Hill County completes WorkSafe Champions program

Hill County employees graduated from the Montana State Fund's WorkSafe Champions program Thursday, having completed a nine-week course intended to make the county a safer work environment and reduce costs related to worker injuries.

Before officially graduating, all participants finished one last class where they all reviewed the material covered over the pervious eight weeks including things like risk assessment, working with organizations like the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and getting employees back to work safely and efficiently.

Safety Consultant Sophie Magnuson, who ran the classes, said she's happy that so many people at the county showed up and consistently put the work in to really benefit from these classes.

"It's a lot of investment, it's a lot of time that you guys have sunk into this," Magnuson said.

Hill County Safety Coordinator Sheri Williams was the driving force behind getting these classes set up, spending months last year organizing for these classes and getting the county's departments on board with them.

Williams has said her goal in bringing these classes to the county is to improve its safety culture, prevent accidents, and save the county and, by extension, the taxpayers money.

She's said Hill County has one of the highest workers' compensation rates of counties in the state and this program could potentially save the county between $70,000 and $100,000 a year.

Williams is running for Hill County Commissioner as a Democrat against incumbent Commissioner Diane McLean, a Republican, and Les Odegard, an independent.

At Thursday's graduation, as the group, which included employees from the Hill County Commission, Health Department, Road Department and others, looked back on the past few months of classes, they seemed to agree that the standout achievement was the development of their Safety Action Plan.

The plan lays out steps to making the county a safer working environment and keeping it that way, divvying up responsibilities and identifying areas of improvement.

Magnuson, as well as many others, said nearly every department had something to add to the plan and its creation may be the group's best moment during the classes.

Before declaring everyone graduated from the program and presenting the group with a plaque indicating that, Magnuson read from a document she created using statements submitted to her by group members about the county.

She said this is more than just a county, but where their families and friends are, rich in history and personal memories, a community of people who help each other in and out of work.

The group was also addressed by Montana State Fund General Counsel Kevin Braun, who congratulated the group and said he believes they are on the right path to making sure, most importantly, that Hill County employees all go home safely, but also lowering the county's injury-related costs.

Magnuson said now that the group is graduated they can participate in WorkSafe Champions Elite, which will allow them to network with graduates in other counties and stay in touch with Montana State Fund.

Williams said they can also apply for $3,000 for safety equipment, services and training.