The Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet is reaching out to county government officials soon with important information regarding workplace injuries.
The cabinet’s Department of Workplace Standards, which oversees the Division of Occupational Safety and Health, has informed KACo that county governments have been identified as having higher than average injury rates.
Based on information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Kentucky’s nonfatal workplace injury and illness incidence rate for total recordable cases (TRC) per 100 full-time equivalent workers is 3.2.
Unfortunately, the TRC rate for public administration in Kentucky is 8.7, approximately 2.5 times more.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many public safety employees and essential county workers had job duties requiring them to be in the field working. That likely increased exposure to COVID-19 and potential for workplace injuries, thus possibly elevating case rates for these workers.
In addition, most county governments didn’t tend to keep separate form logs for each site location for recordkeeping purposes. Instead, many maintained one OSHA form 300 log. These circumstances likely caused the higher rates by comparison as was discovered by the Division of Occupational Safety and Health.
County governments were mailed a letter Jan. 9, 2023, from the Education and Labor Cabinet to inform them of this information.
Specifically, the letter offers counties the KYSAFE consultative safety and health services, free for county use. The service includes an onsite comprehensive survey performed by safety and health consultants and written reports that contain identification of any hazards found.
Counties using KYSAFE will be deferred from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance general schedule inspection cycle while working with the KYSAFE program. The only obligation is to correct any serious hazards identified with the written abatement methods detailed in the survey report.
Please contact KACo Safety and Loss Control Specialist Steve Morrison if you have any questions, and be on the lookout for the letter from the Education and Labor Cabinet if you haven't received it already.
