The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has announced a new grant program available to Ohio educational facilities aimed at improving school safety. The program makes available $4 million dollars for specific safety and security facility upgrades as well as the purchase of certain safety-related items. The $4 million set-aside comes in addition to a $4 million grant program available to Ohio police departments and $2 million for state agencies. The program is in keeping with the Bureau’s other grant initiatives which are designed to incentivize employers to improve worker safety and prevent compensable injuries before they occur. These programs are part of a wider two-year, $44 million investment in safety introduced “in the wake of BWC’s $1.5 billion rebate program,” according to the BWC’s website.
The program’s requirements were developed in conjunction with the Ohio Department of Public Safety and the Ohio Homeland Security’s Center for P-20 Safety & Security. Because the new program is also designed to improve school safety, the grant requirements are different than the BWC’s other grant programs.
For every one-dollar qualified facilities spend on safety, they can apply to receive three dollars from the BWC, up to $40,000, to be used for typical workplace safety equipment including reduce-slip floor coatings, safe food fryers, cutting equipment, and flooring cleaning machines. Other grant-eligible items include incident response equipment like bags/backpacks stocked with trauma and first aid supplies and school-wide alarm systems. The BWC is also offering grounds and building improvement options such as interior and exterior security doors, vehicle crash barriers to protect entrances, metal detectors, security cameras, and emergency call poles.
The grants are only available to Ohio employers that operate licensed preschool through 12th grade educational facilities. Schools must complete a grant application and meet eligibility requirements to receive the BWC’s School Safety and Security grants. The eligibility requirements include active Ohio Workers’ Compensation coverage; no more than 40 days of cumulative lapses in workers’ compensation coverage over the last 12-months; applicants must also be current with all payments due to the BWC including the report of payroll for at least one full policy year; and the school must have been in existence for at least two years.
Attorneys at Fishel Downey Albrecht & Riepenhoff LLP routinely advise and defend employers regarding workers’ compensation matters. For questions about this grant or any other matter, please contact David Riepenhoff (driepenhoff@fisheldowney.com) or Grant Bacon (gbacon@fisheldowney.com) by email or phone at (614) 221-1216.