In addition, Monroe County's decision to self-insure its workers' compensation insurance and leave PComp membership created a vacancy on the board. PComp board members selected Elk County Chief Clerk Jean Zore to replace Monroe County Chief Clerk Greg Christine. Congratulations Jean and thanks for agreeing to serve!

See the insurance board listings below for full details on the PComp board members.

My apologies for publishing an incomplete listing of the PCoRP award winners in last month's issue. I neglected to include the following 2012 award recipients:

Deborah McHugh, Risk Management Coordinator, Centre County won the Loss Control Award, for outstanding loss control and risk management efforts.

Potter County won a Loss Prevention Award, for outstanding efforts to prevent losses.

Adams County and Perry County received Loss Prevention Awards, for the highest rates of participation in PCoRP training sessions.

The county's main contact with PCoRP is Jack Smith, the county's risk manager. Their local producer is Robert Hall of Francis Hall Insurance Services in West Chester.

Welcome Chester County!

If you are not yet a member of the Society of County Human Resource Professionals of Pennsylvania (SCHRPP) - you are missing out! And the SCHRPP board of directors wants you to see this for yourself.

This year only, registration fees will be waived for nonmember county/entity human resource personnel (and chief clerks in those counties without an HR staff) to attend the first day of the SCHRPP Annual Conference. The conference will be held on Thursday and Friday, July 18 and 19 at Toftrees Resort in State College. Nonmember registration fees will apply for day two of the conference.

As always, registration for both days of the conference is FREE for SCHRPP members.

The theme of this year's conference is Employee Engagement. Day one will feature keynote speaker Michel Neray, Principal of The Essential Message. Michel is internationally renowned for providing presentations that instill confidence, resilience and motivation that is achieved by attendees gaining knowledge of their greatest strengths and unique value. Day one also includes two sets of breakout sessions on both legal and non-legal topics pertinent to county human resource administration. Stay for day two and benefit from two additional sets of breakout sessions and a closing general session on FMLA administration, to include a hands-on FMLA/ADA/Workers Comp workgroup.

Additional details and registration information will be sent out later this month, but for now SAVE THE DATE - July 18 and 19 at Toftrees Resort in State College. We'll look forward to seeing you in there!

For more information about SCHRPP, contact Julia Jackson, SCHRPP Executive Director, at (717) 526-1010 x 3305.

The CCAP Health Alliance is officially up and running with its first two member counties - Clarion County and Elk County. Both counties joined the CCAP Health Alliance effective January 1, 2013. Additionally, the CCAP Health Alliance welcomes Trisha Douglas, Clarion County Director of Human Resources, to its board of directors. Elk County is already represented on the board by Commissioner June Sorg.

The CCAP Health Alliance has partnered with the Delaware Valley Health Insurance Trust (DVHIT) to offer counties an alternative to the commercial insurance market which provides immediate cost savings and long term cost stability. By pooling risk, rather than individual entities, the program has effectively reduced its administrative expenses to about 8% of its overall costs (compared to 18-22% in the commercial insurance market and other health insurance pools). CCAP's partnership with DVHIT will help to reduce those costs even further through enrollment growth and leverage. The program utilizes the Aetna network which has proven to be a strong and growing partner throughout all of Pennsylvania. Both Clarion and Elk Counties transitioned their employees to the Aetna network from another major carrier with little to no network disruption.

Participants from the new member counties are anxious to start utilizing the wellness benefits they now receive through the CCAP Health Alliance, to include:

Health Club Membership Reimbursement: $250 employee / $250 spouse cash incentive with proof of 100 visits per rolling calendar year to a health club, gym, fitness center or fitness class.

Health Advocate: An innovative program designed to help employees and their families navigate the healthcare system. A Personal Health Advocate will assist with how to find the best doctors, getting help for elderly parents, obtain unbiased health information, and help with scheduling timely appointments.

Member Wellness Program:A voluntary, incentive paid, program sponsored by the Trust that focuses on 5 high-risk areas: high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, weight management and smoking cessation.

Colonoscopy Incentive: $150 cash incentive to covered members age 50 years and over (or age 40 and over with a family history of colorectal cancer) for completing a preventative colonoscopy.

Women's Health Initiative: $50 cash incentive to eligible female participants who obtain preventative breast screenings; $50 cash incentive to eligible female participants who obtain preventative cervical cancer screenings.

For more information on the CCAP Health Alliance or to request a proposal, please contact Julia Jackson, Employee Benefits Program Manager, at (800) 895-9039 x 3305.

You will note there are a few vacancies on the PIMCC Board and the Deferred Compensation Advisory Committee. If you are interested in filling one of those vacancies, please let John Sallade know.

