JAY — An award honoring the town of Jay for providing a “safe and healthful” workplace was given to Town Manager Ruth Cushman and town department leaders Monday night.

Michael LaPlante, occupational safety and health supervisor with the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards, presented the Safety and Health Award for Public Employers during the selectmen’s meeting.

Jay is the fifth municipal employer to receive the SHAPE status for all departments since the award started in 2005, LaPlante said. It’s also the first small town to receive it.

“If ever there was a town that could get into SHAPE, Jay is it,” he said.

The award acknowledges exemplary public-sector employers after a review and inspection of the employer’s safety and health polices and procedures, wrote Jeanne Paquette, Commissioner of Labor, to Cushman.

The award is granted to those who go above and beyond trying to protect employees, LaPlante told the board.

The town’s police and fire department achieved SHAPE status in 2012, and the rest of the town rolled in, he said.

Along with the honor, the benefits include safer employees. The bottom line is less injuries, he said.

There’s also the potential for it to affect the town’s  workers’ compensation modification rate and liability insurance, Cushman said earlier Monday.

Brunswick realized $22,000 savings in workers’ compensation claims in two years after becoming involved in a SHAPE program. Caribou realized $18,000 in one year, LaPlante said.

Beyond the savings, the DOL goal is help municipal employers be proactive rather than reactive to employee safety.

“When I came to work here, there were no safety policies,” Mark Holt, superintendent of the sewer department, said following the meeting. That was about 23 years ago.

Holt is receptive to programs and procedures that protect employees after his arm was caught in an auger while he was working in Augusta 1987.  Another employee didn’t realize his arm was there and turned the machine on, he said.

Jay is the fifth town to receive the award based on a low employee-injury rate, inspections of the department facilities and equipment and a review of all safety and health policies, procedures and programs. 

The town’s injury rate was compared to other towns across the state. It was way below the state average, LaPlante said.

Jay was ranked Number 42 for awards given to other public employers. The South Thomaston Fire Department also received a SHAPE award this month. 

The SHAPE program for public employers represents the same standards OSHA enforces for the private employer. They guide the employer to do what they’re supposed to do by law, he said.

With a plan in place and the two-year award, the town is exempt from DOL inspections over that time. This can be renewed for an even longer period at the end of the two years, LaPlante said.

The town will not receive unexpected “on-the-spot inspection visits” from the Bureau of Standards.

abryant@sunjournal.com

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