It is possible to build a better mouse trap. And a better dumpster, cup cutter, door release, stretching program and equipment lift. Just ask the staff at Champaign County Forest Preserve District (CCFPD), Northbrook Park District, Waukegan Park District or Homewood-Flossmoor Park District.

The goal of PDRMA’s Injury Prevention Program (PIPP) is to reduce the risk of injury by ensuring employees prepare their bodies — and use them correctly — to bend, lift, twist, turn and move on the job. Finding the right combination of resources to promote safety is not always easy, but these members have created innovative solutions.

Champaign County Forest Preserve District
At CCFPD’s Homer Lake preserve, Roy Woodmansee, Assistant Site Superintendent, took the initiative to build a wheeled dumpster after his executive director mentioned he had seen one at another park district. Homer Lake staff is responsible for emptying the preserve’s refuse cans on a weekly basis during the height of the season and once every few weeks the rest of the year. Before the mobile dumpster was available, staff would pull the bags from the cans and load them into a pick-up or small dump truck, go back to the maintenance garage, and then move the bags one more time — into the dumpster.

“I purchased parts and pieces from our trailer manufacturer and welded them into a hitch, added the wheels, and now we can pull the dumpster through the preserve using a pick-up truck or a tractor,” explains Woodmansee. “It cuts the time to complete this task in half, reduces the lifting, turning and twisting needed to get the job done, and simplifies other tasks like removing broken trash bags from the refuse cans.”

Northbrook Park District
Northbrook identified a loss trend that showed an average of one cup-cutting injury per year, with the most severe claim totaling more than $200,000 and impacting the employee’s, and his family’s, quality of life. In addition to ergonomic training for the golf course staff with Jim Clapper, PDRMA’s Injury Prevention Consultant, a few other improvements were made, including tweaking an existing tool.

“In talking with the crew, I realized that if we modified the tool they used to pull cups from the greens, it would eliminate some of the bending they needed to do,” says Mark Kosbab, Golf Course Superintendent. “We were able to purchase one that was a lot longer, and that made a big difference in helping staff lift with the legs rather than the back.”

Waukegan Park District
For Waukegan, an employee injury was the catalyst for their inspiration. When the power went out one day, the agency had to get a high-bay maintenance garage door open. An employee climbed a 12-foot ladder to reach the release, and when he pulled it, the door opener bar snapped back and hit him in the forehead. Fortunately, he did not fall off the ladder, but he did need stitches.

Making sure that type of injury would never happen again meant moving the safety release to within arm’s reach of ground level. “The cable release now travels down the middle of the high-bay overhead door and through the ribs of the door,” says Tanya Brady, Manager of Risk Management. “It can be pulled while standing on the ground.”

Homewood-Flossmoor Park District
Stretching programs are a PIPP staple, and Dave Ward, Superintendent of Golf at Homewood-Flossmoor Park District’s Coyote Run Golf Course, learned about the benefits of stretching at PDRMA’s Risk Management Institute and from talking to Jesse Kinsland, PDRMA’s Risk Management Consultant. Since the agency has certified personal trainers on staff, Ward took advantage of their availability and asked one he had worked with before to develop a stretching program for the staff.

“She spent two days with us, especially watching our early-morning activities to get the course ready, and developed a series of 11 stretches to help us warm up for the work,” explains Ward. “I have three full-time and eight seasonal workers, and we all are now in the routine of stretching together before the day begins.”

Ward also found an innovative way to meet the challenge of a single-story shop building, an equipment lift and a tall technician. “Our equipment technician Mike Lavin is 6 feet 3 inches tall, so even with the equipment lift at its highest in a one-story building, he spent a lot of time bent over to work under machinery. To allow Mike to stand upright and work, we bumped out the ceiling above the equipment lift by modifying the existing truss-roof structure so the lift now rises high enough for him to work comfortably.” 

NOTE: Each of these ideas is a perfect candidate to submit for consideration as a possible Risk Management Grant Program award winner. (In fact, Waukegan received a 2012 grant award for its high-bay door release.) Helping PDRMA members better manage injury exposure risks with proven programs benefits everyone. The Risk Management Committee (RMC) recently approved revisions to PDRMA’s Risk Management Grant Program. PDRMA will now accept grant submissions throughout the year, with the RMC determining award winners in October. Check with your Safety Coordinator, or on the PDRMA website, for more information about the revised grant program and the submission process within your agency.