Johnson Finch & McClure Case Study

Johnson Finch & McClure Inc. (JFM) is a premier drywall services and acoustic ceiling construction company, located in San Diego. For more than 20 years, JFM has been a proven choice of general contractors, architects and developers.

Problem:
Johnson Finch & McClure wanted to become more competitive bidding on projects and attracting the best workers. When they approached SMART Safety Group, JFM had a “do it yourself” safety program. They were handling safety and compliance issues in-house and, as a result, had costly workman’s compensation claims. This resulted in a high Experience Modification Rate (X-mod or EMR) causing the company to be charged outrageous insurance premiums just as their workforce was expanding.

SMART Solution:
As with their other clients, SMART Safety Group designed, developed and managed a customized safety system for JFM. SMART’s safety team worked with key people–field workers up to executive management–in order to implement the safety system. They propelled safety from an agenda item in meetings, to a core value of the company. The foundation of the safety system consisted of a strong training and development program; followed by reinforcement of the training out in the field. The end result was JFM went from being reactive about safety issues, to being proactive. The field workers now use their SMART safety team as a resource, asking advice on how to safely complete a task before putting themselves in an unsafe situation.

Evaluation:
JFM’s EMR went down 41 points, resulting in a significant savings in their insurance premiums. Workers’ compensation insurance premiums are adjusted by the Experience Modification rate (EMR). Lower rates, mean that fewer or less severe accidents have occurred than were anticipated, resulting in lower insurance premiums.

Lessons learned:
Developing a “train-reinforce-reward” model of safety can significantly decrease a company’s insurance premiums.

Recommendation:
“I can’t control my insurance rates, but with SMART I can control my losses. Our Experience Modification Rate went down 41 points and we know that it is going down again next year.”
-Mark Finch, President of Johnson Finch & McClure Inc.