Kentucky Employers' Mutual Insurance (KEMI) recently issued a dividend for the City of Covington, a current policyholder who met eligibility criteria for the 2011 policy year.

Dividend payments rewarded KEMI policyholders that demonstrated a commitment to workplace safety and effective claims management. The decision by KEMI's Board of Directors followed an extensive review by independent actuaries who analyzed several factors, including KEMI's policyholder equity, loss exposure, and overall financial performance.

 "These returns are a result of employers and employees working together with KEMI to build safer workplaces," said Jon Stewart, President and CEO of KEMI. "While many of our policyholders will reinvest this money for new safety initiatives, we also believe our actions will help businesses grow and boost Kentucky's economy."

 According to City Risk Manager Bob Stark, "The City's past record with KEMI has been very positive. By joining with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. as our agent, we have been able to drop our 'experience MOD' (experience modification factor, a formula that the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) uses to benchmark policy performance) from a 1.40 down to a .87 in just a few years. That means a few years ago, Covington was 40% worse than the mean MOD and now the City is 17% better."  

This is a significant savings which has also paid off in dividends. The City just received a Dividend Check in the amount of $29,941.73 which added to the previous checks received totals a return of over $219,000.00.

Chad Bilz, Area Vice President for Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., "The big 'Wow' factor here is greater employee safety and recognizing a culture that consistently promotes employee safety. The ultimate shared goal is that employees go home safely at the end of their work day."

The Department of Public Works (DPI) celebrated 629 consecutive days without a Loss Time Injury in July this year. 'Loss Time Injury' is an industry term describing a non-fatal injury that causes any loss of time from work.