Best practices
All agencies that have implemented Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) have developed best practices that have increased the quality and effectiveness of their risk management programs.
Gathering agency best practices
RMD gathers information about agencies' ERM activities through agency risk management meetings and consultations. In addition, each spring RMD gathers annual ERM and Safety Updates from the 32 largest state agencies. Agencies have described these best practices in detail in several categories described below.
The highlights below describe activities that the agencies undertook in the past year. The activities were conducted in several specific ERM risk categories: budget-related risk issues, claims management, continuity of operations, data security, emergency management, employment practices, public records issues, and risk management issues.
Highlighted activities
Use this sortable table to learn more about agency ERM best practices.
| Year | Category | Agency | Description | Contact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Emergency management | AGR | The agency undertook an initiative to improve their internal policies and procedures and external hazard response plans. They successfully completed development of numerous plans, including Emergency Response Binders, Foreign Animal Disease Response Plans, National Veterinary Stockpile Plans, Flood Response Plans, Emergency Evacuation Procedures, Radiation Emergency Preparedness Plans, and Capital Campus Emergency Response Plans. | Scott Loerts 360-902-2074 scott.loerts@agr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | AGR | The agency's Public Records Retention Policy was updated. Instituted e-mail vault process (which enables efficient email records searches) for all agency emails. | Scott Loerts 360-902-2074 scott.loerts@agr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | AGR | To decrease liability, provided staff additional training in Ethics, Sexual Harassment, and Discrimination. | Scott Loerts 360-902-2074 scott.loerts@agr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk management training | AGR | To address additional business risks, the agency also trained staff in good practices regarding Personal Service Contracts, Public Records Retention, and Data Security. Also, all agency staff were trained in the litigation hold process. | Scott Loerts 360-902-2074 scott.loerts@agr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety assessment | AGR | After completing a Job Hazard Analysis, facility safety hazards were corrected at commodity packing sheds, food processing plants and livestock sale barns. | Scott Loerts 360-902-2074 scott.loerts@agr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | AGR | To enhance worker safety, agency trained more staff in Defensive Driving practices. | Scott Loerts 360-902-2074 scott.loerts@agr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk assessment | BIIA | The safety and security of BIIA employees, contracted court reporters, and interpreters is of the highest priority when dealing with sometimes disgruntled parties to a hearing. In order to assess safety and security at their facilities, the agency completed assessments for its Tacoma and Seattle offices and made improvements. Identifying and mitigating physical risks for all parties involved in hearings resulted in improved safety and security as reported by staff. | Bill Chase 360-753-6824 |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | BIIA | Awareness of safety issues for the various locations and environments that BIIA staff work in is important for all employees and is a goal of our safety team. BIIA has created visibility for the topic of Safety and increased its safety communications within the agency by submitting regular articles to its agency publications and having its Board Members address a specific safety topic at the annual All-Staff meetings and other meetings. The agency has anecdotal evidence showing positive results from its efforts. | Bill Chase 360-753-6824 |
| 2011 | Risk assessment | BIIA | The agency Risk Management Team completed a risk mapping for the agency. Specific risks were identified and rated by severity and likelihood in areas including legal, physical, facility, personnel, financial and reputation. The risks were then mapped out. Having a physical depiction of potential agency risks helped us prioritize and address areas of concern and allowed us to surface concerns that were not widely appreciated. | Bill Chase 360-753-6824 |
| 2011 | Safety training | BIIA | Fifteen judges and other staff who drive significant miles (from 7,000 up to 36,000 per year) on agency business, were trained in defensive driving by the WSP. The training had both classroom and drive course (hands-on) elements. The training was well received. A survey of the participants showed that all participants felt like better drivers after the course and that the course should be offered in the future. | Bill Chase 360-753-6824 |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure | COM | Commerce recently completed a review of all of its contract terms. Commerce began this process with over 300 contract terms that might be used in a contract, resulting in the possibility that a contracting entity could have numerous different contracts with Commerce, covering essentially the same topic. After the review, Commerce now ensures that contracts on the same topic all contain the same “boilerplate” language. Commerce has approximately 10 templates that cover all contracts. Commerce also completed a review of its contracts based on the Performance Based Contracting requirements. Commerce is in the process of developing electronic reports to report to the Governor's office on its compliance with the Governor's Executive Order. | Joe Olson 360-359-6403 joe.olson@commerce.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | COM | Commerce has a responsible party in each division assigned to work on public records requests (PRRs). To support the work of the Committee, agency staff recently completed training on the Public Records Act provided by the Office of the Attorney General. Commerce responds in a timely manner on 100% of its PRRs and produces the requested information in a timely manner on over 95% of cases. For those situations in which the response to a request was late, Commerce has instituted a procedure that requires a personal telephone call to the requestor and an explanation to the requestor as to the reason the request was delayed. To date the personal call and response has satisfied all requestors. |
Joe Olson 360-359-6403 joe.olson@commerce.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | COM | Commerce began to impose disciplinary sanctions (standard progressive discipline) on agency drivers who were clearly at-fault in accidents involving vehicles being used on state business. Commerce has very few employee-involved accidents, so the intent of the change was two-fold: 1) make employees aware of the cost of poor driving habits and 2) make employees improve their poor driving habits. |
