Southeastern Illinois College Wins IPRF Safety Award

Every year the Illinois Public Risk Fund (IPRF) honors two member organizations that have had the most success in lowering employee accidents and losses.  For 2013, Southeastern Illinois College was one of those two to win the award for Outstanding Member of the Year.

“This is a very prestigious award as IPRF has over 600 members throughout the state of Illinois,” said Brad Hoffman, IPRF representative for the southern region.

According to information from the IPRF, in order to achieve this honor, members must have an effective safety program in place and actively promote safety awareness at every level of their organization; they should have an active safety committee that reviews employee accidents and recommends safety improvements; and they should be continuously involved with employee safety training.  SIC worked closely with the IPRF Loss Control Department to implement all of the above-mentioned safety-awareness programs.

On May 12, Hoffman presented the college safety team with a plaque honoring their achievement and efforts in reducing losses.

Present during the award presentation was Bill Ghent, the college’s insurance agent.  He said, “This award represents the hard work everybody has to do.  You can’t have safety without everyone doing the right thing all the time.”

Several safety-focused committees on SIC’s campus work to create a safe environment for students and employees:  the Risk Management Team, the Campus Emergency Response Team, the Campus Violence Prevention Team and the Safety Team.

“Southeastern takes great pride in safety, and this award demonstrates the hard work that all of our employees perform to achieve such a high honor as the IPRF Award,” said President Dr. Jonah Rice.

The college’s safety efforts have not only cut accident losses by 60 percent, but according to IPRF, serve as a good example of what can be accomplished with a strong and focused safety program.

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