Big news! Your Safety Innovation could be worth $10,000

BWC increases prize amount for annual awards

By Erik Harden, BWC Public Information Officer

Have you thought about applying for our Safety Innovation Awards in years past but put it off or forgot to do it? We have at least 4,000 more reasons for you to not delay any further!

To encourage applications and reward innovation more than ever, we have raised the prize amounts for our 2020 Safety Innovation Awards. The top prize is now $10,000, up from $6,000! Second place receives $6,000, third place $4,000, and honorable mention receives $1,500.

Our Safety Innovation Awards celebrate creative solutions that improve the safety and health in Ohio workplaces. Examples of innovations include:

• Technological advancements.
• Creative use of existing equipment.
• Unique processes and practices.
• Development of new equipment.

If your organization has developed any of the above to reduce the workplace risks faced by Ohio workers, we want to hear from you. Don’t wait, you have only until Sept. 30 to apply.

Winners in past years include a Mercer County company that captured first place with a device it developed for loading hogs into a trailer with minimal stress to the hogs and potential for injury to workers. Last year, the Springfield company Navistar captured first place with a robotic system that minimized worker exposure to a particularly strenuous procedure involved in the tearing down and welding of truck cabs.

This year’s finalists will receive the previously-mentioned cash awards and statewide recognition at our Ohio Safety Congress & Expo in Columbus March 11-13, 2020. You can check out descriptions of all the 2019 finalists’ innovations here.

We hope the past finalists and their ideas will inspire you to apply for the 2020 awards. If you have any questions about the program, email bwcsafetyinnovations@bwc.state.oh.us or call 1-800-644-6292.

We look forward to seeing your innovations!