By Angela Underwood
Columbus, OH (WorkersCompensation.com) – Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation (BWC) Administrator and CEO Sarah Morrison said it is a privilege for her department to serve the public.
“We are so fortunate to be in the business we are in. We are not making widgets, we are improving people’s lives and we are having an impact on the Ohio citizens every day,” said Morrison today to WorkersCompensation.com before her and Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor’s $44 million announcement in workplace safety and health and wellness programs.
At the capitol this afternoon, Taylor and Morrison were met by State Fire Marshal Larry Flowers and Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities Director John Martin at the Wesley Glen Retirement Community, in Worthington, for the announcement made possible by Gov. John Kasich that proposed a $1 billion rebate last month approved by BWC’s board of directors this morning.
“Each day, millions of Ohioans leave their homes to go to work, provide for their families and drive economic growth in Ohio,” said Lt. Governor Mary Taylor in a press release.
“We owe it to Ohio’s workers and their families to ensure our workplaces are safe and that those workers are able to return home each day after their shift,” the governor said, adding part of the program will include specific programs for firefighters and professionals who work with children and adults with disabilities.
According to Morrison, since 2010, the number of employers using BWC safety services has increased by 70 percent. “Meanwhile, our claims have fallen steadily — we had roughly 88,000 new claims in 2016, down from 104,000 in 2010,” she said. With the new initiative those claims will continue to fall. The BWC will be setting aside $2 million in grant money annually for firefighters.
“We are really excited about that piece, because it just so important. You think about the firefighters who are putting their life on the line for us and we need to make sure they are getting the protective equipment we need,” she said. Morrison added the funds are welcome at a time of legislative concerns across the country regarding firefighters’ and cancer coverage.
She said the goal of the grant is two-fold; one to make first responders aware, and two, “to make sure they are following best practices, and that we can help them get the right equipment for them to do that.”
The BWC will also provide wellness programming for employers with 50 or fewer employees based on certain high-risk job classifications, including construction, manufacturing, first responders and agricultural industries as well as others, said Morrison.
“We also recognize if people are healthier in general — they're watching their weight, they're exercising and not smoking — all of those things help improve not only their quality of life, but their likelihood of getting injured goes down significantly,” she said of the holistic approach. “We want to take care of the Ohio worker and this is going to help us do that even more than we have been.”
And they have. In the last few months the state as awarded its pharmacy director with the governor’s award in fighting opiate addiction among injured workers and their BWC fraud department is working to bust criminals left and right.
“We are so lucky to have that opportunity,” Morrison said.
