Keona Fulcher, Human Resources General Manager at Cornerstone Delivery Service in Riverside, knows the importance of having an Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) and the value of safety culture in her business. Parcel delivery services can be a dangerous business if employees don’t train their employees on slips, trips, and falls.

An opportunity to improve

When Keona joined Cornerstone, there were many open workers' compensation claims and no formal IIPP. An effective IIPP helps reduce work-related injuries and illnesses and the financial losses that can result from them. Keona took immediate action to establish a safety program and build a safety culture at the company. She knew this could avert injuries and help employees adopt a positive attitude about working safely.

Implementing an IIPP is essential

Keona’s first step was creating an IIPP using State Fund’s IIPP Builder℠. 

State Fund’s IIPP Builder℠ is an online tool that helps employers build a safety program that is tailored to their operation by answering a series of questions about their workplace. Once completed, it generates an IIPP specific to the workplace. The program can be saved as a PDF and State Fund policyholders have the benefit of saving their IIPP to State Fund’s IIPP Builder℠ and updating it at any time.

More than a safety program, the IIPP helped the whole organization improve

By creating an IIPP, Keona was able to have the safety conversation with management and staff and gain their buy-in to value safety. The results were remarkable:

• From July 2020 through June 2021, before having an IIPP there were 18 disability claims.
• Between July 2021 and June 2022, there have been zero lost-time injuries.
• Safety became a regular topic of conversation around the company.
• Regular emails began going out to employees encouraging them to ask questions or discuss safety with managers.
• The management team recognized areas they needed to focus on to improve safety and ways to build on existing training.
• Employees became more aware and interested in safety.

Keona then created an orientation for new drivers. They meet with dispatchers and ride along with drivers before they start driving. Stand-up meetings were implemented and occur daily before each shift starts and Keona says that employees are retaining the information from those meetings and applying the information they’ve learned on the job.

“Having an IIPP shows our employees that we care about them and don’t want to see them get hurt,” Keona said. By using State Fund’s IIPP Builder℠, Keona was able to create a written plan that details the required steps all workplaces must take to protect their employees and keep them safe.