SAFETY AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Annual Report
2013-2014
1. On October 1, 2013 the Safety & Workers Comp Committee – with program
support from our office -- kicked off the campus Safety Incentive Program. Since
that starting date we have had zero OSHA recordable injuries resulting in more
than 3 day off of work for the departments that fall within the Safety Incentive
Program. Stout had four OSHA recordable injuries that did not fall within the
program. 2012-2013 there were 16 and in 2011-2012 there were 30.
2. This past year our previous Chemical Hygiene Officer moved on to a new career
and we hired Rebecca (Becca) Hoeft as our new Chemical Hygiene Officer. In
addition to her responsibilities as the Chemical Hygiene Officer, Becca will act as
the Chemical Technician for the Chemistry Department and assume many
industrial hygiene duties for the campus.
3. The department is working with the Safety &WC Committee to transition to more
on-line Safety Training starting in the 2014-15 FY although we introduced it to
many areas in 2013-14 FY. Many campuses within the UW-System have been
using on-line safety training. A trial subscription was purchased from SafetySmart
and will be reviewed by a supervisors focus group. SafetySmart is a web-based
safety training and compliance management service. They make it simple and easy
to manage compliant and effective safety programs with sophisticated software and
tools. In addition to on-line training, SafetySmart keeps training records, has
posters to reinforce the training message, newsletters, videos and quizzes. The
focus group will also review the new State of Wisconsin online safety modules
provided by Vivid, Inc. A recommendation will come from the focus group in FY
14-15, to use one of these systems, or a better one, if cost effective.
4. On June 21, 2013 UW-Stout experienced a heavy downpour of rain in a very short
period of time. The end result was significant damage in the basement of Jarvis
Hall along with minor water damage on the ground floor of the Memorial Student
Center and the basement of the Administration building. The cumulative effect of
this flooding resulted in UW-Stout’s largest insurance claim to date, paying out
$1,279,080.86 with an estimate of $38,526.06 yet to be paid. We have also heard
that property insurance premiums are going up System-wide due to an apparent
increase in the frequency of flooding and windstorm events. System is appointing
a task force to look at this issue.
5. The Safety & Risk Management department worked closely with the campus
Safety and Worker Compensation Committee which has been a very active
committee over the past year looking closely at pedestrians crosswalks, the campus
safety culture and helping develop a Supervisor Safety Evaluation Form.
6. Dean Sankey gave two presentations at the April UW-System Risk Management
Conference. One presentation was on Stout’s safety initiatives and the other on the
safety program within our Art Process Lab’s, Woodworking & Machine Shop.
Other UW Campuses have requested more information on these programs. Staff
from the UW-Madison Safety Department will be coming to Stout to visit the Art
Process Lab in hopes of improving safety within UW-Madison’s Art Department.
Dean has been asked by the UW-System Risk Manager to give a presentation at
the state DOA Risk Management Conference in Madison in November.
7. One of our goals was to increase the amount of safety awareness on campus. This
past fiscal year we had 24 safety concerns reported to our office as compared to 15
the previous year and only 7 the year before that.
8. We actively disseminated a variety of slips/trips/falls educational materials on
campus over the past fiscal year. Three different posters were handed out in
phases throughout the winter months along with table tents and "Tread Safely This
Winter" penguins. Slips/trips/falls significantly declined from the previous year.
9. Safety & Risk Management has been working with the Menomonie Fire
Department for Confined Space and Fall Protection training on campus this
summer.
10.This past fiscal year we processed 35 Certificates of Insurance. Last fiscal year we
only processed 17.
11.This past fiscal year more camps and clinics have come back to UW-Stout. We
processed 902 campers as compared to only 482 last year.