Wayzata Public Schools will begin a full implementation of the Student Accident Management System and the EmployeeSafe Suite this year.
Recent budget cuts, resulting in staff reductions, had led the District to reevaluate its plan to strengthen its safety and regulatory compliance processes. To decide if the programming was worth the expense, Wayzata piloted PublicSchoolWORKS’ Student Accident Management System with district nurses, and the Online Staff Training System with the administrative team to positive feedback.
“Our nurses loved the Student Accident Management System so much they were trying to process reports and advance them to the investigation phase – as if the product were already in place and not just a private pilot,” said Jim Westrum, executive director of business and finance at Wayzata Public Schools. “Our district’s administrative team was also able to review a sample of the training and was so impressed with the system’s automation and reliability in reducing risk that we knew we wanted to implement it.”
Prior to the pilot, Wayzata Public Schools’ student accident reporting process relied on the manual completion of a student incident form, which was photocopied and then distributed to various parties. After distribution, it was difficult to review trends and take preventative actions to reduce the district’s risk as there was not one single repository to keep injury records. To stay on top of filed reports and track their completion, district staff often had to come into the office on weekends. The process created unnecessary risk and a substantial amount of manual effort trying to keep track of reports.
The Student Accident Management System streamlines the reporting and investigating of student accidents, along with the resolution of the associated hazards. As soon as an accident occurs, a staff member submits an online accident report. The system then automatically alerts the principal and other necessary staff via email to take action, thus making the principal aware so that parents can be informed. A central online incident library maintains the records so the health and safety coordinator can see if a similar accident has previously occurred, which can shed light on potential prevention tactics.
Wayzata Public Schools will use EmployeeSafe to manage safety and regulatory compliance requirements. The suite’s systems automate the deployment, tracking and completion of online staff training, compliance tasks, employee accident management and more. The suite also includes an online Safety Data Sheet (SDS) system, addressing district requirements for handling dangerous chemicals.
“The value of PublicSchoolWORKS is worth the expenditure,” said Westrum. “I would imagine that even in a smaller district with fewer resources, it would be more valuable to use PublicSchoolWORKS than trying to piecemeal together a program. It is comprehensive, scalable and provides the same level of assurance regardless of district size.”