CCAP Health Alliance Board of Directors

      Appointed by CCAP (All terms expire 12-31-13)
      June Sorg (Elk County Commissioner),
      Chairman

Arnie Wetzel (Berks County HR Director), Vice Chairman

Erick Coolidge (Tioga County Commissioner), Secretary/Treasurer

Trisha Douglas (Clarion County, Director, Human Resources)

Fred Cechman (C.M.S.U. MH/MR Finance Director)

Gail Kipp (Columbia County Chief Clerk)

Basil Huffman (Forest County Commissioner)

Tiffany Bloyer (Franklin County Assistant Director of Human Resources)

Karen King (Lawrence County Director of Personnel) 

COMCARE Board of Directors
Appointed Members
CCAP Members:

Janis Kemmer (Elk County Commissioner)(12/31/14)
Joseph DeMott Jr. (Mckean County Commissioner) (12/31/13)
Wylie Norton (Sullivan County Commissioner) (12/31/14)

PACDAA Member:

Rick Kastner (Executive Director Lancaster County Drug and Alcohol Commission) (12/31/14), Secretary/Treasurer

PACA MH/DS Member:

Deb Duffy (Lycoming Clinton MH/MR) (12/31/13)

      Elected Members
      County Commissioners:

George Hartwick (Dauphin County Commissioner) (12/31/13)

Joe Giles (Erie County Council Member) (12/31/13)

Individual with Managed Care Expertise:

Scott Suhring (CEO, Capital Area Behavioral Health Collaborative) (12/31/13), Vice Chairman

      At Large Members:
      Patricia Valentine (Executive Deputy Director
      for Integrated Program Services, Allegheny
      County) (12/31/14)

Jonna DiStefano (Executive Director, Delaware County Human Services) (12/31/14), Chairwoman

COMCARE PRO Subscribers' Advisory Committee
Scott Suhring (CEO, Capital Area Behavioral Health Collaborative) (2015), President

Allison Frantz (HealthChoices Administrator, Lehigh County) (2015), Vice President

Jonna DiStefano (Executive Director, Delaware County Human Services) (2014)

Joe Giles (Erie County Council Member), (2015)

Rick Kastner (Executive Director Lancaster County Drug and Alcohol Commission) (2014)

Jim Gallagher (CEO, Northeastern Behavioral Health Care Consortium) (2013)

Dave McAdoo (Executive Director, Southwest Behavioral Health Management,Inc.) (2014)

Jonathan McKenzie (Willis Vermont, Vermont Resident) (2014)

Christie Ward (Captive Programs Manager, CCAP) is Secretary, but is not a voting member of the SAC.

John Sallade (Managing Director, Insurance Programs, CCAP), is Treasurer, but is not a voting member of the SAC.

Deferred Compensation Advisory Committee

Joe Giles (Erie County Council Member), Chairman
Mark Scott (Berks County Commissioner)

Daryl Miller (Bradford County Commissioner)

Paul Corbin (Jefferson County Commissioner)

Dennis Stuckey (Lancaster County Commissioner)

Three vacancies

PComp Board of Directors

      Appointed By CCAP (All terms expire 12/31/13)

      Jim Martin (Adams County Commissioner)
      Doug McLinko (Bradford County Commissioner
      Dan Vogler (Lawrence County Commissioner)

      Brian Beader (Mercer County Commissioner)

      Naomi English (Sullivan County Chief Clerk)

      Derek Williams (Tioga County Chief Clerk)

      Vicky Botjer (Wayne County Chief Clerk)

      Elected By Members (All terms expire 12/31/14)
      Joe Giles (Erie County Councilmember) (2, 2A,
      3rd Classes), Chairman

Beginning in March the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania's insurance programs will be offering you a new workshop season. We certainly hope you will take advantage of these great educational opportunities. This spring we will hold about twenty workshops throughout the commonwealth.

Registration for the spring season will be open February 13. For more information on the spring workshop season, please refer to the Glimpse Online.

You should receive your copy of the spring Glimpse in mid-February. If you do not receive a copy of the Glimpse, but would like to, please contact us.

Please keep in mind that most of our training sessions are free (if sponsored by an insurance program in which your employer is a member) AND for PCoRP, PComp and UC Trust members you can SAVE MONEY off your insurance costs by attending training sessions.

The Academy for Excellence in County Government has again agreed to co-sponsor some of our workshops for required credits. This gives those of you who are Academy participants an additional opportunity to earn that credit towards graduation.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Linda Rosito or Jenn James at (800) 895-9039.

Thank you for your continued support of the CCAP Insurance Programs trainings.

We hope to see you this spring!

INTRODUCTION

Any work environment can have a workplace safety committee in place, but its effectiveness can sit anywhere along the "effectiveness scale" from useless to extremely beneficial. Over the years as a safety professional, I have seen the following 10 common mistakes made by workplace safety committees and I have listed potential solutions to fix them.

YOUR WORKPLACE CANNOT GET WORKERS TO VOLUNTEER TO SIT ON YOUR WORKPLACE SAFETY COMMITTEE

Possible reasons: Workers may be afraid to appear to criticize county management or they don't see any benefits in sitting on a safety committee.

Solutions: Promote the safety committee and its successes. Have the safety committee conduct short departmental safety talks. Conduct recruitment sessions in the lunch room or hold recognition events for members.

