Safety First!

Newaygo County Road Commission recognized for safety record and undergoes reorganization
For the seventh year in a row the Newaygo County Road Commission has been recognized for its outstanding safety record. The County Road Association Self Insurance Fund (CRASIF) has awarded the Newaygo County Road Commission for the following efforts: honor roll member since its inception in 2011, best experience modification factor in its payroll class since 2011 and the best experience modification factor among all Michigan Road Commission members for 4 out of 7 years.
“Low injury rates just don’t happen in our business,” said Jim deSpelder, Administrator of the County Road Association Self-Insurance Fund.  
The Fund provides safety training and workers compensation coverage for road commissions.
“Our business is working on the roads,” added deSpelder “Working on the roads is physically demanding and puts our workers at risk of being injured by passing vehicles. Road commissions that have lower than average injury rates qualify to be on our Honor Roll and they should be applauded for their achievement.”
Along with their safety efforts the Road Commission has recently experienced staff reorganization in a continuing effort to provide prompt, reliable service for the residents and visitors of Newaygo County.
“To be clear, we have not added to the number of staff, we revamped job assignments,” said Road Commission Manager Kelly Smith. “Our goal is to evolve with our customer’s needs, and this is a piece of the puzzle that we feel required an adjustment”
As part of the reorganization, Derek Wawsczyk, who has been with the road commission since 2007,  was appointed to Assistant Manager. One of his many assignments is inspecting job sites to ensure employees are working as safe as possible and are protected from potential hazards.
“We are proud of our safety record and we want to continue our efforts by being proactive and placing more eyes in the field as well as provide great customer service to residents,” added Smith. “A large part of our business is construction and as we continue to obtain more projects, we need to make sure we are as safe as possible on each and every job site.”
Since 2011, the Road Commission has received $965,617 from safety related refunds. The Road Commission has always put this money back into roads and will continue to work with other entities to make Newaygo County a great place to live and visit.