Bend Park and Recreation District

In a town renowned for recreation and active lifestyles, the employees of the Bend Park and Recreation District take their mission seriously. They manage and maintain more than 3,600 acres of parkland spanning 84 parks or open spaces with over 100 miles of trail. To keep the community active and engaged, the district also offers over 1,000 recreation programs for residents of all ages.

Operating a program of that size requires a substantial group of employees with a wide range of skillsets and experience levels. The district employs about 150 full-time and over 500 seasonal or part-time employees, including many young workers entering the workforce for the first time. To keep those employees safe, the district has developed a unique approach to its safety program.

Safety committees

With roles ranging from trail maintenance to swim coach to youth recreation leader, the district has created a system that allows work units to focus on the safety issues most relevant to their function.

Instead of a single safety committee, the district has three separate safety committees which represent different operational areas: park services, recreation and facilities operations, and the district office and recreation activities.

Each committee brings together seven to eight members who meet regularly to review injury incident reports and consider safety suggestions from employees.

“There’s good problem solving happening from bringing together people with different areas of expertise within their group,” says David Madden, district safety coordinator.

Every quarter the safety committees gather together to cover new safety topics and participate in roundtable exercises. Last year, they toured district facilities to provide a backstage look at all that’s necessary to keep each program running efficiently and hear from people who interface with the public on a regular basis.

To keep employees engaged in the safety program, committees offer regular activities like prizes for watching safety videos and lunch and learn opportunities. One committee recently hosted speakers from a distracted driving awareness program who emphasized the importance of recognizing and eliminating dangerous behaviors that take your eyes off the road. These initiatives help keep the safety message relevant to the individual work teams.

Return-to-Work

When injuries happen, a return-to-work program can help injured workers get back to work when they’re ready. This includes offering temporary, transitional work assignments that accommodate the worker’s physical abilities while also utilizing the worker’s knowledge and skills.

The district recently worked with return-to-work consultants at SAIF to formalize their process into policy. Having the program elements ready to go, including a transitional job description and job offer letter, help district staff move quickly to support injured workers.

“Any time we have an employee that we know would be out of work for a period of time, we can immediately start finding a transitional job for them to do,” Madden says.

The program supports the district’s commitment to bring people back as soon as their work restrictions allow. One option has been assisting the district’s afterschool program, Kids Inc., with check-in/check-out procedures. 

“Kid’s Inc. is a great landing space for employees needing a low impact option,” he says. “The team can train incoming workers quickly and having the extra help frees up their staff to interact directly with the kids.”

Building a better safety culture

With so many seasonal and first-time workers, Madden says having a commitment to safety ingrained at all levels makes it feel natural to employees.

New employees receive an hour of safety training during orientation that emphasizes they can and should report incidents no matter how small. When minor incidents are reported, Madden knows the training is working and has removed the stigma associated with speaking up.

This commitment starts at the top and flows to leaders, managers, and out to frontline employees.

“We’ve seen a lot of safety suggestions come from our customer services staff,” Madden says. “That’s what makes promoting safety easier, when you have so many people committed to making conditions safe.”