Earning itself Best of the Best Program to Watch recognition, McKnight Place Assisted Living’s Comprehensive Approach to a Safety Culture has created an innovative approach for improving workers’ health and reducing workplace injuries.

For employees at McKnight Place Assisted Living, it’s not just true that safety pays; that safety pays for up to three extra days of paid leave per year. Over the course of last year, in fact, McKnight Place doled out a total of 120 extra days off to small teams of employees as a reward for every four-month period in which they maintained a spotless safety record.

That is just one example of how McKnight Place turns workplace safety from an eye-glazing inservice topic to a compelling, ongoing, team-building pursuit. “Safety awareness is just built in from day one,” says Christie Wolff, administrator.

From the day they are hired, every employee is placed on a safety team that works together to ensure team members’ mutual safety. An employee safety committee representing all departments meets once a month to conduct inspections of various departments and identify any safety concerns and possible solutions. Issues that arise are then taken to the executive committee, which consists of department managers.

A wellness committee convenes monthly to find ways to improve workers’ health, an important factor in reducing workplace injuries. McKnight Place is now a smoke-free campus; a former break room for smokers is being transformed into an exercise room for employees.

Safety is reinforced at meetings and through training, but also through fun and games, such as a scavenger hunt of building safety features and monthly safety “parties.” “It’s not just all about ‘You need to do this and you need to do this,’” says Wolff.

Every year, associates from the various communities compete to win safety products for their home at an event styled after the game show The Price is Right. “We may not have Bob Barker, but we have Bob Leonard, our director of operations and co-owner, who does a really great job as emcee and gives out the prizes, which really raises the morale of our employees,” says Wolff. “We have an end-of-the-year slide show and the owners come to that, too, which really shows their appreciation of the staff.”

The result of McKnight Place’s comprehensive approach is that safety and teamwork are now ingrained. “Our staff is great,” says Wolff. “Our MOD [experience modification rate] is consistently lower than the industry average, which results in a significant insurance savings to the company, which we can then give back.”


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