Joe Olson 360-359-6403 joe.olson@commerce.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employee wellness | COM | One of Commerce’s strategies in a prior strategic plan was to make Commerce the employer of choice. The health and wellness of its employees was one of the ways to achieve the strategy. Commerce promotes activities to enhance employee wellness, including a health and wellness room, monthly yoga, weekly meditation, weekly chair massages (paid for by employees), the yearly YMCA walk/run, quarterly blood drive, and many other team building volunteer opportunities throughout the year. | Joe Olson 360-359-6403 joe.olson@commerce.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | COM | Commerce safety committee members report on safety issues at division staff meetings. Commerce also instituted a number of other safety measures (safety committee minutes posted on the intranet, safety bulletins posted in restroom stalls, safety inspections throughout all agency areas, frequent emails on safety issues, etc.). Based in part on these efforts, Commerce had zero serious injury incidents in calendar year 2010. In the same time period, the number of minor injuries to staff also decreased. | Joe Olson 360-359-6403 joe.olson@commerce.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | DEL | All supervisors completed training on agency's Collective Bargaining Agreement. | Linda Shea 360-725-4920 linda.shea@del.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk assessment | DEL | An agency risk register was compiled to prioritize the risks identified by the agency and to begin development of a plan for how these risks would be mitigated, along with a timeframe for regular review of progress. | Linda Shea 360-725-4920 linda.shea@del.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Continuity of Operations | DEL | Made progress in updating the COOP to include field offices and to expand on the agency's vital services. | Linda Shea 360-725-4920 linda.shea@del.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | DFW | This year, the agency updated its litigation hold policy. A copy of the policy is available here. | Nancy Heyen 360-902-2446 heyenneh@dfw.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | DFW | The agency created Program Litigation liaisons for each part of the agency to assist in discovery and records retention or pending litigation. | Nancy Heyen 360-902-2446 heyenneh@dfw.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk assessment | DFW | The agency created a risk survey and received responses from most field staff in all six agency regions. The survey results were used to identify and address the agency's priority risks in categories including: dangerous trees, cable barriers at road and/or gate entrances, target practice areas, and miscellaneous walking hazards. | Nancy Heyen 360-902-2446 heyenneh@dfw.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public safety | DFW | The risk manager conducted site visits to meet with hatchery and wildlife area managers to discuss risk issues and audit public safety. | Nancy Heyen 360-902-2446 heyenneh@dfw.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public safety | DFW | The risk manager conducted a lands and facilities survey to audit public safety issues for agency owned land. | Nancy Heyen 360-902-2446 heyenneh@dfw.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | DFW | Many agency employees who are high mileage drivers have successfully completed driver safety training. | Nancy Heyen 360-902-2446 heyenneh@dfw.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DFW | The agency included supervisor safety training as one module of the HR Supervisor Training Program, to ensure supervisors and managers are equipped with the tools and knowledge they need to ensure a safe and healthful workplace. Class covers the WDFW Accident Prevention Plan and regulatory safety requirements based on the types of hazards to which staff are exposed and informs supervisors of safety resources within WDFW and at L&I. | Katherine Waldrop 360-902-2279 Katherine.Waldrop@dfw.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DIS | DIS updated the business continuity plan and has conducted two tabletop exercises for preparedness and for disaster recovery utilizing the updated plan. One of the tabletop exercises tested the agency’s ability to stand up an Incident Response Team and declare an emergency. DSHS partnered with DIS on this tabletop exercise and observed DIS testing the ability to relocate a workgroup that was negatively affected by the emergency to an alternate work site. DIS participants were able to run the business from remote locations using solutions that provided access to email and business applications and the management team tested the use of satellite radio for communication. | Connie Robins 360-407-8816 connie.robins@dis.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DIS | The agency exercised the use of the Virtual Command Console (VCC) which allows employees to access the disaster recovery solution located in other locations across the US. This testing validated the ability to perform system recovery from remote locations and eliminated the need to have staff travel to Pennsylvania and Federal Way, Washington to support state mission critical systems. This testing included validation of a new network connection (out of Spokane instead of Seattle) to our Availability Service provider and exercised restoration from a new, higher-density media – shortening the recovery time. | Connie Robins 360-407-8816 connie.robins@dis.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | DIS | DIS has completed its security audit. Completion of the security audit enabled DIS to gain a better understanding of our profile in terms of security risk and regulatory compliance. The audit identified areas of risk which were prioritized. Mitigation plans were developed for action, and significant progress has been made to reduce risk to the state. The security audit provided information that will reduce risk and help ensure DIS is compliant with the security standards that become effective August 2012. | Connie Robins 360-407-8816 connie.robins@dis.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | DIS | The agency experienced zero auto accidents this year. | Connie Robins 360-407-8816 connie.robins@dis.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employee wellness | DIS | The agency has been selected as a Washington Wellness Worksite Collaborative and is focusing on the health and wellness of our workforce. The program involves top management and has key milestones for employee participation. | Connie Robins 360-407-8816 connie.robins@dis.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DIS | The agency posts monthly safety tips in its agency newsletter and included additional safety tips in staff meetings. | Connie Robins 360-407-8816 connie.robins@dis.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DNR | DNR's comprehensive emergency management program provides coordinated response to wildland fires and related naturally occurring events. The program resulted in a reduction in the average number of wildland fires and below average number of acres (size) on state protected lands. Considering that this year was characterized by periods of below normal temperatures and that the number of lightning events was also below average, this was a successful year because the total acreage burned was 25,440 acres - 17% below average. | Jim Smego 360-902-1264 james.smego@dnr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety management | DNR | Hired a workers' compensation claims manager. Due to this new employee's experience as a claims manager in the private sector, the return to work focus of claims resolution improved. In addition, the heightened agency-wide focus on safety issues helped result in an OSHA incident rate decrease of 12% from 2009. | Gary Kessler 360-902-1133 gary.kessler@dnr.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Budget-related issues | DOC | Relocation of Offenders to New Facilities - Facing serious budgetary constraints, the Department of Corrections (DOC) had to close several prisons over the last several years. DOC closed Pine Lodge Corrections Center for Women (PLCCW), McNeil Island Corrections Center (MICC), and Ahtanum View Corrections Center (AVCC). Achieving such a task required extensive planning as it related to moving hundreds of offenders from the closing corrections center to an operating corrections center. DOC has a policy that contemplates the known risks inherent in transporting offenders of various classification levels. The policy contains many of the key principles of enterprise risk management (identify risk, analyze risk, prioritize risk, address risk, and review and report risk). For example, the policy addresses the necessary safety equipment needed for transport vehicles, the training required for transport officers prior to being assigned to transport offenders, the types of restraints to be applied on offenders, how to transport disabled offenders, the weapons available to transport staff, the ratio of staff to offenders during transports, searches of offenders, and the handling of offender personal property. DOC met and exceeded the initial timeline for expanded facility closures. All transports were accomplished without incident. |
