Seattle Housing Authority receives safety award
John D. Spellman award recognizes achievements in workplace safety
SEATTLE—January 29, 2009—On January 22, the Evergreen Safety Council presented the Seattle Housing Authority with its 2009 John D. Spellman Safety Award in recognition of significant achievements in workplace safety. Seven employees from the Housing Authority—all participants in the agency's safety program—attended the awards ceremony.
Seattle Housing was recognized for the remarkable progress it made in 2008 in developing a world-class safety and health program. In just one year, Seattle Housing realized a 13 percent reduction in incidents and a 69 percent reduction in costs related to safety incidents.
The Housing Authority's efforts to reduce accidents began by establishing benchmarks to measure progress. Efforts also included energizing and involving workplace safety committees, analyzing past incidents and establishing a baseline for training. Communications efforts that reached out to employees and residents alike centered on public safety fairs and committee retreats.
Dean Barnes, Seattle Housing's director of human resources, praised the work of Richard Needham, the Housing Authority's safety coordinator, in earning this award for the agency.
"Rich has done a great job of bringing people together from across the agency to focus on safety issues," Barnes said recently. "By analyzing the statistics and understanding what we needed to pay closer attention to, he was able to provide the right kind of targeted training. The award is also a tribute to people across departments who volunteer their time to participate in the safety committees, and to employees who changed their work practices to be more safety conscious."
Left to right: Barb Berg, Noah Atkins, Don Ashlock, Gov. John Spellman, Glenn Lindenmuth, Tom Lanske, and Rich Needham. (Not pictured: Ginny Mitchell.)
This award also honors one of Washington's noted public servants, John D. Spellman, who was King County's first elected county executive and Washington's 18th governor. Governor Spellman has been a member of Evergreen Safety Council's Board of Directors for more than 30 years.
Genie Industries, Inc. was recognized with an award for two safety initiatives, a behavior-based safety program and a large-scale program to improve ergonomics.
The Evergreen Safety Council is the Northwest's largest independent nonprofit organization providing safety and health training and consultation services to businesses and organizations. A member of the National Safety Council, ESC was a founding member of the American Association of Safety Councils.