PORTLAND, ME, June 12, 2017 – At its Annual Meeting of the Policyholders on Monday, workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group presented awards for workplace safety to ten of its more than 20,000 policyholders. MEMIC Senior Vice President of Loss Control and Safety Services Karl Siegfried paid tribute to the following employers for their workplace safety efforts at the Portland Museum of Art:

• A.H. Grover, Inc. of North Yarmouth, Maine
• Aspen Aerogels, Inc. of Northborough, Massachusetts
• Commonwealth Care of Roanoke, Inc. of Virginia
• Demoulas Super Markets, Inc. of Tewksbury, Massachusetts
• Dunbar & Brawn Construction of Bangor, Maine
• G.S. Precision, Inc. of Brattleboro, Vermont
• Iron Hill Brewery, LLC of Wilmington, Delaware
• R.H. Reny Inc. of Newcastle, Maine
• Richardson Brands Company, Inc. of Canajoharie, New York
• Smith’s Farm, Inc. of Presque Isle, Maine

 
A.H. Grover, Inc. of North Yarmouth, Maine
A.H. Grover, Inc. is a family-owned excavating company specializing in site work, road and utility work and piping. Although their work presents several different safety exposures each day, they have not had a single work-related injury in more than seven years. “They ensure that employees are provided with the best tools that are kept in utmost condition,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Jayson Hebert. “Excellent planning prior to starting each and every job, caring for their employees to minimize their turnover and maintaining a strong safety culture across the entire organization, have all contributed to their remarkable success.”

President Alwin H. Grover established the company in 1973 and passed on his work and safety ethic to his sons, Ben and Matt. Ben started at the company at age 12 when it began and has been a laborer, driver/operator, foreman, estimator and now vice president. Matt started at age 13 and currently runs some of the company’s most difficult projects as site supervisor. 

Aspen Aerogels, Inc. of Northborough, Massachusetts
Aspen Aerogels is a leading energy technology company providing innovative thermal management solutions to the energy insulation market. EHS Director Tom Graham and staff work continually to improve their environmental health and safety management systems with ongoing collection and analysis of metrics to sustain and improve policies, procedures and performance. “Their structured learning management system and cross-functional team observation programs are exemplary,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Richard Kordell. “They verify effective conformance, identify re-training as needed and update or create new procedures.”

Commonwealth Care of Roanoke, Inc. of Virginia
Commonwealth Care of Roanoke has twelve long term and rehabilitation care centers across Virginia with more than 1,600 staff. Through improved safe patient handling and increased employee engagement with safety committees, MEMIC was able to help them achieve a 65% reduction in overall workers compensation cost and 10% reduction in claims frequency during the 2016 policy period. “MEMIC has helped to elevate our goals to a level that we aren’t able to on our own,” says Director of Compliance & Risk Management Helen Gillespie. “I have never felt this way about a workers’ comp company.” “One of the biggest factors to their success is the perseverance, commitment and mentoring by Helen and Compliance & Risk Analyst Fame Black,” says MEMIC Loss Control Director Lauren Caulfield.

Demoulas Super Markets, Inc. of Tewksbury, Massachusetts
Demoulas Super Markets (aka Market Basket) opened its first Maine store in 2013, employing more than 450 workers. They perform a job safety analysis (JSA) on each job function, consistently conduct safety audits and have a rotating safety committee that meets monthly in order to have an all-around successful safety culture. “The corporate safety team starting with Operations Manager David McLean, Safety Director Roger Foster and Operations Supervisor Michael Meuse, do a great job implementing up-to-date best practices,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Alexis Westin.

Dunbar & Brawn Construction of Bangor, Maine
Dunbar & Brawn Construction was started by Scott Dunbar and Alan Brawn in 2003 and has been a MEMIC policyholder since day one. They use innovative methods to raise the level in construction safety and reduce employee exposure to harmful airborne dusts such as silica, asbestos and lead. “Our most important asset is our people,” says President and COO Scott Dunbar. “Their dedication to safety is demonstrated in their proactive training and thorough equipment inspection process,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Stephen Badger.