YOUR COMMITTEE CANNOT MOTIVATE DEPARTMENT MANAGERS/SUPERVISORS TO ATTEND MEETINGS REGULARLY

Possible reasons: Managers may see safety committee meetings as a waste of time. They may also have a poor attitude toward safety or not know what's expected of them, especially if they lack occupational safety/health training.

Solutions: Assign manager members specific safety tasks. Recommend basic occupational safety/health training for managers and have the committee as a whole take team-building training.

YOUR COMMITTEE HAS POOR VISIBILITY AMONG WORKERS AND SUPERISOERS

Possible reasons: People may not even know who sits on their committee. The committee may also not publicize its successes and members conducting inspections may not interact with workers and supervisors.

Solutions: As part of new employee orientations, talk to them about the roles and functions of the safety committee. Introduce new workers to committee members for their areas. Rotate committee members frequently. Have the committee hold safety events to increase worker/supervisor awareness.

YOUR COMMITTEE'S WORK IS MOSTLY REACTIVE, IN RESPONSE TO INJURIES OR INCIDENTS, RATHER THAN PROACTIVE

Possible reasons: Committee members may lack a clear understanding of their roles, functions or expectations of committee members. They may also lack sufficient safety and health training, may not understand how to set goals and objective and may lack passion for safety.

Solutions: Have the county's safety or risk management department meet with the group to discuss health and safety goals and objectives. Collect information through informal surveys of workers and supervisors. Spend one entire meeting agreeing on goals for the year and establishing an action plan. Determine priority areas, set target dates for action, measure performance against objectives and report progress.

MEETINGS GO ON FOR HOURS, BUT LITTLE IS ACHIEVED

Possible reasons: Chairperson does not keep meeting focused (may lack experience in running effective meetings), agenda is not properly planned in advance of meeting, there's a lack of information on the table and a lack of problem-solving skills.

Solutions: Bring in experts to show chairpersons how to run effective meetings. Have co-chairs hold pre-meetings to plan and review agenda items, including decisions and action points for each agenda item. Don't waste time on discussion when more information is needed before making a decision.

A COUPLE OF MEMBERS ALWAYS DO ALL THE TALKING AT MEETINGS, LEAVING OTHERS RESENTFUL, FUSTRATED OR BORED

Possible reasons: Some people like to be in control or love the sound of their own voices.

Solutions: Have members who wish to speak raise their hands and speak one at a time. Evaluate the results of each meeting.

NO ONE IN YOUR ORGANIZATION REALLY KNOWS WHAT THE WORKPLACE SAFETY COMMITTEE IS SUPPOSED TO BE DOING

Possible reasons: Members lack training on the roles and functions of the health and safety committee, there are no formal terms of reference or your terms of reference aren't comprehensive enough. Also, your committee may have too low a profile in the workplace.

Solutions: Assign a sponsor to your committee, preferably someone with sufficient authority who is fairly closely linked to county management. Have this person help your committee clarify roles and provide resources.

MOST OF THE DISCUSSION IS ABOUT COMPLAINTS, NOT SOLUTIONS. COMMITTEE MEMBERS DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRAFT PROPER RECOMMENDATIONS AND THEY DON'T CALL IN THE EXPERTS FOR HELP

Possible reasons: The chairperson is not facilitating proper discussion or members lack sufficient training in problem solving.

Solutions: Train members in problem solving, have co-chairs meet in advance, plan, set goals and establish priorities. End each item of discussion with an action item.

YOUR COMMITTE MEMBERS HAVE ONLY BASIC WORKPLACE SAFETY AND HEALTH TRAINING

Possible reason: Everyday jobs may not revolve around safety/health issues.

Solutions: Assess current knowledge, experiences and expertise of each member regarding health and safety training. Conduct a needs assessment and bring in an experienced trainer to help your group. Consider joint training for the whole committee to facilitate a common vision.

MEETINGS ARE BORING, WITH AGENDAS HAVING THE SAME ITEMS ON THEM MONTH AFTER MONTH

Possible reasons: Little or no planning, members aren't engaged, committee isn't integrated with occupational safety and health (OSH) system, workers/supervisors don't raise safety/health issues to committee members.

Solutions: Engage all members in teamwork, making them responsible for occupational safety and health action plans, developing and monitoring annual health and safety activities/goals and in enhancing employee safety awareness.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Workplace safety committees are an integral part of a county's safety program. Workplace safety is a quality that is achieved, like other attributes of a well-run county; through a combination of effective management, employee relations, communications, and understanding of the workplace exposures that lead to injury. Also, your safety committee members will have differing knowledge about safety and health hazards and controls and skills in performing committee functions. Through training you can develop these skills, enabling your committee members to more readily recognize hazards and to understand how to address them.

Remember, your CCAP loss control specialist is available-just a phone call or email away-to help you with your safety committee activities. Give us a call or send an email to our attention; we look forward to assisting your workplace safety efforts.

Gary Nicholson, Loss Control Services Manager, at (800) 895-9039

Maureen McMahon, Loss Control Specialist, at (800) 895-9039

Andrew Smith, Loss Control Specialist, at (800) 895-9039

Bob Lauzonis, Loss Control Specialist, at (412) 276-2722