Kathy Gastreich 360-725-8587 kathy.gastreich@doc.wa.gov Barb Parry 360-725-8586 barbara.parry@doc.wa.gov Charles Malone 360-725-8585 charles.malone@doc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Quality improvement | DOC | DOC was approved by DOH as a Coordinated Quality Improvement Program. The agency has convened a Governing Board and Statewide Committee and is in the process of identifying DOC's data resources, assessing current quality management processes, and developing subcommittee/task forces to propose implementation plans regarding credentialing/ privileging, chronic care management, and adverse event monitoring. | Kathy Gastreich 360-725-8587 kathy.gastreich@doc.wa.gov Barb Parry 360-725-8586 barbara.parry@doc.wa.gov Charles Malone 360-725-8585 charles.malone@doc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk intelligence | DOC | DOC has created and uses a successful project management framework, PMDOC, which provides governance and accountability of DOC key initiatives. Risk analysis is factored into every step of this process. PMDOC continues to show outstanding results and to deliver value to the agency. This growth process is shown by the expanding use of the PMDOC framework within the agency. While the system started in IT, it is now used by HR, Health Services, and Executive Management. In addition, the initiative process and reporting structure provides valuable data to agency decision makers. The examples of PMDOC dashboards (available here) show the reporting structure used for each initiative as well as the closure report used to provide final statistics of completed projects. | Kathy Gastreich 360-725-8587 kathy.gastreich@doc.wa.gov Barb Parry 360-725-8586 barbara.parry@doc.wa.gov Charles Malone 360-725-8585 charles.malone@doc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Incident reporting | DOC | DOC developed a new internal incident reporting system that increases the timely and accurate reporting of incidents. The Incident Report Management System moved staff to a user friendly web based interface which eliminated the use of codes and increased user options and accuracy through drop down lists of values. The system contains functionality which immediately notifies selected management via email notifications of incidents occurring in DOC facilities. | Kathy Gastreich 360-725-8587 kathy.gastreich@doc.wa.gov Barb Parry 360-725-8586 barbara.parry@doc.wa.gov Charles Malone 360-725-8585 charles.malone@doc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | DOC | Achieved a 24% reduction in the Tactics Training injury claims, by increasing instructor briefings about injury rates, increased observance of student range of motion, and slowing the pace of tactics training techniques. Specifically, over the more than 73,000 hours of training provided to personnel last year, the claims injury rate dropped from 11.1 incidents/10,000 training hours in FY 09 to 8.5 incidents/10,000 training hours. | David Block 360-725-8225 david.block@doc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | ECY | Ecology has established an Emergency Management/Business Continuity website for Ecology employees. In addition, ICS (Incident Command System) training was held in our newly designated EOC (Emergency Operations Center). | Carol Fleskes 360-407-7012 carol.fleskes@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | ECY | Ecology has mandatory data security training classes which each employee must take every 3 years. | Carol Fleskes 360-407-7012 carol.fleskes@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | ECY | Ecology closely tracks all claims and lawsuits. Ecology had a case (Rahman) involving an unauthorized passenger who successfully sued for damages (decided in 2010 by the Washington State Supreme Court). In 2011, the legislature passed a law to limit the state's liability in future cases where an employee is acting in violation of directives. | Carol Fleskes 360-407-7012 carol.fleskes@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | ECY | Created a new chapter for the agency safety manual called "Working On and Around Water." To develop the chapter, Ecology Safety Officers met with environmental operations sections that use watercraft or work around water and also consulted with agency experts. | Janet Hyre 360-407-6962 Janet.hyre@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | ECY | Published driving-safety articles on non-cell phone use. Ensured high risk drivers are current in training. In addition, Ecology Vehicle Accident Review Committee reviewed each vehicle accident and the date the driver was last trained. Determined actions to be taken in preventable accidents. | Janet Hyre 360-407-6962 Janet.hyre@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety assessment | ECY | Analyzed whether safety and health guidelines for Ecology staff who visit locations where nanotechnology is being employed were needed. Study shows that the agency's Safety web page contains excellent information. However, it has also become clear that one-size-fits-all guidelines are not appropriate for this topic. Reviews and updates are ongoing as nanotechnology evolves and the number and uses of nanomaterials increases. | Janet Hyre 360-407-6962 Janet.hyre@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | ECY | The agency reduced the number and severity of workplace injuries. Ecology has a very active statewide safety program. Ecology continues to have lowest Experience Factor (0.2384) of all State agencies, colleges and universities. | Janet Hyre 360-407-6962 Janet.hyre@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety assessment | ECY | The agency has undertaken a study on the safety of employees that travel to "remote locations" for work-related matters. Has begun a "field staff tracking" program for employee safety and security; working with three Programs that work in remote locations (EAP, Air, Water Resources). | Janet Hyre 360-407-6962 Janet.hyre@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | ECY | The agency studied safety & security risks related to public meetings and hearings, creating guidance for meeting planners, outreach coordinators and hearings officers, with goals to increase meeting effectiveness and reduce risks to staff. | Janet Hyre 360-407-6962 Janet.hyre@ecy.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DOH | Developed an Emergency Response Plan for their headquarters building. All staff now have concrete guidance on response actions in the event of an emergency. | Dennis Anderson 360-236-4416 Dennis.Anderson@doh.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | DOH | Agency driver and vehicle safety policies/procedures were revised and updated. | Dennis Anderson 360-236-4416 Dennis.Anderson@doh.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Continuity of Operations | DOL | The agency has improved its COOP-related assets in many important ways: data for key Driver and Vehicle systems is mirrored at the external data site; more infrastructure is in place and being tested including virtualization; copies of most business/web based applications currently exist at the external site; periodic testing occurs on some but not all web based applications. | Robert Smith 360-359-4018 rsmith@dol.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | DOL | A number of tort claims and lawsuits were closed; lessons learned were shared with agency management and appropriate staff. | Robert Smith 360-359-4018 rsmith@dol.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DOL | The agency's Executive Leadership Team received three sessions of Incident Command System Training. | Robert Smith 360-359-4018 rsmith@dol.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | DOL | The agency implemented Centralized oversight of public records requests and responses. | Robert Smith 360-359-4018 rsmith@dol.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | DOL | Continued Ergonomics Campaign and completed 37 ergonomics workstation evaluations. | Robert Smith 360-359-4018 rsmith@dol.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DOL | Conducted annual Safety Conference and held four safety drills/ evacuations in DOL facilities. | Robert Smith 360-359-4018 rsmith@dol.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | DOP | Conducted quarterly meetings with all managers and supervisors on employment law-related issues. | Mel McLaughlin 360-407-8425 |
