In November, MEM announced its ninth cycle of safety grant recipients and awarded a total of $209,600 to 33 policyholders in Missouri for the implementation of new safety equipment to promote safer workplaces. This brings the total amount of safety grants awarded to nearly $1.75 million since 2016, affecting more than 7,000 employees. In addition to routine safety interventions and products, this cycle MEM offered policyholders the opportunity to apply for grants for COVID-19 safety measures.
“COVID-19 has brought unprecedented safety challenges to businesses,” said Jim Owen, President and CEO of MEM. “Our safety grant program supported businesses in quickly getting the equipment they needed to keep their employees safe and healthy.”
Eight of 33 grant award winners received funds for COVID-19 related items.
Keeping essential workplaces safe and clean
MEM’s safety grant reimbursed Mid-America Transplant for the purchase of an electrostatic disinfectant sprayer, foot door pulls and other safety measures. This allowed them to continue their work of providing organ and tissue donations to a service area of more than 84 counties covering eastern Missouri, southern Illinois and northeast Arkansas.
‘We’re a 24-hour business because of the nature of our work,” said Scott Gardner, safety and security coordinator at Mid-America Transplant. “When the pandemic hit, it was very difficult to even find a cleaning service that would be available for the disinfection work we needed in our office, so we purchased our own equipment.”
Cleaner air in close quarters
At Warren County Emergency Communications Center, social distancing on the job is not possible. Four to six dispatchers are stationed together in one room for 12-hour shifts.
The 22-person staff serves two ambulance districts, three fire districts, three police departments and the sheriff’s office. MEM’s safety grant program will allow them to purchase an air purifier system to improve the quality of their HVAC system.
“Everyone here was so excited to learn we received the grant,” said Megan Ramey administrative assistant with Warren County. “We are hoping the air purifier will help keep us well, and we are really grateful.”
Cycle 9 Safety Grant winners
The MEM Safety Grants program partners with policyholders to identify a safety need or improvement that can reduce or eliminate illnesses or injury in the workplace.
In 2021, MEM will celebrate five years of the safety grants program, and past recipients are seeing positive results. In the two years prior to receiving their grants, 226 recipients experienced 254 claims totaling nearly $5 million. Since implementing the safety equipment purchased with their grants, recipients have only experienced only 12 claims totaling less than $50,000 in the areas addressed by their grant-funded equipment.
The following businesses were selected to receive safety grants in MEM’s ninth cycle:
| Arrowhead Building Supply Inc. | Saint Peters | Dash camera will identify risky driving behaviors so that coaching can be used to eliminate the risk |
| Barton County Ambulance District | Lamar | Body armor to protect employees from potentially violent encounters |
| The Braun Home | Fayette | Articulating Boom Lift to reduce fall hazard |
| Columbia Construction Corp. | Cape Girardeau | Hanging wall scaffold will reduce the fall hazard to employees that are performing construction |
| Community Living, Inc. | Saint Peters | Sneeze guard to reduce the potential transmission of COVID-19 to employees |
| Cottleville Community Fire Protection | St. Charles | Automated rolling of firehose, reducing repetitive motion risk and back injury |
| Fenton Fire Protection District | Fenton | Patient lifting devices used by first responders to move patients safely |
| Friends of Arrow Rock, Inc. | Arrow Rock | Sneeze guards, wipe/sanitizer dispensers, and fogger system to reduce the potential transmission of COVID-19 to employees |
| Gaumats International | Grain Valley | Countertop installation system that reduces back strains/sprains |
| Jasid Construction Company Inc. | Valley Park | Reduces fall risk to employees while working at elevation |
| Jim Gibson Trucking LLC | Dexter | Automatic tarping system to be used by drivers to reduce the incidence of falls and sprains/strains |
| John Fitzgibbon Memorial Hospital | Marshall | UV disinfecting lamp used to disinfect rooms and reduce exposure to COVID-19 |
| Kingsville Livestock | Kingsville | Automatic system to disperse bales to feed cattle. |
| Laclede Chain | St. Louis | Electric Scissor Lift eliminates use of scaffolds and ladders |
| Lehenbauer Farms | Hannibal | Hydraulic squeeze chute used to hold the animal in place so that care and inspection can occur |
| Mathias Precision Landscaping, INC | Saint Peters | Arborist helmet with built-in radio system allowing free communication between the work crew |
| Mid-America Precast | Fulton | Cut off saws and rebar tie guns to reduce strains and repetitive motion injuries |
| Mid America Transplant | St. Louis | Sneeze guards, thermometer, disinfectant sprayer to reduce the potential transmission of COVID-19 to employees |
| S. McDonald Inc. | Wentzville |
Drone with remote controller and camera eliminates need for employees to be exposed to fall injuries
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| Nixa Public Schools | Nixa | UV cart and disinfectant fogger to reduce the potential transmission of COVID-19 to employees |
| Oronogo Fire Protection District | Oronogo | Tools used by first responders to stabilize motor vehicle accidents and extricate patients. |
| Osage Ambulance District | Linn | Stair chair used by first responders to safely move a patient down stairs while reducing potential for back injury |
| Ozark Fire Protection District | Ozark | Swift water rescue equipment and training. |
| Rev Noel T Adams Memorial Ambulance District | Bethany | Power Load System to reduce back injury risk when handling patients |
| Randal Klocke | Palmyra | Permanent stairs affixed to a grain bin to reduce the need for ladders |
| Schiermeier Quarry | Washington | Bucket truck that will reduce fall hazards. |
| St. Francois County Ambulance District | Farmington | UV disinfecting lamp used to disinfect rooms and reduce exposure to COVID-19 |
| The National Museum of Transportation | St. Louis | Articulating Boom Lift to reduce fall hazard |
| UCP Heartland | St. Louis | Manual floor lift scale |
| Vance Brothers, Inc. | Kansas City | Portable tank truck access system |
| Warren County 911 Emergency Services | Warrenton | Air Purifier to reduce exposure to COVID-19 |
| Wentzville Fire Protection District | Wentzville | UV disinfecting lamp used to disinfect rooms and reduce exposure to COVID-19 |
| Williams Patent Crusher | St. Louis | Electric Scissor Lift eliminates use of scaffolds and ladders |
Learn more about MEM’s Safety Grants Program and how to apply.