FORT WAYNE, Ind. (ADAMS) – To commemorate the 30th anniversary of National Workplace Safety Month, Mayor Sharon Tucker and the City of Fort Wayne Risk Management Team announced some successes of the City’s workplace safety program launched a year ago.
S.A.F.E., which stands for Safe Actions for Everyone, is a proactive approach to maintaining and promoting a safe, healthy, and injury-free workplace environment for all employees.
The City put out the following:
The program includes a Safety Review Council (SRC), made up of City employees, who review incidents, safety violations, injuries, compliance issues and operational hazards, following and upholding all OSHA/IOSHA, City of Fort Wayne policies and any other applicable federal, state or local laws, and focuses on identifying, assessing and preventing risks before incidents occur.
Suggestion boxes were placed at several locations for employees to use to make safety suggestions and those suggestions can be anonymous if the employee prefers.
A safety recognition program was also put in place to reward employees and teams demonstrating outstanding safety practices.
During the first year of implementation, several issues were addressed and much progress has been realized:
- The City had a rising incident rate for motor vehicle accidents. Due to more open communication, awareness and training, the accident rate has decreased by nearly 25%.
- Sometimes employees weren’t aware of proper safety practices or applicable OSHA standards, which could have led to injuries. To address the issue, the City invested in OSHA Outreach training for employees and supervisors.
- The City’s OSHA recordable injury rate had been increasing during the five years preceding the S.A.F.E implementation. Risk Management and the newly formed Safety Review Council analyzed the injury data to identify the root causes of the increasing injury rate and have implemented new controls.
- Some employees didn’t feel comfortable voicing safety concerns for various reasons. The formation of the Safety Review Council, and the suggestion boxes, has allowed for these concerns to be raised in a setting more protective to the employee, and allows these concerns to be constructively communicated to department management with interdepartmental support.
“Nothing matters more to me than ensuring every employee goes home safe,” said Mayor Tucker. “Watching our employees rally behind the S.A.F.E. program — and seeing our Risk Management Team and Safety Review Council turn that commitment into real action — fills me with genuine pride. We will never be complacent when it comes to safety. This is a strong foundation, and we’re just getting started.”
Mayor Tucker awarded the following individuals with a “Recognition for Safety” coin for their outstanding safety practices:
Dave Magner, Street Department: Dave has been an active member of the Safety Review Council and has gone above and beyond in participating and leading investigations for the Council. Dave has been a true ambassador for employee safety and health among his peers at the Street Department.
Johnathon Stantz, City Utilities: Johnathon has not always been a leader for occupational safety and health. Johnathon sought out further training and education, completing the OSHA 30-Hour and the City’s Safety Leadership training. Since then, Johnathon has been promoted to a Construction Crew Leader and exemplifies the principles of a Safety Leader at the City of Fort Wayne.
Scott Pepper, Traffic Operations: Scott serves on the Safety Review Council and has added great insight and advice in reviewing cases, investigating hazards, and supporting City-wide safety training, even outside the Public Works Division. Scott has led a revamped safety training program at Traffic Operations, and since doing so, the department’s incident rate has lowered.
Parks & Recreation Department Garage (Travis Roth, Wally Johnson, Ty Luginbill, Steve Cenko and Chris Poppele): Travis and his mechanics have worked tirelessly to correct recognized hazards in their workplace, which has led to a safer work environment and allowed them more time to tend to the maintenance of Parks Department vehicles. Increased readiness and condition of equipment plays a key role in the safety of all Parks Department employees.
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