| 2011 | Driver safety | DOP | The agency experienced zero auto accidents this year. | Mel McLaughlin 360-407-8425 |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DOR | The agency held an evacuation drill, developed templates for building emergency operation plans, and purchased and installed emergency lockers. | Sandra Kinoshita 360-596-3631 |
| 2011 | Employment liability | DOR | 100% of staff and managers received sexual harassment prevention training this year. Also, provided employment liability training to supervisors and managers via WebEx on the following topics: hiring process; performance management; and labor relations essentials. | Sandra Kinoshita 360-596-3631 |
| 2011 | Public records management | DOR | The agency implemented a new Pubic Records Report and Tracking System (PRRTS) and conducted its first agency-wide email clean-up campaign, which resulted in a 45% reduction in email storage. | Sandra Kinoshita 360-596-3631 |
| 2011 | ERM policy | DOR | Hired an Enterprise Risk Manager. | Sandra Kinoshita 360-596-3631 |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DOR | Developed and implemented an agency safety committee project management SharePoint site to improve collaboration and communication between agency safety committees. | Sandra Kinoshita 360-596-3631 |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DOR | Safety awareness: To improve communication and awareness of employee safety issues, the agency Safety Committee debriefed the Strategy Team on safety issues. In addition, the Committee presented its Annual Safety Report to the Strategy Team at the end of the year. | Sandra Kinoshita 360-596-3631 |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DOT | The Department of Transportation (WSDOT) continues with staff development and training for the WSDOT HQ Emergency Operations Center. It has nearly completed (90%) the revised WSDOT Emergency Operations Plan and designation of support annexes. Preparations for the possibility of Green River Valley flooding is ongoing, as is training in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) and participation in annual statewide NIMS exercises | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Continuity of Operations | DOT | The Department of Transportation is integrating the Continuity Operations Plan (COOP) into the Emergency Operations Plan. The goal is to enhance the coordination between the two activities. This is being accomplished by setting up regular meetings between the two groups; making sure that both groups now do regular reviews of the plans of each group; the institution of the use of common terms by both groups for their work; and the groups jointly participate in each other’s exercises. These steps have led to tighter coordination of activities between the groups, which in turn has created greater preparation by the Department should a catastrophic incident occur. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure | DOT | In an effort to upgrade its staff with respect to contracting and awards procedures, the Department of Transportation now requires all Contracts Office administrative staff to take the OFM contracts class. In addition, the agency has created its own training program that headquarters contracts staff teach to regional contracting employees. As a result the agency has reduced contracts processing time as well as contracting process errors. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | DOT | In order to better protect the Department of Transportation's (WSDOT) IT systems and data, WSDOT is working to comply with the new Information Services Board State IT Security Standard. Meeting the requirements of the Standard will make it more difficult to access this data inappropriately and justify the IT spending authority. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | DOT | With the increasing uncertainty as to job stability within the state work force, the Department of Transportation has developed and implemented a RIF Disparate Impact Model that enables managers and HR to monitor the loss of protected group employees to determine the impact on affirmative action goals. Since implementation, this system has been able to prevent an increase in the number of claims and lawsuits that could arise from this type of activity. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | DOT | The Department of Transportation completed actions to provide assurances to the OEO that the agency's regions and administrations successfully implemented, measured, and evaluated programs to address equal opportunity challenges or deficiencies identified in 2010 by the OEO. |
John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | DOT | The Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has purchased a Universal Records Management application with the expectation that the software will result in more efficient records management and responses to public records requests. We are currently in the process of training employees on the software. However, it has not been completely set up and is only in partial production. To support the records management initiative, the imaging project for WSDOT Payroll and Personnel files has begun and is 40% complete. In addition, 90% of the Retention Schedules project (in which the department’s unique retention schedules will be put on the agency's internal Web page) is now complete. When this project is finished, anyone in the Department of Transportation with the necessary clearance will be able to electronically view any WSDOT document. |
John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | DOT | The Department of Transportation (WSDOT) continues to meet with other large agency counterparts to share risk management best practices. The project to update the WSDOT risk management manual and to develop a desk reference is 90% complete. The updated chapters are currently under final review. Members of the Enterprise Risk Management Office (ERMO) have increased their involvement in evaluation conferences, mediations, and work intended to spur early resolutions of claims and lawsuits. The ERMO continues to train maintenance, project, program and communications staff on methods of documentation, responses to litigation-related communications, and the importance of factual versus individual opinion-based responses. |
John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | DOT | As electronic discovery issues become more and more of a high priority concern within risk management, the Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has created an electronic document preservation process that is currently in force and continually updated to meet the standards that the courts are setting for retention purposes. As a result of this process, WSDOT has not had a single legal records retention related issue to date. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | ERM policy | DOT | In order to keep senior executives at Department of Transportation up to date on major claims and lawsuits against the Department, the agency created, in conjunction with the Attorney General’s Office (AGO), a website that gives background on all AGO handled claims and lawsuits. Access to this is limited to senior executives and members of the Enterprise Risk Management Office. This site is updated daily as to new claims and lawsuits. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public safety | DOT | The Washington State Ferries (WSF) is 80% complete with writing a policy to meet current ADA regulations with respect to passengers with disabilities. Currently the WSF is working to make sure all appropriate signage is installed and putting information on our website. This information includes a 24 hour telephone number so they can be notified in advance that such individuals are coming and we can provide assistance. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | DOT | The Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has developed and provided a new safety training program on "Enhanced Tree Clearance Safety" for their employees. Because of past accidents involving danger trees and WSDOT personnel, the Department created three separate classes devoted to trees and safety: Chainsaw Maintenance and Operation; Identifying Hazard Trees; and Falling Trees. The purpose of the classes is to educate employees to dangers involved with working with trees as a WSDOT employee. Since last year when the classes were first offered, nearly 70 per cent of identified staff have received the training. