Cities Receiving State Letter on Workplace Injuries

The Education and Labor Cabinet Department of Workplace Standards recently notified the Kentucky League of Cities that public administration employers, which include cities, were identified as having higher than average injury rates. This conclusion was based on information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the incidence rate for total recordable cases (TRC) per 100 full-time equivalent workers. Public administration’s TRC rate was over twice the average incidence rate for all Kentucky employers. This result is likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the exposures that public safety employees experienced.

Many public safety employees could not work remotely as much as employees in the private sector, given the nature of their jobs that required working in the field. In addition, many cities maintain one OSHA 300 log for record-keeping purposes rather than a separate log for each site location. These circumstances likely caused the higher rates by comparison that the Labor Cabinet discovered.

The Kentucky Education and Labor Cabinet will send a letter to cities to inform them of this information. Specifically, the letter will highlight the higher incidence rates and offer cities the Cabinet’s KYSAFE consultative safety and health services. KYSAFE is a free service for city use that includes a comprehensive survey, on-site visits from consultants, and written reports that contain identification of any hazards upon completion of the surveys. Cities will be deferred from the Division of Occupational Safety and Health Compliance general schedule inspection cycle while working with the Cabinet’s KYSAFE program. The only obligation is to correct any “serious” hazards identified with the written abatement methods.

Please contact Deputy Pool Administrator Greg Partin or your local KLC loss control consultant if you have any questions.