Ohio’s BWC Awards More Than $207,000 to Support Workplace Safety

The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) awarded 10 businesses safety intervention grants totaling more than $207,000 during November to make Ohio workplaces safer. BWC designed the Safety Intervention Grant Program to assist Ohio employers in reducing illness and injuries, and create a partnership with them to establish best practices for accident and injury prevention.

Ohio private and public employers are eligible for the grants, which provide a 2-to-1 matching amount up to a maximum of $40,000 for a total of $60,000 — $20,000 from the employer and $40,000 from BWC. Quarterly data reports and follow-up case studies help BWC to determine the effectiveness of employers’ safety interventions and establish best practices.

Below is a list of businesses that received a grant in November.

Aluminum Line Products Co. (Cuyahoga County)

Aluminum Line is in the manufacturing industry and provides a line of aluminum and stainless custom coils, first stage blanks, punched blanks and components for the transportation industry. BWC awarded $11,668 to purchase a vacuum lift system to reduce or eliminate the risk of injury related to manual material handling, such as sprains/strains, in addition to slips/trips and falls.

Bral Land Corp (Trumbull County)

Bral Land Corp is a small machine shop, warehouse and inspection facility that sorts and reships machined products. BWC awarded $23,658 to purchase a pallet wrapper and air balancer to reduce the risk of injury related to manual material handling, such as sprains/strains and slips/trips and falls.

Gibbs Equipment, Inc. (Huron County)

This commercial industry employer sells and services lawn and farm equipment. BWC awarded $10,997 to purchase equipment lifts to reduce the risk of injury related to awkward postures, twisting and bending for extended periods due to the nature of tractor/mower repair work.

Harry & David Operations, Inc. (Licking County)

Harry & David is a leading gourmet gift company providing wholesale and distribution services. BWC awarded $18,789 to purchase 30 portable conveyors to reduce the risk of injury related to manual material handling, such as sprains/strains, in addition to cuts/lacerations.

Horizons Inc. (Cuyahoga County)

Horizons is in the manufacturing industry and assembles membrane switches for products such as CNC machines. BWC awarded $40,000 to purchase an automated dome placement system to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal disorders related to the manual assembly process of electrical switches.

Kelstin, Inc. (Richland County)

Kelstin is in the construction industry and provides various excavation and demolition services. BWC awarded $4,981 to purchase a skid steer mounted hydraulic breaker to reduce the risk of injury related to manual material handling, excessive force, vibration and cumulative trauma disorders associated to excavation and demolition work.

The Nolan Company (Stark County)

Nolan Co. is a manufacturer of a variety of railroad safety handling products. BWC awarded $40,000 to purchase a vertical machining center to reduce the risk of injury related to manual material handling, such as sprains/strains, cuts/lacerations, burns and eye injuries from flying debris.

The Village of Spencerville (Allen County)

This small public employer provides a wide range of maintenance and utility work for the village of Spencerville. BWC awarded $9,128 to purchase a hydraulic chain saw, hydraulic post driver and puller, manhole cover lift, lift magnet, manhole cover dolly, valve box lifter and wheel chock to reduce the risk of injury related to manual material handling while conducting maintenance and repairs for the village.

Village of West Liberty (Logan County)

This public employer provides water-meter-reading services for the village of West Liberty. BWC awarded $40,000 to purchase a wireless water-meter-reading system to reduce the risk of injury related to poor environmental conditions associated to reading water meters manually, such as sprains/strains, dog bites, slips/trips and falls, potential traffics risks and extreme weather conditions.

Volunteer Firemen of Magnolia, Inc. (Stark County)

This organization is an incorporated fire department that provides fire protection and emergency response to surrounding communities. BWC awarded $8,347 to purchase a thermal imaging camera (TIC) to reduce the risk of injury related to fighting fires by detecting potential hot spots and/or locating a fire source allowing crews to extinguish the fire more rapidly.