NORWAY — Town manager Dennis Lajoie has announced Norway has been awarded a Safety Enhancement Grant by the Maine Municipal Association Workers Compensation Fund in the amount of $2,000. The award was a joint application effort of the Highway, Parks & Recreation, Fire, Wastewater and Water Departments to buy 100 traffic safety cones.
The cones are required safety equipment used to redirect, slow down or stop traffic at road work sites, emergency sites and recreational events that use our roads. They enhance the safety of our employees and the public. These cones also meet night time requirements, so are allowed to be used when highway is using the striping machine to mark roads during the night or there is an emergency during these hours.
The Ed MacDonald Safety Enhancement Grants and Scholarship Grants provide financial assistance to members of the MMA Workers Compensation Fund to purchase safety equipment or services to assist in reducing the frequency and severity of workplace injuries. The grant programs are designed to prevent injuries and improve workplace safety for Maine employees. The reduction in employee injuries also benefits the taxpayers by lessening lost hours at work, cost of claims and potential overtime expenses for employees, who might have to fill in for injured co-workers.
The Maine Municipal Association has been awarding safety grants to members of the Workers’ Compensation fund since 1999. The Ed MacDonald Safety Enhancement Grants and Scholarships are an example of a successful partnership that has been preventing workplace injuries by bestowing more than $5 million in the funding of 3,938 safety grants and 489 scholarship grants.
