Establishment Recruitment Flyer

Attachment J-1:

Establishment Recruitment Flyer

BWC, NIOSH partner to offer safety intervention savings

BWC and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) are partnering to research ways to create a safer work environment for employees working for employers with material handling operations. The study will analyze the effects of adding equipment to a work process (e.g., stair-climbing powered hand trucks, truck-lift gates, etc.) and if the addition reduces injuries, on the job, to the back and shoulder areas. Employers participating in the study can get grant money from BWC to help purchase the engineering controls needed for the improvements.

The BWC SafetyGrant$ Program will provide a 3-to-1 matching grant (up to $40,000)* to employers to help purchase equipment. To take advantage of this opportunity, an employer must agree he or she will provide information for the study before the equipment is put in place and for two years after installation. BWC and NIOSH will evaluate information gathered to determine the cost effectiveness of these equipment interventions in reducing occupational injuries. The goal is to provide information to help reduce injuries/ illness and improve work processes.

More details about the study

• NIOSH designed this study and asked BWC to partner with it to collect research to identify work procedures and equipment that provide safer conditions for employees.

• NIOSH will seek employee volunteers from each employer to answer surveys to rate back and shoulder pain before and after using the engineering controls. (NIOSH will not share personal identifying information of the volunteer employees with BWC or employers.)

• BWC will provide NIOSH with workers’ compensation information, but it will code data so that NIOSH will not receive individual names.

• BWC will ask employers for information about absenteeism, process quality and productivity. (BWC will share a summary of all information gathered to NIOSH without specifics about company identifiers.)

• Participants should be employers performing material handling operations that pay into the State Insurance Fund.

Need more information?

You can find more information and the SafetyGrant$ application at: http://www.ohiobwc.com/employer/programs/safety/empgrants.asp.

Employers can also e-mail questions to the contacts below.

Mike Lampl, BWC

[email protected]

Steve Wurzelbacher, NIOSH

[email protected]

*grants conditional upon funds available