Nevada County Grand Jury
• 2003-2004
Safety is No Accident Nevada County Safety Program Reason for Investigation The Grand Jury, as an advocate for the
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 11 findings
F1
The Risk Manager’s responsibilities are to oversee the purchase of General Liability and Worker’s Compensation insurance and review the County’s claims.
No recommendations for this finding
F2
The Risk Manager, in the role of Safety Officer, is responsible for coordinating the monthly Safety Meetings and annual safety inspections of each department using a State designed, generic checklist.
No recommendations for this finding
F3
Records indicate there is consistently less than 100% attendance at these county safety meetings. In addition to these county safety meetings, individual departments are required to hold monthly safety meetings, however some departments are not in compliance.
Related Recommendations (3)
R1
The Board of Supervisors should direct the County Executive Officer to make compliance with the Safety Program a performance goal of every county employee and to actively promote a safe work environment and workplace.
R2
The BOS should direct the CEO to establish and fund a full time position of Nevada County Safety Officer.
R3
The BOS should ensure that the safety checklist is updated to address the specific needs of each department.
F4
In accordance with the 1991 California Labor Code, section 6400, Nevada County has a safety manual titled the Nevada County Safety Program. The manual is updated as needed.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Nevada County has a web based safety-training program that started in 2003. This is a self-study program with 106 safety programs. Some subjects are also available in Spanish. County employees can go online and study safety programs pertinent to their job. At the time of the Grand Jury investigation, over 600 employees had registered for the safety courses with over 300 employees completing one or more of the subjects.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
As part of the new employee orientation process, new employees are required to review the IIPP. Additional and ongoing safety training is the responsibility of the department heads.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
The County has a claims review system in place. This review begins with the department safety officer then progresses through managers, supervisors, department heads, risk manager, and finally the CEO.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
The County participates in a statewide insurance pool with other counties of similar population as a cost containment measure.
No recommendations for this finding
F9
Worker's Compensation claims that average $1,417,872 annually have been paid over the last three years. The number of injuries resulting in claims has averaged 147 per year. over that same period. (These figures do not include the shooting incident of January 9, 2001.) Incurred costs and numbers of Claims per Year for Worker’s Compensation Worker’s Compensation 2000-2001 2001-2002 2002-2003 Incurred Costs of Claims $2,045,612 $1,084,530 $1,123,474 Number of Claims 175 132 134
No recommendations for this finding
F10
Over the past three fiscal years, the General Liability and Excess Liability premiums have increased from $5,004 to $296,787. Insurance Premiums Paid Insurance Programs 2001-2002 2002-2003 2003-2004 General Liability and Excess Liability $5,004 $105,966 $296,787 Worker's Comp $1,691,876 $2,006,396 $2,768,746
No recommendations for this finding
F11
Because of the increase in claims and losses, the County lost dividends and credits from the insurance pool that totaled $156,226 over the same three-year period. CONCLUSIONS
No recommendations for this finding
Conclusions 5
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CL1 Page 3Safety is no accident. Employee safety is not now, but deserves to be, a high priority in Nevada County.
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CL2 Page 3The County Executive Officer and department heads must set the tone and communicate their support for a safe work environment and a safe workplace.
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CL3 Page 3The fact that the Risk Manager also performs the functions of Safety Officer dilutes the effectiveness of the Risk Manager in each of these critical areas.
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CL4 Page 3Given the part-time approach to safety in Nevada County, the Grand Jury noted a sense of indifference to the safety program within some departments.
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CL5 Page 3With the creation of a full time County Safety Officer, more attention could be given to identifying the relevant factors responsible for the fairly constant number of work related injuries per year. The Safety Officer could then tailor safety awareness programs to mitigate these factors and achieve a reduction in the yearly-incurred costs of claims.
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
Nevada County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office