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | DOT | The Department of Transportation (WSDOT) continues to deliver driver safety training. It has also expanded the distribution of a newly-produced backing safety video. WSDOT has installed Doppler radar backing alarms in 34 vehicles and 9 Safety vision collision avoidance devices in their vehicles in one of the regions. WSDOT have not had a backing accident since installation on the vehicles. It is now adding cameras to some vehicles as well. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DOT | The Department of Transportation held a department-wide Safety Stand down in August 2010 and is reviewing whether to have a safety stand down in 2011. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employee wellness | DOT | The Department of Transportation continues to promote stretch and flex activities among office and field personnel. | John Milton 360-704-6363 MiltonJ@wsdot.wa.gov Streator Johnson 360-704-6360 JohnsSt@wsdot.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | DRS | Adopted enhanced public disclosure procedures. | George Pickett 360-664-7950 GeorgeP@drs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | DRS | Created an agency wide hazard inspection schedule. | George Pickett 360-664-7950 GeorgeP@drs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | DRS | Conducted hazard recognition and mitigation training sessions with staff. | George Pickett 360-664-7950 GeorgeP@drs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employee wellness | DRS | Deployed emergency kit backpacks throughout the agency. | George Pickett 360-664-7950 GeorgeP@drs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DRS | Conducted two agency wide evacuation drills. | George Pickett 360-664-7950 GeorgeP@drs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure | DSHS | Analyzed the agency's current active contracts and determined that the overall percentage of performance-based contracts in the agency was approximately 50% as of January 2011. Set a baseline for future incorporation of performance-based contracts pursuant to Executive Order 10-07. | Monika Vasil 360-664-6071 Vasilm@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | DSHS | Updated IT Security Policy so that it conforms with ISB Security Standards. Also, ensured that all data sharing contracts meet current security standards by requiring that contracts are created in a uniform manner. | Rob St. John 360-902-7714 StjohRK@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | DSHS | DSHS experienced a 5% reduction in claims this year. | Kevin Krueger 360-902-7794 KruegKD@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk assessment | DSHS | The 2010 Enterprise Risk Assessment and Self-Evaluation (ERASE) was successfully used to determine trends of risk and mitigation for the agency, as well as to have managers report primary common business functions of focus. The result was a determination that for the enterprise, workplace safety, emergency management, and personnel training are of greatest concern, all areas clearly impacted by the economic downturn. | Kevin Krueger 360-902-7794 KruegKD@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety management | DSHS | The agency's safety administrative policy remains under review due to continued significant changes to the organization, including possible centralization of all facility maintenance operations and assumption of responsibilities at McNeil Island. All safety management functions have been shifted to the agency's safety manager. A program of increased field office consultation is in progress. | Kevin Krueger 360-902-7794 KruegKD@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | DSHS | Distributed information electronically to all DSHS employees on policies to employees as well as a training video. Resulted in 5% reduction in at-fault motor vehicle accidents and MVA payouts. | Kevin Krueger 360-902-7794 KruegKD@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | DSHS | The safety program's reorganization has begun, but due to extremely limited resources the changes being undertaken more correctly reflect a shift in focus than any introduction of significant physical changes. The central safety office has undertaken a tactic of imposing itself strategically into Department offices, worksites, facilities and in projects. The intent is to proactively increase the safety presence at all DSHS locations by conducting an assessment of every facility annually, while also conducting assessments/consultations and training at a minimum of one third of all office field locations in each fiscal year. The program also calls for a significant increase in communications to all field activities on the subject of safety. | Kevin Krueger 360-902-7794 KruegKD@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety management | DSHS | The agency consolidated its claims staff in the ERM Office, in an effort to reduce claims and payouts by 5% or more. The Office was able to accomplish this goal this year. | Kevin Krueger 360-902-7794 KruegKD@dshs.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | DVA | Due to constrained resources and turnover/vacancies in critical leadership positions, the statewide exercise was postponed until fall 2011. All three Veteran's Homes conducted local preparedness exercises. | Gary Condra 360-725-2202 GaryC@dva.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk assessment | DVA | To date the agency has focused efforts on financial services and compliance committee work. The objective for 2011 is to broaden their efforts to include program managers and develop an agency risk register. | Gary Condra 360-725-2202 GaryC@dva.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | DVA | The agency completed and implemented a five year acquisition/ replacement plan for patient lifts in all state veterans homes. The first year of purchases were completed and the lifts were placed into service. The benefit of using these lifts has been to reduce overexertion injuries to agency staff and a reduction in L&I claims. | Gary Condra 360-725-2202 GaryC@dva.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | DVA | The agency partnered with local transit organizations to obtain defensive driving training for agency drivers. All employees that drive state vehicles attended this training. We (safety committee) were able to work with intercity transit (Thurston) to send our staff to attend defensive driving classes that they offer. The contact persons at intercity are: Launie Wright 360-705-5859, Lee Peterson 360-705-5848 or Hanny Pingel 360-705-5821. The upcoming training schedule for the defensive driving class can be accessed thru their website. |
Gary Condra 360-725-2202 GaryC@dva.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | DVA | Ensured that each facility has multiple employees trained and certified in First Aid and CPR. The other free training that the agency has accessed is thru Medic 1 – they offer free CPR and First Aid training through their website. |
Gary Condra 360-725-2202 GaryC@dva.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | DVA | Using new training tracker software (INTELEX), the agency has been able to track and schedule necessary training for each job class and employee assigned within the agency (i.e. CAN, nurses, food workers, etc.). This ensured that all required training for all employees was completed this year. | Gary Condra 360-725-2202 GaryC@dva.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | ESD | The agency updated its risk management module of its supervisory training program, which has been disseminated through their continuing training process. The tort liability of the agency, based on number of torts filed, is at a historic low and has been on a downward trend since FY06. | John Nacht 360-407-4506 JNacht@esd.wa.gov |
| 2011 | ARRA risk management program | ESD | The project manager, serving also as the risk manager for the ARRA distribution and accountability project, maintained the risk register and successfully managed risk in the project.
