2024 Governor's Workplace Award Winners

Kimball International
Jasper, IN
Kimball International started with a lofty goal: provide the best total healthcare possible via the Kimball International Health Clinic. Their clinic already had doctors, nurses, counselors, and dieticians on staff, but something was missing—an in-house physical therapist.

By bringing a physical therapist on staff, Kimball International began an early intervention program for team members at the first sign of discomfort. Gone are the days of waiting 24 hours to meet with a contracted physical therapist. Employees now have direct access to physical therapists within minutes.

From 2020 to 2022, 98% of employees who utilized the early intervention program did not need further medical treatment. In 2023, that number increased to 100%, with 156 employees utilizing the program. The number of employees who have entered the program has also increased by 57%, meaning more employees are reporting discomfort early rather than waiting until it’s too late

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ZF Active Safety and Electronics US LLC
Lafayette, IN
ZF Active Safety and Electronics US LLC was facing an issue not uncommon across the state: a workforce performing physically demanding, repetitive jobs. Stressors from these jobs were culminating in clinic treatments and in some cases, referrals to specialists and even restorative surgeries. The growing number of medical visits increased costs, decreased productivity, and lowered the associates' physical capabilities.

ZF partnered with ATI Worksite Solutions. The Early Intervention Specialist from ATI completed ergonomic evaluations on over 70% of the positions in 2023. The results of these evaluations are shared with employees. The partners then observe and coach the staff to improve posture and motions.

Partnering with ATI on this project has increased ZF employee involvement and understanding, significantly improved attendance, and continued to reduce worker's compensation costs—all while reducing recordable injuries by nearly 40%.

Masterbrand Cabinets LLC, Ferdinand Operations
Ferdinand, INMasterbrand felt the culture at the Ferdinand Operations needed a positive change. Leadership wanted to change the way associates felt, acted, and reacted regarding safety. In short, they wanted everyone to feel like a true team.

To achieve this goal, Ferdinand Operations introduced a bottom-up Behavioral Based Safety program in February 2017. The program is voluntary and is completely designed and managed by the employees. The program allows staff to utilize the recorded data and observations to immediately address concerns and provide feedback.

An employee steering committee drives the participation and engagement. Production associate roundtable committees create safety action plans for each business unit. Leadership actively encourages employee engagement and provides the time and resources to address safety concerns. With employee participation at 84% site-wide, associates have taken strong ownership of safety and health throughout the facility.

GE Aerospace Lafayette Engine Facility
Lafayette, IN
The Lafayette Engine Facility took the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA) structure and started conducting quarterly Safety FMEAs (SFMEA) in order to identify safety risks and drive risk reduction.

A cross functional group was formed to review work tasks and identify risks. The tasks are assigned a Risk Priority Number, and the group implements solutions to reduce the RPNs for the top 5-10 tasks, lowering the severity or frequency of injuries and improving hazard detection and mitigation before occurrence. Additionally, the site has been using the SFMEA events to identify new ergonomic projects based on processes with highest RPNs.