Office of the City Auditor

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Issued: April 2001

SUMMARY

This report presents the results of our audit of the Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) employee safety management system, and its success at controlling and reducing on-the-job injuries. We found that significant improvements can be made in the area of employee safety at the PARD, with priorities on front-end identification of the inherent hazards of PARD occupations, communication of job performance expectations through standards and training, and the alignment and increased dedication of resources to occupational safety.

The PARD workforce provides services notable for their range of labor-intensity (grounds keeping to forestry) and diversity (cultural programs to law enforcement) over widely dispersed locations. The PARD is also uniquely reliant among City departments on seasonal employees, who worked almost half of departmental productive hours in FY 00. Inherent to the department’s broad array of services is the potential for employee exposure to wide-ranging hazards, emphasizing the need for a strong and effective safety program.

The PARD, one of the largest of City departments with regard to staff size, is also fourth highest in number of workers’ compensation claims filed in FY 00. The department recorded 4.51 lost-time injuries per 100 full-time employee equivalents in FY 00, significantly higher than the Public Works Department or Austin Energy TM. In addition, the PARD’s five-year average cost of workers’ compensation is $359,262.

The PARD lacks critical functions for control and prevention of job-related injuries, namely formal training programs and standard operating procedures that address worker safety. According to safety industry sources, education and training are the “basic and most necessary elements of an employee health and safety program,” while standard operating procedures are “used to hold employees accountable for their actions.” Front-end identification of occupational hazards and concomitant attention to training and accountability systems appears strong in the Aquatics Division, where management identifies significant public safety concerns. However, such systems are lacking in the Operations and Forestry Divisions, and Senior Programs activity.

The PARD safety program is housed in the Parks Police Division and staffed by one full-time employee, a sworn officer. We found that the safety program’s activities are not aligned with the expected duties of an Occupational Health and Safety Specialist, and that the Safety Officer is tasked with overseeing both occupational and public safety. Furthermore, compared to other City departments of similar size with significant occupational hazards, as well as other parks departments we contacted, resources currently dedicated to employee safety are likely insufficient to meet department need.

The PARD shares with the other City departments audited (Emergency Medical Services and Solid Waste Services) further deficiencies in its employee safety management system. These include lack of:

• occupational safety goals and strategies for meeting those goals,
• an effective system for establishing accountability for safety at all levels of the organization,
• an effective safety committee,
• compliance with the departmental Accident Prevention Plan, and
• information sufficient to determine on-the-job injury causes, due to inadequate incident management policies and procedures.