2018-05-09 Merit Appeals Board Minutes

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Merit Appeals Board May 9, 2018 they bring something forward, it gets report to the committee, and then there's actually follow through and follow-up. CHR. NAHUINA: Yes. MR. BRILHANTE: And I think those are the important factors and we're—and withagain, with the deputy's help and with our health and safety division help that's what we're hoping that through that process, we can then reduce the claims and the frequency of workers' comp claims. So, that's Goal Number 3. And we will haveI will provide measurable evidence to support whether or not the program is successful and that'll be through the reduction of actual expenditures and (inaudible). And, that being said, we never can predict what may happen when it comes to the work environment—anything can happen—with the police officer, they can always get hurt on the job or a bad traffic accident, which we had with the Fire Department several years back where there was a serious injury due to a head-on collision—one of our firemen. And those type of things you can't help. They're going to happen. CHR. NAHUINA: Right. MR. BRILHANTE: But we're hoping that that will be the exception and not the norm. We're hoping to address the issues that relates to the norm just the overall general type of injuries that through health, through safety, through identification—we can help reduce those type of claims. And, if our assumption is correct, by reducing those claims we'll also reduce the amount of financial exposure that the County has. We can reduce that 2.1 million dollar budget. The great part about it is anything we save in Workers' Comp—goes back to the General Fund. So, that's what we're looking to do. And that's my goals going forward. I'm happy to take any other advice or recommendations going forward from the MAB. CHR. NAHUINA: I know that—when we look at Health and Safety—one of the things last time we mentioned—we asked was about the Blue Zone Project. MR. BRILHANTE: Yes. CHR. NAHUINA: And that was continuing, causeI mean, certainly, that plays into workers' comp—healthier people and (inaudible)—and then, also, I know in a meeting with Ms. Toriano, in the past, she talked about CPR and first aid first responder training. There was a mix between wanting to get the training and, also, how far the scope was going to be. So, I'm wondering if you're looking at that also. MR. BRILHANTE: I'm glad you mentioned that—that's something that I those issues were something that I would, generally, incorporate into my quarterly report. Page 12