Board OKs $500K in workers' comp funds
By Kevin McCallum
Staff Writer
April 7, 2004
STAMFORD -- The Board of Finance last night approved nearly $500,000 in extra funding for workers' compensation claims, but some board members said they were disappointed more isn't being done to contain such costs.
The city's risk manager, Don Whitting, assured the board that increased training, active safety committees, incentive programs and other measures were helping keep costs down.
But Whitting said there is only so much that can be done, given that the city continues to pay claims on accidents that date to 1962.
"I'm optimistic, but you need to understand that Rome was not built in a day," Whiting told the board. "Many of these are old cases that are still open and need to be paid."
Last year, as an incentive to reduce costs, the board removed $500,000 from the $5 million Whitting requested for workers' compensation. The board set the money aside in a contingency fund and required Whitting to return to request it should he be unable to reduce costs by that amount during the year.
Whittings' projections are that he will need the entire half million to finish the year.
That left some Republicans wondering whether Whitting and the departments that drive the costs were doing enough.
"The effort that the departments and city overall make should bring some results," said board member Joseph Tarzia. "I just want to hear and see that we have a plan and that we see results."
To explain what they were doing, officials from the top three departments that will exceed their workers' compensation budgets this year -- police, fire and Water Pollution Control Authority -- appeared before the board to request the additional dollars personally.
Assistant Police Chief Richard Priolo said some of the increased costs are associated with a mandate that all injuries on duty -- no matter how minor -- be reported.
Suspects also are resisting arrest more often, Priolo said. "When we go to make an arrest, we're finding more and more resistance," he said.
Police are trained to "strike hard and fast" in such situations to avoid a situation where an officer's gun can be taken from him or her, Priolo said. But because officers are more conscious about harming suspects in such struggles, they often can get more harmed themselves.
"They are smaller injuries, but there are more of them," he said.
Some aren't small at all. "One officer was thrown to the ground and kicked repeatedly six to seven times, and he has a fused vertebra," Priolo said.
Because many such injuries occur in such struggles, the department is looking into forms of nonlethal restraint, such as bean-bag guns and stun guns, Priolo said.
Staff changes on the department's safety committee have hampered efforts to find ways to reduce injuries to officers, Whitting said.
"We're trying to set up safety training, but it hasn't come to fruition," Whitting said. "It's very frustrating."
Despite these obstacles, a safety officer from Whitting's office is preparing to show short safety training videos to officers in the near future, Whitting said.
William Callion, director of public safety, health and welfare, pointed out that officers had raised money to install a "world-class" gymnasium in the department. With use of the facility up, the city should reap the benefits because healthier officers are less likely to become injured, Callion said.
Republican James Rubino suggested the city do more to recover the cost of workers' compensation claims when a suspect's actions are responsible for the injury.
Bob Kolenberg, also a Republican, suggested fatigue from working long hours might increase the frequency of such injuries.
"If people work long hours and they become fatigued, it inevitably will affect the safety of those employees," Whitting agreed.
The board spent the most time on the police department. It accounts for about 60 percent of the entire city's workers' compensation and heart and hypertension claims, Whitting said.
The department's additional request was the largest of the three -- $326,000 versus $128,000 for fire and $26,000 for the WPCA.
Assistant Fire Chief Peter Brown pointed out the department has an officer assigned to every fire whose sole job is safety. Whitting said the fire department has a very active safety committee and has been very cooperative with his department.
"I think that we're making some progress, but I think we have a long way to go," Whitting said.
The board approved all three requests unanimously.
Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.