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John Nacht 360-407-4506 JNacht@esd.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | ESD | Risk Management has a direct link from the ESD homepage to emergency information. This has created another important communication device at times of an emergency through both the internet and intranet sites. | John Nacht 360-407-4506 JNacht@esd.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | ESD | Completed a Safety and Health Program Manual, which incorporates requirements of the agency safety program. The manual was well-received and has been referenced by field staff when presenting safety program questions. | John Nacht 360-407-4506 JNacht@esd.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | GA | Took several steps to decrease liability: 1. Collaborated with AGO and LRO to continue to ensure agency supervisors and employees follow appropriate WACs and Collective Bargaining Agreement. 2. HR staff provides ongoing coaching, training etc. to employees and supervisors. 3. Required training in four employment relations classes continue to be monitored. 4. Added Diversity training as a required training for all employees. |
Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | GA | Developed the first draft of the Agency Emergency Operations Center operations procedure. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | GA | Records management policy created December 2010. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure | GA | Implemented centralized contract management including technical assistance and staff training on contract management. Developed templates for common contracts and IAA's. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | GA | Security gap analysis completed. Implementation plan created to close gaps. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | GA | Three defensive driving classes held with an average of 15 employees attending each class. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety reporting | GA | Mitigation measures have reduced the number of false fire alarms in Capitol Campus buildings. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | GA | Managers attend (2) safety committee meetings and discuss safety issues at staff meetings. Enhance employee awareness of management’s commitment to safety. 65% of all managers attend at least one meeting, 30% attend two (a little lower than previous year due to workload issues). | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | GA | The agency acknowledges the good safety behavior of its employees to reinforce a safe working environment, including an emphasis on workplace violence prevention and response. In turn, this recognition enhanced employee awareness of management’s commitment to safety. Two programs provided employee safety recognition, Buildings and Grounds (B&G) and Campus Mail Service (CMS). | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | GA | Awareness was enhanced through a memo sent to all employees to communicate safety survey results of the 2010 Safety Survey. Collective email memo from Senior Management Team sent by July 1, 2010, reiterating management’s commitment to safety. In addition, GA followed its Safe Worker Action Plan. Safety is a priority for all program areas. Safety inspections are conducted and reported to appointing authority, risk manager, supervisors and program managers. Safety information is reviewed quarterly by GA's Management Team. |
Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety reporting | GA | The agency conducts walk through safety inspections every year. The safety inspections are documented in the Safety Committee minutes and reported to AD’s for a specific program area. This reporting is designed to keep work areas safe to ensure environment is free of hazards and/or hazards are controlled. Completed 14 of 14 program area safety inspections this year. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | GA | Provided specific safety training of policies and programs and hazard awareness to enhance employee safety. Provided required safety training, updated two safety policies and procedures and the GA Building Evacuation Plan. | Terry Wilson 360-902-7480 Terry.Wilson@ga.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure | HCA | Created a contract policy and procedure, which increased the agency's ability to comply with state and federal rules and regulations. | Nikki Johnson 360-725-1921 Nikki.Johnson@hca.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | HCA | The agency incorporated LAN/PBX heating/cooling benchmarks into its Emergency Management Plan, which improves its ability to assess and respond to HVAC events in its LAN/PBX rooms. | Nikki Johnson 360-725-1921 Nikki.Johnson@hca.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | HCA | Since June 2010 there has been only 1 vehicle incident. | Nikki Johnson 360-725-1921 Nikki.Johnson@hca.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employee wellness | HCA | The agency created a policy making all of its facilities Fragrance Neutral. This improved indoor air quality. In addition, the agency now cleans projector filters in their conference rooms on a regular schedule, which has also improved the quality of the work environment. | Nikki Johnson 360-725-1921 Nikki.Johnson@hca.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety reporting | HCA | The agency adopted a practice of posting monthly Employee Incident Report (OSHA and L&I) information on its Safety intranet site. Posting employee incident information on the intranet site has significantly increased awareness of the need to report incidents and near misses. As a result of employees now reporting everything, reported incidents increased from 9 in 2009 to 16 in 2010. Although this may appear a negative consequence, the agency now believes "that we have a more accurate understanding of the risks our employees are exposed to" than ever before. | Nikki Johnson 360-725-1921 Nikki.Johnson@hca.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | HCA | The Agency undertook a program of Workplace Violence Training. Although not part of its original plan for 2010, because of the changing economy and unrest this created (with both agency clients and staff) it was decided it would be prudent to retrain our staff on how to recognize and respond to violence in the workplace. 41 supervisors/managers and 277 employees received the training. | Nikki Johnson 360-725-1921 Nikki.Johnson@hca.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | L&I | All of the agency's business continuity plans can now be accessed from any computer with internet access. | Carole Mathews 360-902-5740 Matc235@lni.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | L&I | The agency has been providing safe driver training to its staff and conducting collision reviews. These efforts have resulted in a 4% reduction in preventable collisions and a 24% reduction overall in motor vehicle incidents. | Carole Mathews 360-902-5740 Matc235@lni.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | LCB | The agency used the OFM EPL video, the "Wake Up Call" as the cornerstone of training that was provided to management groups in Licensing, Business Enterprise, Financial, Enforcement, and Information Technology Services. The agency did not experience any employee related lawsuits in FY 2011. | Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | LCB | Agency senior management completed an earthquake tabletop exercise in March 2011. Action items from the exercise include: 1. Improve the emergency supply items located in the outside COOP manual box. 2. Ensure the Mission Essential Staff contact list is kept up to date and make the list more visible in the COOP manual. 3. Develop plans to secure the building entrances after employees exit the facility. 4. Ensure safety committee participation is 3 deep to accommodate - and account for - persons out on leave. 5. Schedule an actual walkthrough where participants test communication tools and act out a potential scenario. |
Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | LCB | During the first three quarters of FY 2011, the Enforcement division has conducted four Use of Force training sessions, with 70 officers in attendance and a 98% participation rating. | Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Strategic planning | LCB | The agency Risk Register is incorporated into the 11-13 Strategic Plan. Measures are created and will be reviewed at quarterly internal agency GMAP sessions. | Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Risk management training | LCB | Risk management: All retail store staff received training on how to conduct risk and safety self audits. The audits began in May 2011. | Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | LCB | Agency has created "joint interest" committee consisting of Safety/ERM and COOP to ensure full review, monitoring and metric/accountability; Agency safety and risk will continue to develop meaningful metrics and report quarterly to executive staff. | Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | LCB | The agency undertook an initiative to increase their Distribution Center safety rating. They decided to increase Distribution Center safety staffing levels to gain a better understanding of Distribution Center safety culture and use the strong safety knowledge base of new staff to better understand their vendor, customer, supplier, and visitor safety needs. Labor and Industry related claims at the Distribution Center were reduced by 10% in 2010. Also, by implementing safety best practices, the agency is closing Labor and Industry claims sooner and making a positive impact on the amount of time it takes for employees to return to work. | Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | LCB | Health, safety and wellness training is now considered an active part of the agency's culture | Randy Simmons 360-664-1671 rls@liq.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | LOT | The agency completed its transfer of the Internal Control System to an outside vendor to segregate operational systems from development systems. This improved the overall security of the system. | Bruce Eisentrout 360-664-4790 BEisentrout@walottery.com |
| 2011 | Emergency management | LOT | The agency installed an emergency generator which worked successfully during a downtown Olympia power failure. In addition, a tabletop exercise was conducted and several action items were identified to improve the agency emergency response plan. | Bruce Eisentrout 360-664-4790 BEisentrout@walottery.com |
| 2011 | Risk communications | LOT | Risk management (new projects): The risk management team (legal, audit, administrative) has been included in the agency's Management Team meetings concerning new projects. During these meetings, the group discusses risk issues prior to implementation in order to identify and treat risks of all sorts (loss, safety, public perception). These discussions lead to better stewardship of state resources through early identification of, and response to, risks. This communication and risk identification process also creates opportunities in that it fosters the agency's ability to maximize its revenues and financial outcomes. Also, by improving the effectiveness of its operations, the process enhances the agency's reputation by demonstrating the integrity of its business processes. |
Bruce Eisentrout 360-664-4790 BEisentrout@walottery.com |
| 2011 | Safety training | LOT | The agency conducted safety training for its supervisors in order to clarify their roles and responsibilities with regard to assuring the safety of all personnel. To date, 100% of all supervisors have recently reviewed proper safety procedures within the agency and appear to be reporting all safety events to the agency safety office. | Bruce Eisentrout |
| 2011 | Employment liability | MIL | 90% of all agency supervisors, managers and staff have received Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Discrimination training. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | MIL | To reduce liability regarding overtime, scheduling, work period designations, and lunches and breaks, HR personnel have educated staff and supervisors on best practices regarding these issues. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | MIL | The agency deployed new server infrastructure as well as a new disk back-up technology. These changes have improved IT security and resulted in identification of a new priority issue regarding the IT network. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | MIL | The Emergency Management Division has created a training and augmentation program to ensure that sufficient trained emergency personnel are available to staff the Emergency Operations Center in case of a major emergency event. This effort includes a specific cross-training regimen of select staff. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | MIL | Updated the agency records retention schedule and provided additional staff training. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Volunteer policy | MIL | Developed a policy to track and monitor volunteers used by the agency. This policy provides guidelines to consistently recruit, select, and use the services of volunteers. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Internal controls | MIL | Prescription management: Students at the Washington Youth Academy (WYA) are prescribed medications by their medical providers. A policy was developed and implemented through staff training to provide a standard for the services and processes in the WYA Health Center. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Internal controls | MIL | The Washington Military Department created and implemented a policy regarding the proper use of purchase cards. All of the agency's staff that manage and use the purchase cards have been trained. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety management | MIL | Decreased average Workers' Compensation claim costs by reducing the number of serious injuries. The average claim cost for FY09-FY10 reduced by 37% over the previous year. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety reporting | MIL | Improved safety hazard reporting awareness amongst employees. As a result, reported safety hazards increased by 18%. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | MIL | Improved employee awareness of Non-Permitted Confine Space Entry locations. 20% of the non-permit spaces have been marked agency-wide using a standardized labeling system. In addition, 32% of relevant staff have received confined space entry refresher training. | Susan Miles 253-512-7950 Susan.Miles@mil.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | OAH | The agency completed 93% of employee evaluations this year. The agency had a prior evaluation rate of 56%. Through evaluations, we are able to communicate expectations about performance and compliance with policies. This gives us the opportunity to reduce the likelihood of risk events. In addition, staff are clearer about what they should and should not do as public employees. The agency's internal GMAP report on its work is available here. |
Patti Latsch 360-407-2713 patricia.latsch@oah.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Tort claims/lawsuits | OAH | The agency created a central register for tort claims and lawsuits. After gathering data for a period of time, the agency will be able to identify trends and take steps to modify practices to reduce the likelihood of litigation. |
Patti Latsch 360-407-2713 patricia.latsch@oah.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Data security | OAH | The agency conducted IT Security training and all permanent & nonpermanent employees were trained as of February 2011. All staff are now familiar with IT standards related to data security. That sensitivity helps us reduce the likelihood of inadvertent security breaches. | Patti Latsch 360-407-2713 patricia.latsch@oah.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | OAH | The agency's safety committee held one emergency drill in 2010. All staff have had the chance to practice steps to take in the event of an emergency. Practice helps staff be prepared in the event an emergency occurs. | Patti Latsch 360-407-2713 patricia.latsch@oah.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | OAH | The agency continues to review agency safety issues at the management team level. This year, they conducted safety and health training for all staff and management. By including risk management as a management team discussion, the agency helped managers be more aware of the effect their decisions may have on our safety risks. And by including risk management as part of regularly scheduled GMAP activities and leadership team activities, the agency has been able to keep managers alert for safety issues. |
