Multi-Year Strategic and Tactical Support of Corporate Employee Safety Initiatives
Various Global Locations
Solution Overview
Client:
Large (confidential) aerospace and defense firm
Business Challenge:
Treatment of an escalating trend in employee injury frequencies and the related workers compensation (WC) claim costs.
Solution:
Our client’s CEO authorized the launch of an aggressive injury prevention initiative in 2013. Apex mobilized a team of health and safety professionals to both support and co-lead the effective execution of this initiative over the ensuing four-year period.
Results:
Over the four-year performance period, we helped our client achieve:
- 18% reduction in WC claim frequency
- 20% reduction in WC total incurred costs
- 9% reduction in the total cost of their Global WC Program
Challenge
Our client’s CEO was presented with an analysis of the company-wide WC claims experience which showed a significant escalation in the frequency of employee injuries and resultant WC claim costs. This analysis provided by corporate risk management included forecast models which predicted a continued escalation if large-scale exposure mitigation efforts were not put in place.
The CEO directed the design, launch, and aggressive execution of a multi-year company-wide injury prevention initiative.
This broad-ranging initiative—which created a demand for safety and accident prevention resources well beyond in-house capabilities—prompted our client to contract Apex Companies for our resource support and subject matter expertise.
Solution
We deployed more than 30 qualified and experienced employee health and safety consultants on either a full‑ or part-time outsourced basis. The goal was to have our team operate as a seamless transparent extension of the client’s safety & health organization.
Several dozen additional Apex staff were also engaged over the next several years to assist with execution of shorter term, defined-scope health and safety projects focused on the client’s primary WC claim frequency and cost drivers. For example, one aspect of this initiative involved machine safeguarding. Apex deployed a global team of professionals to complete safety assessments of over 10,000 pieces of equipment across the United States, Canada, and Australia over an eight-month period. Our objectives were to identify safeguarding gaps and rank order hazards and injury exposures. To maximize the efficiency, consistency, and quality of the assessment process, we used tablet technology to collect shop floor observations as well as a Microsoft Access database to manage the large volume of data collected. This international project came in significantly under budget, due largely to our solid governance and project management model.
Examples of other topics also addressed by the dedicated Apex team over our performance period included fall protection, confined space entry, lockout‑tagout, crane safety, chemical process management, and vehicle-pedestrian safety.
Results
The 18% reduction in WC claim frequency and 20% reduction in WC claim total incurred costs achieved over the project performance period were further maintained several years after the project concluded. It is also notable that Apex executed this project and generated these results while our client was going through several long periods where headcounts were either frozen or actively being reduced.
In addition to a long-term partnership with our client’s EHS organization, Apex also has a long history of working closely with the client’s risk management organization to analyze, prioritize, and deliver health & safety services focused on WC claim frequency and cost containment.