KEMI/UK Innovation Draws International Recognition

The Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance (KEMI) and the University of Kentucky's Kentucky Injury Prevention Research Center (KIPRC) have received international recognition for a recently formed partnership aimed at developing, implementing and evaluating health and safety training for small construction companies in Kentucky.

Representatives from the two organizations have been invited to the Fourth World Conference on Injury Prevention and Control, which is scheduled to be held next month in The Netherlands. The conference attracts leading scientists and professionals from diverse fields such public health, safety design and engineering, biomechanics, behavioral sciences and other disciplines that have a stake in injury control and safety. The Kentucky organizations will give a presentation on the role of workers' compensation insurance providers in promoting occupational safety and health.

The partnership between the KEMI and UK targets the occupational health and safety of construction businesses employing 10 or less workers, companies that are often difficult to reach with safety training. Statistics reveal that some 80 percent of Kentucky workers employed in the construction industry work for small companies employing fewer than 10 people.

"This partnership between UK and KEMI is a perfect example of the public and private sectors working together to improve a system," said Robert Johnson, manager of loss education for KEMI.

KEMI is a non-profit corporation established by the Kentucky General Assembly in 1994 to serve as a competitive workers' comp insurance company. It has now become the largest carrier of workers' compensation insurance in Kentucky, serving more than 17,000 businesses.

Johnson says the partnership between KEMI and the University brings a multitude of advantages. "KEMI could not have provided the research staff that UK was able to bring to this project and UK needed a conduit for reaching the small construction companies," explains Johnson.

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