Safety National Announces Winners of the 2022 Safety First Grant Program

Today, Safety National announced the winners of its annual Safety First Grant Program. Three policyholders will be awarded matching grants in order to develop the creative risk control ideas they submitted into formal safety programs.

“As a market leader and safety advocate, we are committed to identifying industry innovation that reduces the risk of employee injury and illness,” said Mark Wilhelm, Executive Chairman of Safety National. “Over the last nine years, the Safety First Grant Program has funded 26 risk control projects, responding to the emerging needs of our clients while building a blueprint for safer workplaces.”

Winners of the 2022 program included:

• First Place – TBG – The Builders Group of Minnesota was awarded the $10,000 matching grant for the implementation of additional exoskeleton systems to reduce lifting-related injuries. The technology will assist in reducing or eliminating some manual material handling exposures that are necessary to perform essential tasks in the field.
• Second Place – BJC Healthcare was awarded the $5,000 matching grant to employ motorized stretchers, which will enhance safe patient handling techniques. This initiative will facilitate easier patient transfers and reduce strain and sprain injuries for transport staff.
• Third Place – Covenant Logistics Group was awarded the $2,500 matching grant for the application of trailer door safety straps to minimize musculoskeletal injuries and fractures. These enhancements will limit the impact of falling freight on drivers transporting products.

Nominees for the annual Safety First Grant Program must be an active Safety National policyholder with a risk-reducing solution that applies to the workers’ compensation line of coverage. The applied solutions must relate to an identifiable and quantifiable loss source and include an anticipated estimate of injury cost savings for the policyholder.

“Each year, our applicants submit increasingly impressive innovative and creative risk management ideas for this program, finding new ways to build a safer workplace for their employees,” said Matt McDonough, Assistant Vice President – Risk Services of Safety National. “In celebrating these winning submissions, we hope other organizations are inspired to discover their next great risk-reducing solutions.”

Full details on the 2022 Safety First Grant Program winning solutions can be found here.

The 2023 grant application period will open in June 2023.