Patti Latsch 360-407-2713 patricia.latsch@oah.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | OFM | Implemented the Data Vault, which allows for efficient email searches in response to public records requests. | Aaron Butcher 360-902-0406 aaron.butcher@ofm.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | OFM | No claims were filed against the agency this year. | Aaron Butcher 360-902-0406 aaron.butcher@ofm.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | OFM | There were no agency vehicle accidents this year. | Aaron Butcher 360-902-0406 aaron.butcher@ofm.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety reporting | OFM | Facility inspections reported to the Safety Committee twice yearly. Facilities staff do regular walkthroughs during monthly visits to each building. | Aaron Butcher 360-902-0406 aaron.butcher@ofm.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | OFM | Agency provided onsite training to 44 staff on first-aid, CPR, & AED use. | Aaron Butcher 360-902-0406 aaron.butcher@ofm.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Emergency management | Parks | The agency's Emergency Management Program personnel updated the State Hazard Mitigation Plan, which is designed to reduce loss of life, injuries, economic costs and destruction of natural and cultural resources. All agency staff review the plan to be prepared in case of a disaster. A copy of the Plan can be viewed here. |
Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure | Parks | Developed an agency-wide Contracts Manual and updated the agency’s Purchasing Manual, which has simplified the contracting process. This reduces the likelihood of employee error and helps assure more effective use of agency resources. The manual includes check lists so that everyone involved in the contract is able to follow each step of the process so nothing is left out and all people associated with the program understand their roles. |
Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Internal controls | Parks | Improved controls over Comdata fuel cards to prevent or detect misappropriation of public funds. The controls enhance assurance to executives that fuel funds are used appropriately. With the new process, any misuse of the cards will be caught in a timely manner. | Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Internal controls | Parks | Improved controls over agency purchase cards by requiring secondary approval of each purchase card log/transaction by supervisor and annual reviews of the number of card transactions to determine if any cards can be canceled. The controls enhance assurance to executives that fuel funds are used appropriately. With the new process, any misuse of the cards will be caught in a timely manner. | Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employment liability | Parks | Ensured that employees had sexual harassment/ethics training by Ethics Board Director either in-person or via e-training. 98% of all employees completed the training this year. | Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Budget-related issues | Parks | The agency is no longer funded by the general fund. Instead, revenue is generated by the Discover Pass. Because there is no historical knowledge of how much revenue will be realized, agency executive staff has analyzed each position to ensure that every worker is directly contributing to the work of attaining the agency's core mission. | Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure: internal process | Parks | Improved the internal process relating to grants and contracts; contracts are now centrally located within the agency's fiscal department, while grants are now closely monitored within the same department. These changes enhance executive staff’s confidence that future audits will not result in findings, because all agreements are monitored consistently for compliance with federal rules and regulations. | Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Accident prevention | Parks | Monitoring injuries that occur with our entire workforce to reveal accident/injury trends. Special emphasis was conducted to reinforce the current training modules in the areas where the most bodily injuries occurred, which were back and shoulder injuries. To date, both types of injuries have decreased. | Colleen Maguire 360-902-8544 colleen.maguire@parks.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Contract policy and procedure | UTC | Increased training efforts so all managers are aware of risks and responsibilities associated with contracts. All agency management were trained in 2010. | Sondra Walsh 360-664-1286 SWalsh@utc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety awareness and/or education | UTC | Increased manager safety awareness training. As a result, managers can clearly communicate safety goals and demonstrate commitment to safety. Safety topics are now a standing agenda item at quarterly all-manager meetings. | Sondra Walsh 360-664-1286 SWalsh@utc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety reporting | UTC | Documented process for hazard identification and mitigation, which had been in place since 2008. Process and associated forms were posted on agency SharePoint site in 2010, along with entire agency safety plan. | Sondra Walsh 360-664-1286 SWalsh@utc.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Strategic planning | WSP | Expanded risk assessment and analysis strategy to include all supervisors in the process. Accomplished through Strategic Planning and Performance Section and Budget and Fiscal Services. Exec Staff incorporated ERM into agency priority under Agency Goal #5. | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Continuity of Operations | WSP | Conducted table-top exercise to assess and update WSP's Continuity of Operations Plan. | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | ERM policy | WSP | Participation in ERM practices has been mandated by Policy/Regulations | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Public records management | WSP | Completed training of all personnel regarding proper public disclosure procedures. | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Driver safety | WSP | In order to improve safe driving practices and behaviors, all commissioned personnel are now receiving training via simulator in addition to actual drive course training. | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Employee wellness | WSP | Updated the agency's safety and wellness manual. | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety reporting | WSP | Instituted a quarterly report system that provides management with regular updates on safety matters and ensures that executive staff remained aware of the status of the safety program. | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | WSP | Expanded and improved the agency's internal training program and developed a tool to help supervisors track required training for employees. | Don Sorenson 360-596-4140 don.sorenson@wsp.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Continuity of Operations | WSSB | The Washington State School for the Blind's Continuity of Operations Plan was updated during the 2010-2011 school year to reflect the various departmental and student specific needs to be met in the event of an emergency or natural disaster. | Dr. Dean Stenehjem 360-696-6321 x 130 dean.stenehjem@wssb.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | WSSB | Each employee has completed at least 16 hours of Safety Training in an assortment of the following topics: SafeSchools.com (i.e. seizure awareness, first aid/CPR, defibulator training), Effective Communication for Managers, Safety and Emergency drills, Seizure Awareness, First Aid, CPR, CPI training, contract training, and Defibrillator Training. Managers/Supervisors have continued to attend all risk management and supervisory trainings, which included: risk management, records retention, supervisory training, effective communication for managers, and Just Cause training. | Dr. Dean Stenehjem 360-696-6321 x 130 dean.stenehjem@wssb.wa.gov |
| 2011 | Safety training | CCDHL | Each employee of the Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss has completed or will complete at least 16 hours of Safety Training in an assortment of the following topics: SafeSchools.com (i.e. seizure awareness, first aid/CPR, defibulator training), Ethics Training, Safe from Bullies, Health and Wellness, Safety and Emergency drills, CPI training and contract training. Managers/Supervisors have continued to attend all risk management and supervisory trainings, which included: risk management, records retention, supervisory training, effective communication for managers, and Just Cause training. | Rick Hauan 360-696-6525 rick.hauan@wsd.wa.gov |
