By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer 

CASCO — Never give safety a day off.

That is one motto to help increase safety awareness in the workplace.  

Recently, the Town of Casco decided to get workers compensation insurance through Maine Municipal Association (MMA). As part of that process, there is a safety-incentive plan, which if followed, reduces the insurance costs.

In fact, the Casco Board of Selectmen unanimously accepted the safety-incentive plan resolve.

“What this does is: It helps to educate and make our employees safer. It develops a workplace culture for safety. It is not just about the insurance part, it is about the education of all employees and our environment,” according to Casco Town Manager Anthony Ward. 

“If we want to become part of this workers comp safety-incentive program, the board has to do a resolve by Aug. 1. After that there will be plans that we have to implement if we want to be in Tier Two,” he said. 

The town manager said there was no time like the present to accept the resolve and then future meetings can be spent discussing particular details. 

“The bottom line is: I am recommending that the Select Board take the resolve today,” Ward said. 

“Then [the board can] review plans and have future dialogue. There are 30 or 40 pages of planning there. When you start dealing with this, you have close call plans. If there is a close call to injury, there is a review. It sets up a plan where we accept accountability for keeping everyone safe,” he said. 

“From a town standpoint, the financial benefit is immediate. If we get to Tier Two by Sept. 1, which I think we can, we would save 7.5 percent on our workers comp insurance payments,” he said.  

“If you agree to the resolve, you agree to have us participate in this plan,” he said. 

Also, during the meeting on July 12, the selectmen discussed policies for Ergonomics, proper lifting and personal protection equipment (PPE).