The Highland-Fayette-Clinton (HFC) Safety Council welcomed CPT. Louis “Louie” A. Belluomini and Star-K9 as the featured speaker at their 2019 CEO Luncheon held in Washington Court House on June 17th. 
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Louie and Star presented on “PTSD Awareness & What to Know About Service Dogs” to a captive audience of business leadership representing the tri-county area. Included in the presentation was an excerpt from the Emmy Award-winning documentary, “A New Leash on Life: The K9s for Warriors Story,” which features Louie and Star’s story.

Louie served in the Army for 9 years, where he worked as a psychological operations specialist and military police officer. He was honorably discharged as a Captain in 2015 after serving a tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Louie suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and a traumatic brain injury after his deployments, and pursued a treatment plan involving a k9 when medication or counseling didn’t completely solve the issues or failed.

Louie and Star were paired together by K9s for Warriors, the nation’s largest provider of service dogs to military veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and/or Military Sexual Trauma as a result of military service post-9/11. Star, a 2-year-old golden retriever lab mix, and Louie are never apart and she performs tasks for Louie that he cannot do on his own.

Louie has worked as a paramedic in the local communities for the past 10 years, and currently works at Hanco EMS in Findlay, Ohio, and as a paramedic at Putnam County EMS in Ottawa, Ohio. Star also works on the ambulance with him and is the first dog in the country to actively work on an ambulance with her handler. Since Star works on the ambulance, she is also cross trained to track and search for people in case they have a lost victim they respond to.

The HFC Safety Council was proud to make a $1500 donation in Louie and Star’s honor to the K9s for Warriors program. Learn more about the program at: www.k9sforwarriors.org.

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On Tuesday, September 9th, Safety Council Manager Dessie Buchanan and Roger Blackburn, Fayette County Chamber of Commerce, presented a donation of $1,000.00 from the HFC Safety Council to the Maria Tiberi Foundation. 

The Foundation was created by Dom Tiberi, Columbus sportscaster, following the fatal crash of his 21 year old daughter, Maria, in September 2013. The goal of the Foundation is to bring the dangerous issue of distracted driving to the forefront, specifically targeted to new drivers as "11% of all drivers under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash." (Source)

The donation from the Safety Council will assist the Foundation to purchase distracted driving simulator machines to help raise awareness among drivers as to the dangers and challenges of distracted driving. The simulators will be available for participants to use so more people can get a first hand understanding of the dangers of distracted driving.

For more information on "Maria's Message," visit http://www.mariatiberifoundation.org/

The Safety Innovations Competition is getting a face-lift this year with new rules and new prizes. For those of you not aware of this competition, 2015 will be our fourth annual Safety Innovations Competition! This competition encourages and recognizes development of innovative solutions that help to reduce workplace injuries and illnesses.

New this year, we’re opening the Safety Innovations Competition to all employers with a BWC policy number, regardless of their application or receipt of a Safety Intervention Grant. Plus, we’ve taken it one step further by allowing self-insured and public employers to participate, too.

We’ll invite the top five entries to display their innovation at the 2015 Ohio Safety Congress & Expo (OSC15) where we’ll award them with cash prizes ranging from $1,000 to $7,000!

Spread the word to employers you may encounter in your daily work. Maybe you know of one that got a safety grant, worked with one to create an innovative safety solution to a work process, or you just heard about a company at safety council that might have done something innovative to make their workplace safer. Encourage them to enter!

 
Application/Deadline

Click here to learn more about the competition and access the online application. Employers must complete the online application by Oct. 31, 2014. 


A bit about the process

A committee of Safety & Hygiene representatives will review applications and select 10 semi-finalists. The committee will then conduct onsite visits to the 10 semi-finalists to see the innovations. From those visits the committee will select five finalists to display their innovation at OSC15 and give a presentation to a panel of three independent judges.


The finalists will be scored on the criteria below.

·         Risk reduction – reduction in hazards, exposures and/or risk factors

·         Innovation – amount of creativity employed in the development, approach or application of occupational injury/illness prevention/control measures

·         Cost savings – return on investment/potential savings from the reduction in injuries/illnesses and other operational costs

·         Potential impact – potential for use/implementation by other businesses and entities

·         Presentation quality – clear definition of the problem, solution and impact

 
Any questions can be sent to: SafetyInnovations@bwc.ohio.gov. A logo and flyer are attached in case you’d like to promote this initiative on your organization’s website or newsletter.

Spread the word and help us recognize and award Ohio’s most innovative and creative companies.