Building a Safer Work Environment

Enrollment in a safety council is open to all state-fund, self-insured companies and public employers in Ohio who pay premiums or administrative fees to BWC. To enroll, an employer must have active BWC coverage. Enrollment in the safety council can occur any time of the year.

Sponsors are prohibited from requiring an employer to be a member of their organization to participate in safety council. BWC’s subsidy is intended to ensure the program is open and accessible to all Ohio employers and employees.

BWC will monitor safety council member fee structures to ensure employers’ costs remain nominal. A membership or participation cost structure based on the employer’s status in the sponsoring organization is acceptable.

To receive the rebate, not to exceed $5,000 annually, employers’ policies must be current with respect to all payments due to BWC. Employers may not have cumulative lapses in workers’ compensation coverage in excess of 40 days within the prior 12 months. Additionally, employers must have timely reported actual payroll for the preceding policy year and pay any premium due upon reconciliation of estimated premium and actual premium.

Confirm current rules before relying on these figures

The training guide below is from FY23. Contact the Safety Council to confirm current BWC rebate terms and training requirements.

Review the enrollment and attendance requirements below, and contact the Safety Council with questions.

• Join or confirm your existing, active membership in a local safety council by July 31.
• Attend 10 in-person safety council meetings between July 1 and June 30 of the following year. At least eight — or all 10 — must be through attendance at local safety council-sponsored monthly meetings, seminars, or special events.
• Earn external training credit for up to two meetings through attendance at select BWC safety training courses (in-person or virtual training classes) or in-person safety training from other external sources, such as industry associations or third-party administrators.

It is the employer’s responsibility to submit an official certificate of attendance for external training credit to the safety council in which they are enrolled by June 30. Immediately upon receipt of an external training certificate, sponsors are required to submit the certificate in the Ohio BWC Grant Management Portal.

• An employer must be in attendance for most of the meeting. The safety council sponsor is the final authority on whether an employer shall be given meeting credit based on their arrival and departure times.
• The attendance of any employer representative qualifies for meeting attendance credit.
• A person can represent only one policy number with their attendance at a safety council meeting or external training event.
• No matter the duration of the meeting, training, or special event, attendance equals one meeting credit. Multiple representatives from a company at one meeting, training, or special event equals one meeting credit.
• Scheduling multiple events for multiple credit in one day is prohibited.
• Safety council monthly meetings do not qualify for meeting credit for any employer not enrolled in that safety council.
• Any safety council-sponsored or co-sponsored event will result in meeting credit for that safety council’s members.
• If a safety council chooses to broadcast an in-person safety council meeting virtually, the number of individuals viewing the meeting is not included in the attendance count.

Submit official certificates to the Safety Council by June 30 for portal submission.

• Ohio Safety Congress — maximum of one meeting credit per in-person event, no matter the number of sessions or days attended nor how many employer representatives are in attendance.
• BWC Division of Safety & Hygiene in-person and virtual training courses — maximum of one meeting credit per course.
• Industry-specific safety training — maximum of one meeting credit per in-person training with at least one hour of safety curriculum.
• Seminars, conferences, or special events hosted by another safety council, excluding monthly safety council meetings.

In an effort to reduce the number of workplace accidents and to share resources and information on accident prevention, risk management, and workers’ compensation in Ohio, BWC’s Division of Safety & Hygiene and your local safety council co-sponsor this service.

In signing the enrollment form, the employer makes a commitment to send representatives to the majority of safety council meetings and to submit semi-annual reports by the deadline dates.

Email the completed enrollment form to jkarcher@crawfordcountychamber.org or mail it to the Crawford County Safety Council, 138 Harding Way West, Galion, Ohio 44833.