Simon Institute is pleased to announce that Workers Compensation Fund (WCF) has made a significant financial commitment to developing ANSI standards in the Jan/San industry. The contribution of an educational grant was announced to the Simon Institute (SI) by Dan Hair, Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer and Flint Belk, Industrial Hygiene Manger at WCF. SI is the accredited developer of standards for the custodial, janitorial and housekeeping industry. The grant is presented to further the development of an ANSI standards program to recognize janitorial, custodial and housekeeping workers who pass an examination for safe handling of cleaning chemicals. Simon Institute leadership Paul Condie, President; Renae Walker, Treasurer and Jim Ginnaty, Chairman of the Standards Writing Committee will accept the WCF contribution. Dan Hair commented that “WCF has long promoted improved janitorial safety standards and professionalism in the cleaning industry. We see this contribution as a starting point in professionalizing the jan/san industry though standards development.”
Since 1917 WCF, has been an innovative insurance company committed to customer service, strong business partnerships and aggressive cost management. In 1917, the Utah Legislature passed a workers’ compensation act, requiring all employers to have insurance for their employees. The system was established to protect both the employee and the employer from financial ruin that a workplace accident could cause.
Because workers’ compensation insurance was new to the entire country, policy makers in Utah debated how to best formulate Utah’s system. After much discussion, it was agreed that a state fund should be created to compete with insurance carriers. WCF was established with a $40,000 loan, which it repaid to the state in 1922. Since then, WCF and its policyholders have seen many changes, but the company’s purpose and vision remain the same: to provide excellent customer service to our policyholders and their employees.
National Coverage
To better serve WCF’s multi-state customers, Advantage Workers Compensation Insurance Company (Advantage) was created in 1998 to write workers compensation outside Utah. Today, Advantage is licensed in fifty states and the District of Columbia. Stop gap coverage is available in the monopolistic states. Advantage has extensive experience, knowledge and resources in a number of states, and can be an excellent resource on multi-state or single state workers compensation. Five claims offices are maintained in the western United States. A full-service office will open in early 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
As of January 1, 2016, Advantage is a wholly owned subsidiary of WCF and will share the same A. M. Best rating. With a national scope built on personalized local service, WCF provides excellent services to its customers and stakeholders.
In 2001 The Boeing Company created a best practices benchmarking group for facility cleaning. The group conducted studies and gathered safety data to be presented at a symposium. The Boeing Company sponsored the first symposium at their global headquarters to benchmark best practices in facility cleaning. The Boeing Company sponsored a symposium at their global headquarters in Puget Sound. Boeing utilized the symposium to fulfill requirements of Malcolm Baldrige Quality award.
At that first symposium Boeing documented that their cleaning process was ISO 9001 compliant and satisfied requirements for quality control in the aerospace manufacturing segment. Following the Boeing sponsored symposium other participants voted to continue the benchmarking best practices project. The following year it was sponsored by The University of Texas at Austin. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst sponsored the following year’s program in 2003 and in 2004 GMI, a San Diego based BSC, sponsored symposium. In 2006, the benchmarking best practices group formed a non-profit taxable corporation dedicated to improving facility cleaning operation standards. In 2010, the official name of the group was registered in the State of Utah as Simon Institute. In 2014 the Simon Institute was accredited as a developer of American National Standards by ANSI , including basic custodial, housekeeping, janitorial management, training, tasks and time standards. The WCF donation is in support of the first SI standards project BSR SI-0001 Standard – Cleaning Chemical Handlers Permit Guidelines.