G.S. Precision, Inc. of Brattleboro, Vermont
G.S. Precision, Inc. is a leader in the manufacturing of high-precision machined components and sub-assemblies for the aircraft engine, aerospace, medical, fiber-optic, automotive, specialty bearing and other commercial industries. MEMIC has assisted them with ergonomic evaluation of manufacturing tasks, air monitoring in lab areas where employees work and conducting workplace hazard assessments. “Their proactive approach to safety plays a significant role in reducing injuries,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Jeremiah LaCross. “When an injury does occur, they go out of their way to get the injured employee back to work as soon as possible through their robust return-to-work program.” 

Iron Hill Brewery, LLC of Wilmington, Delaware
Iron Hill Brewery & Restaurant produces fine handcrafted beers and fresh-from-scratch New American cuisine in a casual, upscale atmosphere in locations throughout Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. “They operate a premier safety committee that comes up with creative and innovative methods for addressing workplace issues,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Michael Havel. “Each of the safety committee members can positively recognize employees working safely and with ownership and management backing they actively review claims and incident trends.”

R.H. Reny Inc. of Newcastle, Maine
Established in 1949 by R.H. Reny, Renys is a family owned and operated department store with more than 550 employees and 17 locations in Maine. Renys has a formal injury management program that includes a strong return-to-work program involving all levels of leadership. Every store receives routine safety audits, all employees are involved with ongoing safety training and each store is represented on the executive safety/wellness committee. “Renys has developed a unique family-like work environment where senior management makes the effort to meet and know the names of all employees,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Hartley Webb. “Management expects every employee to be responsible for day-to-day safety and they work to raise the safety bar each year.”

Richardson Brands Company, Inc. of Canajoharie, New York
Known across the country for their signature pillow mints, Richardson’s brands include Gravymaster® Browning and Seasoning Sauce, Dryden & Palmer® Rock Candy, Beechies® Gum and Bogdon® Old Fashioned Candy Sticks®. They carry the State of New York’s coveted Good Manufacturing Practices Seal of Approval as well as the highest rating awarded by the American Institute of Baking International. Their safety committee members represent all departments and levels from the SVP of Operations to frontline hourly employees. Environmental Health and Safety Manager Sean Smarup investigates and tracks injuries and near misses for the committee, looking at root cause and ways to prevent future occurrences. They utilize a variety of MEMIC services and personnel from electronic ergonomic evaluations to onsite consultations with MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Rob Sylvester and MEMIC Industrial Hygiene Manager Luis Pieretti. They also have an annual safety day where MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Jennifer Campbell presents on safety and wellness.

Smith’s Farm Inc. of Presque Isle, Maine
Since 1861, more than five generations of Smiths have farmed the land in Northern Maine producing fresh broccoli, cauliflower and grains. If you go into a supermarket anywhere east of the Mississippi, odds are high the broccoli displayed in the fresh produce section came from one of their 4,000 acres of fields in Aroostook County. The best way to harvest broccoli is by hand, so Smith’s Farm knows people are their most valuable asset. As safety administrator, Miles Williams has developed numerous policies and best practices for the operations with a strong and successful focus on injury prevention. “Employees at all levels are involved in the day-to-day safety activities and all incidents are investigated thoroughly for root cause with corrective actions implemented,” says MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Dan Clark.

About MEMIC

 A super-regional workers’ compensation specialty insurer rated “A” (Excellent) by A.M. Best, The MEMIC Group insures more than 20,000 employers and their estimated 300,000 employees. Licensed across the country with more than $1.2 billion in assets, The MEMIC Group is a leading carrier in the Northeast with a growing profile across the Eastern Seaboard. Offices are located in New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Florida, in addition to the headquarters in Portland, Maine.