From celebrating safety success to aggressively rooting out fraud and abuse, Stater Bros. Markets is making workers’ comp risk management gains on multiple fronts, and these are the strategies that caught the attention of Risk & Insurance judges as they selected the 2015 recipients of the Theodore Roosevelt Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management Award. This year, San Bernardino, California-based Stater Bros. was the only grocery retailer nationwide to receive the honor.
The “Teddy Award” recognizes excellence in workers’ compensation risk management in the for-profit and nonprofit business sectors for efforts to reduce the number and cost of injuries to workers. The award was named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, who in 1908 introduced and promoted the first piece of significant workers’ compensation legislation in the U.S.
Stater Bros.’ philosophy on minimizing work-related injuries likens company workers to “industrial athletes”—with all of the company’s safety, loss prevention, workers’ compensation and return-to-work programs geared toward helping them perform at their competitive best.
Teddy Award judges were especially impressed with Stater Bros.’ safety recognition programs. Incentive programs for safe practices are a staple for the company, which operates 168 supermarkets in Southern California. Every year a store maintains zero recordable industrial injuries; employees are rewarded with such incentives as company gift cards, in-store drawings and apparel gift certificates. In 2015, 25 stores exceeded the two-year mark of zero recordable industrial injuries, and the number of stores that logged one year without any reportable workers’ compensation claims increased from 33 in 2014 to 53 in 2015. A similar safety incentive program provides company gift cards and recognition for distribution center workers on a quarterly and yearly basis.
“Stater Bros. is pleased that our efforts to protect our workers is being recognized with a Teddy Award. Doing what’s right for injured workers will always be what’s right for the company and ultimately for our valued customers,” said Stater Bros. President and COO Pete Van Helden.
Stater Bros. winner’s profile is featured in the November 2015 issue of Risk and Insurance and can be read in its entirety here.
