On this episode of the WorkSAFE Podcast, we sit down with Tisha Greco, MEM’s Resource and Support Center Manager. We discuss MEM’s Safety Grant program, and how it not only impacts a business’s bottom line but also makes a workplace safer for everyone.
Every business faces safety challenges. For some companies, addressing those challenges can become difficult or cumbersome. The cost could potentially grow too high for them to afford. MEM offers an opportunity to help offset those costs and tackle safety challenges head-on.
Listen to this episode of the WorkSAFE Podcast, or read the show notes below.
What is the Safety Grant program?
The MEM Safety Grant program started in August 2016. A Safety Grant provides a one-to-one matching investment in a safety initiative, doubling a company’s investment. In the nearly nine years since its inception, more than 400 grants have been awarded to different businesses.
“We’ve given away over $3 million so far, and we’ve impacted over 13,000 employees, specifically where these different safety initiatives have been implemented,” Greco shared. “We’re really proud of this program and the success that we’ve seen. Our grant recipients typically have seen anywhere from 96% to 100% reduction and claims count and claims cost in the areas where they’ve they’ve implemented these safety solutions.”
Safety Grant program available in multiple states
At the program’s outset, Safety Grants were only available in Missouri. But in 2025, the program expands. “As of January 1st this year, we’re able to offer this program in states outside of Missouri,” Greco added. “Now, we’re able to offer it in Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, and Tennessee.” Increasing the program’s reach allows more employees to benefit from safety solutions.
Applying for a Safety Grant
All MEM policyholders are eligible to apply for the Safety Grant program as long as they hold a current policy and are in good standing financially. Any type of business can apply, regardless of size or premium. Further, employers don’t have to have experienced a claim to apply.
“Every single policyholder is eligible for up to a $10,000 grant every year,” Greco explained. “We do a one-to-one match. So if it’s a $20,000 piece of equipment, the business is going to invest $10,000, MEM is going to invest $10,000. If it’s a $40,000 piece of equipment, the business is going to invest $30,000, MEM’s going to invest $10,000, and so on.”
Eligibility for more than one grant
With a total award maximum of $10,000, businesses can apply for more than one grant if they haven’t reached that threshold. For example, if a company receives a $2,000 grant award toward a $4,000 piece of equipment, they haven’t reached their award maximum. An additional $8,000 in grant money remains.
“That is not something that we always did. That’s a change we made probably about three years ago,” Greco added. “It used to be just one grant per year and now we do $10,000 per year.”
The ideal Safety Grant program applicant
The Safety Grant program is most helpful to businesses that have a vision for specific safety improvements. “The best applicants have a known risk to their employees where a product or a process could be implemented to either eliminate completely or greatly reduce that known hazard,” Greco specified.
She highlights that Safety Grants weren’t designed for wish list items or things employers simply want to test or try. After submitting an application, a Safety and Risk Service professional will come out to provide a consultation. This helps narrow down where true risk and safety priorities lie in a business. “We ideally are not looking for what I like to call ‘nice to have’ items,” she added. “We’re looking for things that are really going to have an impact on the employee’s exposure to risks.”
Claims increase the likelihood of being awarded a grant
Business owners don’t have to have experienced a claim to apply for a grant. Creating a safer workplace is an important effort, with or without a claim. However, trying to improve safety in response to a workplace incident highlights the good a grant can do.
“If somebody has had a claim where they’re trying to increase safety, that’s really going to increase the likelihood of being awarded a grant,” Greco said. “It’s very rare when there are related claims that a grant doesn’t get approved.”
Other ways to stand out during the grant process
When grant applications are submitted, a Safety Grant Review Committee goes over each one. Diverse perspectives from different safety professionals ensure that each applicant gets plenty of consideration.
“Something important to understand is that because we don’t take the business size or the premium size into account, these applications are reviewed completely anonymously,” she shared. Other than what’s on the application, the review committee doesn’t have any other information. “So making a good case for yourself, painting a clear picture as best you can, that really increases your odds of receiving the grant.”
It’s essential to clarify the specific issues an applicant is facing. “Sometimes we get applications in and it’s hard for the committee to really kind of understand what the safety concern truly is,” Greco shared. Applicants who stand out during the process often:
- Include photos or videos. Demonstrating the issue or showing the work environment takes the review committee right into your workplace with you.
- Explain frequency. How often are employees exposed to a particular hazard? Daily exposure is going to score higher than a riskier task completed once or twice a year.
- Show how a risk can be eliminated. In some workplaces, not every single hazard can be eliminated. Completely getting rid of a risk exposure, even if it’s just one area, garners a higher score
- Focus their efforts on employees. Some grant applications want to make improvements just for clients or customers. These applications often don’t even make it to the review committee for consideration. Safety Grants are designed to focus on employee safety.
Timing your purchase
It’s important to remember that grants can’t be used for a reimbursement, or towards something that’s already been purchased. Anything a grant is used for can only be purchased after the grant is awarded. “That always hurts my heart a little bit, when I have to tell people they can’t apply for that reason – because they already bought it,” Greco added.
Safety Grant recipients are always innovating
Over the years, Safety Grant recipients have started to innovate the way they invest in safety. One home healthcare company invested their grant into creating a unique training lab. Before, the business trained employees right in client homes. As a result, employees weren’t trained very well, learned inconsistently, and couldn’t refresh their training.
The Safety Grant program allowed them to create a long-lasting safety solution. “This training lab has really been a game changer. This type of thing, it’s something that I think, even in our safety world, work comp world, it never crossed any of our minds that that would be a great idea,” she gushed. “So seeing a policyholder come up with this idea, we were thrilled when this application came in.”
The Safety Grant network
New technologies come out every day. The review committee is always excited by innovative new approaches to eliminating hazards. “When those applications come in, we’re so excited because, you know, will it work?” Greco shared. “Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. But we want to help invest in that.”
With every Safety Grant application and award, a network is built. “If it works, we want to be able to take that information and share it with our other policyholders who do similar work or have similar-type businesses, so that they can potentially implement that same solution and benefit from from that new technology that not everybody knew about.”
Policyholders can see how those with similar risks are investing their time and money, and benefit from new solutions and information.
The impact of a Safety Grant
“The main thing that we do post-award is we send our safety and risk consultants out,” Greco said. “It’s typically the same person that the policyholder met with prior to the application. We send them out about six to nine months after the equipment gets put in place and we do a case study.” The goal of the case study is to gather a few different types of information:
- Return on investment. How much has improved in the months following the grant award?
- Employee feedback. Are safety improvements impacting their jobs or improving morale around the business?
- Insight. Would grant recipients recommend the same improvements to others?
“It’s rare, but we have funded things before where the feedback from the policyholder that got it was ‘This didn’t turn out the way we thought’,” she continued. “That’s information we want too, because we don’t want to then recommend that to a similar business.”
The Safety Grant program: An investment for the present and the future
Some employers are hesitant to invest in safety. They’re unsure of the return – how will spending money on safety improvements impact their bottom line? “We’ve seen so many policyholders that have been able to reduce labor costs,” Greco shared. “That’s a huge thing. Reducing labor costs, improving employee morale. And at the end of the day, reducing work comp claims – it is going to have an impact and reduce your work comp premium eventually.”
“It’s kind of wild how much it matters to the employees to see that their employer values them, cares for them, and is willing to invest in their safety and making sure that they get home to their families every night,” Greco said. “The impact of that has just been so profound, and that’s that’s been a really beautiful thing to kind of witness over the last eight plus years.”