WASBO Risk Management Committee Meeting Enforcing School District Safety Programs March 23, 2017

Transcription

1 WASBO Risk Management Committee Meeting Enforcing School District Safety Programs March 23, 2017 Suzanne Metz Return to Work Manager Puget Sound Workers Compensation Trust

2 Employee Safety is important to school districts! Text Questions to

3 AGENDA FOR THIS SECTION: 1. Enforcement for districts MANAGEMENT! 2. Use case studies to study problems 3. Handout: Management Worksheet Text Questions to

4 Disclaimer To protect the identity of school districts and employees, the case studies used in this presentation are a composite of many actual work injury claims. Photos used in this presentation are for illustration purposes only. The photos were found on the Internet and have no relationship to any real work injury claim. Text Questions to

5 Use the Management Worksheet for notes We will discuss two case studies and easy action steps you can take after this presentation. Text Questions to

6 Work above the minimum legal requirements. Low Risk = Use best practices, focus on good working relationships, excellence Minimum Legal Requirements High Risk = Litigation, low morale, turnover Text Questions to

7 See the handout: Management Worksheet How can employers enforce employee safety? 1. RULES: Develop and maintain clear written safety programs, policies, procedures and rules. 2. REVIEWS: Formal inspections, reviews, audits, investigations and reporting 3. CONSEQUENCES: Clearly state consequences for not following safety rules. 4. EMPLOYEES: Actively involve employees to participate and interact in their own personal job safety, work groups and Employee Safety Committee. 5. SUPERVISORS: Assign responsibility and accountability for employee s work, training, safety and incident investigations on the supervisor. 6. RELATIONSHIPS: Put the focus on the supervisor/employee relationship. Text Questions to

8 One of the most difficult times to enforce employee safety is when an employee returns to work after an injury or illness. Why? Text Questions to

9 Case Study #1: Para Educator B For the last 9 years, Angel has been assigned to a Heather, a child who has spastic Cerebral Palsy. Heather is now 17 years old and uses a wheelchair. Safety policy requires two people, using a lift, for transferring from wheelchair to changing table. One day, there was nobody to help Angel change Heather. Text Questions to

10 Angel was injured - severe shoulder strain Her school district has a strict policy of not providing transitional or light duty to injured employees. Angel remained off work for almost 3 months, diligently doing prescribed physical therapy. Text Questions to

11 She was desperate to return to work. She asked for accommodation. The district told her she could transfer to a Para B job opening for elementary school children who did not require physical care. Knowing her hardship, her physician told her to give it a try and released her to full duty work. Text Questions to

12 Angel found her new job was fewer hours with no benefits. HR told Angel that she could transfer into the next available lighter Para B job with benefits. Within two weeks, she re-injured the shoulder strain into a full rotator cuff tear. The new job, working with many special needs children, was just as physically demanding and heavy as her last position. Angel did the assigned work without complaint. Text Questions to

13 Surgery and painful recovery was Angel s only solution. Angel is off work for 3 more months: 6 painful weeks in a sling 6 weeks of intensive physical therapy Permanent impairment Text Questions to

14 The district told her there was nothing they could do for her if she could not return to full duty Para B work.. To return to work, she would be required to frequently lift over 50 pounds for 3-6 hours per day. No exceptions. Text Questions to

15 Case Study #2: Custodian Zeke has been a custodian for 4 years and loves his work. He lifted a box of text books and injured his low back about 10 months ago. Despite the district s Return to Work Policy, Zeke s supervisor refuses to let any of his employees return to work until they are 100%. Zeke has received conservative care. Text Questions to

16 Zeke has been in physical therapy and work conditioning program for 4 months with no progress. Zeke weighed 275 pounds before his back injury. Since he has been off work, Zeke has gained weight. He now weighs 375 pounds and has developed diabetes and hypertension. His doctor told him to lose 80 pounds and stop smoking. His doctor suggested that Zeke return to office work and apply for current openings. She approved a general clerical job analysis for him. Zeke immediately asked his district for accommodation and job transfer into one of the clerical and payroll openings. Text Questions to

17 Prior to the school district, Zeke worked as the office manager and bookkeeper for a large printing company for 6 years. He believes he is qualified for current payroll and administrative or clerical job openings. He asked HR how he would schedule the required clerical testing and apply as an internal candidate. Text Questions to

18 Tika, the HR assistant, told Zeke that he would need to first resign from his custodial job to apply for any openings. She also told him that he would need to compete with other outside candidates for the positions. Zeke understood the basics of ADA and accommodation from his office management experience. He left messages for the district custodial manager and HR manager. Nobody returned his calls. Tika left Zeke a voice mail message. She would get back to him about scheduling the clerical testing. Text Questions to

19 Since Tika s voice mail, there has been no other response from the school district. Although he wants to remain with the district, Zeke is considering legal counsel and filing for discrimination. Text Questions to

20 Where can districts start? District Leadership Department Managers & Supervisors Employees Text Questions to

21 Let s start with the Management Worksheet and discuss your next steps Text Questions to

22 RULES: Review procedures and employee training for those procedures. Update and edit for clarity. Review employee and supervisor training and training reports. Text Questions to

23 REVIEWS: First, look at departments where the most injuries occur. Then pull all the supervisor investigative reports and review for completion and follow up. Are managers and supervisors conducting regular safety inspections? Are supervisors taking corrective action to fix work hazards? Are supervisors conducting job hazard or safety analyses for the jobs or areas where injuries have occurred? Text Questions to

24 CONSEQUENCES: Review district policy and the supervisor/employee training for progressive discipline. Update and edit for clarity. Do employees and supervisors understand the consequences of continued unsafe practices, including progressive discipline? Create counseling and consequences for supervisors who refuse to bring employees back to work in modified versions of their regular work. Text Questions to

25 EMPLOYEES: Look at the programs, policies and procedures. Check for employee involvement and engagement in department and district safety and health programs. Ask supervisors to begin actively engaging employees in department training and safety meetings. Ask supervisors to include or assign employees in job safety or job hazard analyses. Involve and engage employees in finding solutions and job modifications to make work physically easier and safer. Text Questions to

26 SUPERVISORS & MANAGERS: Ask loss control or safety to review safety reports. Schedule problem solving sessions with department managers and supervisors Are managers counseling and taking corrective action with supervisors who don t perform their assigned responsibilities for employee health and safety or accommodating injured employees? Are there consequences for managers who have not taken action for problematic departments or for non-compliant supervisors? Does district leadership look at fiscal reports and safety performance of departments and ask for corrective action? Text Questions to

27 RELATIONSHIPS: Give supervisors and managers a checklist on how to maintain good relationships with their employees. Train supervisors and managers on building good working relationships and communication with their staff members. Discuss the importance of the supervisor and manager in managing safety issues, work injuries and helping employees return to work. Text Questions to

28 YOUR NEXT STEPS: 1. WORK ABOVE MINIMUM LEGAL REQUIREMENTS 2. ASSIGN AND EXPECT ACCOUNTABILITY 3. REVIEW YOUR PROGRAM & ASK DO WE NEED HELP? Text Questions to