St. Johns County’s Risk Management Earns State-Wide Recognition
The efforts to address employee safety saved St. Johns County hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premium costs.
The St. Johns County Risk Management Department was recognized as the Safety and Risk Management Department of the Year by Preferred Governmental Insurance Trust, the County’s Workers’ Compensation insurer and one of the largest public entity insurers in Florida. In addition, Laura Dodd, Assistant Director of Risk Management and Benefits, was selected as the 2024/25 Risk Management Professional of the Year. St. Johns County has achieved a risk score that is nearly 50% of the national average. The Office of Public Affairs produced a video to profile this tremendous accomplishment by the county’s Risk Management Department.
“We want to bring that personal touch to it,” said Dodd. “We want to care for that employee like they are family. Our motto is ‘Everyone Home Safe Every Day,’ and that means the way you came into work, we want you to leave the same way.”
The “Experience Modification Factor” is a number used by insurance companies to assess the risk associated with insuring a particular employer. A higher number indicates a higher risk, while a lower number suggests a lower risk. An average performance indicator, as measured by this factor, is 1.0. However, the county’s current experience modification factor is only 0.51.
“In my career as an insurance broker spanning 27 years, I have never encountered any organization, regardless of size, with this low of an experience modification,” said Matt Baker, President, ThompsonBaker Agency, Inc., the insurance underwriter for the county. “This is not an isolated occurrence. St. Johns County has consistently achieved outstanding performance in this metric over many years, a period long enough to suggest that such consistent results are the byproduct of focused attention and the positive culture and professionalism within the Risk Management Department.”
With well over a thousand employees and work occupations that range in potential hazards, St. Johns County has the sheer size and complexity that predispose it to significant claims activity. However, the County’s claims experience is extremely low.
“We are very proud of the dedication to employee safety that the risk management team, led by our Risk Manager Laura Dodd, has developed through programs that cultivate a culture of injury reduction and overall well-being,” said Desiree Woroner, Human Resources Director.
In the insurance industry, any factor below 1.0 indicates good performance, while any factor exceeding 1.0 indicates room for improvement.
“A metric that is 49 basis points under the equilibrium that indicates average loss is almost unheard of for any size and type of organization,” said Baker.
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