. The final weigh-in was just in time for summer June 1, The team with the highest percentage of weight loss was named the winner. The prize 4 hours of vacation time! Following the final weigh-in, all participants came together for a celebratory barbecue. Everyone brought something healthy to eat. We had grilled chicken, salad, fruit, all refreshing and healthy options. Having the barbecue helped motivate employees to continue to lead a healthy lifestyle. The challenge ensured how important both physical and mental wellness is to not only your personal life, but to the operation at work. The more mentally and physically fit you are, the more focused and well you are to perform your duties at the best of your ability, with less of a chance of getting injured. The incentive of four hours of vacation time helped to increase participation in the contest. Along with this, participation rates in safety training across the ACUA employee population grew in 2017, indicating that employees were highly motivated to receive their required 3

5 trainings. Employees became more actively engaged in the different initiatives which produced tangible results for the ACUA as a whole. WELLNESS COMMITTEE SUCCESSES Along with our Eco-Fit Wellness Committee, came Wednesday Wellness Tips. Each Wednesday, a wellness tip is posted for all ACUA employees to access on our employee Intranet. The Wellness Committee decided that it would be beneficial for employees to receive information regarding health and wellness that perhaps they did not know about before, or that they were unable to make the time to research for themselves. We take pride in keeping our employees informed on as many topics as possible. The tips include everything from healthy recipes for a busy schedule, and how to get the exercise you need to stay fit for a healthy lifestyle, to tips for overall mental wellness. 4

6 The Wellness Committee hosted two Wellness Fairs in 2017 providing valuable information and services regarding health and wellness to ACUA employees. Vendors in attendance included a local pharmacy that provided free flu shots to our employees, a financial planner, our EAP providing employee assistance information, dental provider, vision provider, a chiropractor and a nutritionist to name a few. Since ACUA is a NJ Governmental Entity, our employees are eligible to participate in a program called NJWELL. NJWELL promotes and rewards health and wellness for employees who earn points by completing activities, staying current on preventative health screenings and participating in online activities and personal wellness coaching. Employees can earn a $ Visa Prepaid reward card for knowing their numbers as it relates to their personal health. The Eco-Fit Wellness Committee pushed out this information and assisted employees with the online requirements of the program and we increased the number of participants and the number of recipients of the $ reward by a whopping 72%. The best result is that 72% of our employees now have a better understanding of their personal health and know their numbers. ACUA s Wellness Committee has brought outside Yoga classes to employees and outside hip-hop dance classes to employees for a nominal fee, with all proceeds going back to Wellness Committee initiatives. 5

7 1. Describe your safety program including your use of Safety Monday and other safety information provided by SWANA. ACUA S SAFETY PROGRAM ACUA s already robust safety program includes over 30 different types of training that employees can take, or that they are required to take based on their job description. With that, each week, a Safety Minute is posted on the ACUA s employee intranet for all employees to view. Many of our Safety Minutes come from the Safety Monday material that we receive from SWANA. Whenever new safety information is released to the ACUA by SWANA, our goal is to spread the word as quickly as possible so that all employees are informed on how to be safe in every situation. Along with the weekly Safety Minute, our Collections, Landfill, Transfer Station, Vehicle Maintenance, Operations, and Systems staffs have weekly meetings to discuss not only their operation, but any safety issues or concerns. Having these meetings helps address issues as a team and ensures that they are dealt with in a timely and efficient manner. As soon as a safety issue is reported, company-wide, it is addressed immediately. Because our employees know that their safety issues and concerns will be addressed, they feel more comfortable reporting any problems, which ultimately helps to lower our number of claims and liabilities. Additionally, there are Safety Committees which are made up of equal numbers of front line employees from the various departments and management. There is a Safety Committee meeting monthly. ACUA offers a Safety Bonus to Level One Non-Union employees. In order to be eligible for the Safety Bonus, employees must be compliant with all required safety training for their job description and must complete one annual safety 6

8 assessment. Compliance with training is celebrated with certificates and photos on our intranet congratulating employees. The completion of an Annual Safety Assessment keeps employees engaged and on the lookout for basic life safety issues, general safety issues, trip and fall hazards, electrical safety issues and maintenance safety issues. This component is very helpful in involving the employees in the safety process and allows all an opportunity to improve and identify issues before there is an incident. 2. How do you measure results for your safety program? MEASURING RESULTS The Wellness Committee s goal was to improve overall safety, reduce absenteeism and reduce Workers Compensation claims and auto liability claims and their severity over a fiveyear period. By implementing safety initiatives with our Eco-Fit program, we were able to improve and see measurable numbers within our first year. From 2016 to 2017, our Workers Compensation claims were reduced by In 2017, our Auto Liability Claims Expenses were $21, less than We believe that our focus on Wellness may have been a direct contributor to this great reduction in our Auto Liability Claims Expenses in Employees who are feeling well, are less likely to have an incident while driving. A well-rested employee who is in control of their personal wellness by getting regular checkups, taking the appropriate medications and knowing their side effects, having annual eye exams and dental exams for example, is a great employee to have on the road. 7

9 3. What results did you use as a baseline for comparison to determine improvement between 2016 and 2017? PROVEN RESULTS By comingling wellness and safety initiatives with our Eco-Fit program, we were able to improve employee morale and health, and reduce the frequency of Workers Compensation claims by 8.93% from 2016 to This program was created with a 5-year measure in mind, and we are proud to see improvement within the first year. The auto liability claims expenses represent significant savings Auto Liability Claims Expenses $42, $21, How did you measure the safety improvement that you achieved in 2017? QUANTIFIABLE OUTCOMES Fortunately, there are so many components that are quantifiable. An 8.93% reduction in Workers Compensation claims, a 72% increase in employees who now have their own quantifiable results as a result of participating in NJ WELL which includes mandatory biometrics, and a 49% decrease in Auto Liability Claim Expenses in the first year were the best measures. 8

10 5. To what do you attribute the improvement in your safety performance in 2017? KUDOS TO THE WELLNESS COMMITTEE There are many factors that play a role in the improvement of our safety performance in 2017, but we certainly believe that the implementation of our Wellness Committee Eco-Fit can be attributed to adding to the overall improvement of the ACUA s safety performance in From the top, all the way down, the amount of participation is overwhelming, and we expect to see very favorable numbers at our 5-year review period. 6. Why do you think your safety program deserves this improvement award? THE WINNING COMBINATION ACUA deserves this improvement award because we are committed to safety and we never stop improving. Each year we look at what we are doing, identify gaps and try to fill those gaps. We have commitment at all levels and it shows. Safety is valued, defined and our goals are clearly expressed to all employees. Safety wins over production all day every day. ACUA is very proactive about safety and we go to great lengths to communicate safety to all employees, not just those who have a computer and get the Safety Monday , or the Safety Minute we post. We have our messages communicated in various media, including electronic, hard copy, and in person. Safety Shadows are conducted monthly by our Risk/Safety department and hazards and PPE are analyzed, and relationships are formed with employees. Employees are increasingly comfortable in reporting safety issues and being part of the solution. During evaluations and exit interviews employees report a high score in terms of safety, so we know our employees feel good about the safety culture we work on daily. ACUA will continue to remain committed to safety which is the most deserving quality and stand by our belief that wellness and safety are a winning combination. 9