|
 Printer-Friendly Version
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: (202) 219-3727.
The U.S. Department of Labor today held a ceremony to
recognize its Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)and Occupational Safety and
Health Administration (OSHA) along with the Pension Benefit Guaranty
Corporation (PBGC). OSHA and PBGC are among the six federal winners of the Ford
Foundation 1995 "Innovations in American Government" awards and BLS was a
finalist in the competition. Although PBGC is an independent agency, the s
ecretary of labor is chairman of its board of directors.
The "Innovations in American Government" awards program is
administered by the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
The program identifies and promotes outstanding examples of creative
problem-solving in the public sector. Each year the Ford Foundation makes
fifteen awards of $100,000 and fifteen additional awards of $20,000 for a total
of $1.8 million in grants.
OSHA received a $100,000 "Innovations in American
Government" grant for its "Maine Top 200 Experimental Pilot Targeting Program"
which allows employers to identify and correct hazards themselves.
The program targeted 200 employers in Maine with the
largest volume of worker compensation claims. This targeted group represents
about 1 percent of Maine's total employers, employs 30 percent of the state's
workforce, and accounts for 45 percent of the state's compensable workplace
injuries, illnesses and fatalities.
OSHA's traditional measure of performance has been the
number of hazards identified and abated. In Maine, prior to the "Top 200
Program," approximately 37,000 hazards at 1,316 worksites were identified over
an eight-year period. During the first 18 months of the "Top 200 Program" these
numbers nearly tripled. Of 95,800 workplace hazards identified, 55,200 were
abated. More than half of the participating employers have decreased injuries
and illnesses, resulting in improved productivity and reduced workers'
compensation costs.
BLS received a $20,000 "Innovations in American
Government" grant for its "Re-engineering Establishment Survey Data Collection"
project which gives statistical agencies instantaneous access to employer-based
data at a cost equivalent to mail collection.
Through the mid-1980s, users of monthly Current Employment
Statistics (CES), including the nation's economic policy-makers, experienced
frequent and often large revisions to preliminary estimates primarily caused by
late reporting due to the slow mail collection.
During six years of research, BLS and the states developed
a highly-automated and cost-effective replacement for mail. This innovation
moved survey data collection onto the information superhighway and will soon
lead to e-mail collection as employers link to internet.
PBGC received an $100,000 "Innovations in American
Government" grant for its "Early Warning Program." This program was established
to identify and respond to underfunded pensions plans.
In the new approach, PBGC monitors approximately 400
companies with underfunded pensions plans, representing only 1 percent of its
premium payers but 85 percent of its insurance exposure. PBGC identifies
corporate transactions that might jeopardize retirement benefits and negotiates
protections while companies are solvent rather than waiting for bankruptcies.
The agency's agreement with General Motors Corporation
resulted in a $10 billion infusion into GM's hugely underfunded pension plan
covering 600,000 workers and retirees.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
| 
