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Press Release

Safety First Pays Dividends for HDH Group Client

Glade Run Lutheran Services improves safety and reduces workers’ compensation program costs

Pittsburgh, PA – October 5, 2010 – The HDH Group, a nationally recognized risk management and employee benefit insurance advisory firm and Pittsburgh’s largest privately-held commercial insurance brokerage firm, will help recognize the success of Glade Run Lutheran Service’s employee safety program during an awards reception at their campus on October 6, 2010. In just three years’ time, HDH’s client has achieved an eighty per cent reduction in employee work-related injuries, which has significantly reduced its overall workers’ compensation costs. To recognize this important achievement, members of Glade Run’s board of directors, executive staff and Safety Committee will join Glade Run employees, the HDH Group and Highmark Casualty Insurance Company at the awards reception.

According to Scott McCall of the HDH Group, “Whenever an organization experiences reductions in staff-related workers’ compensation claims like that evidenced at Glade Run, it’s usually because the entire organization has made a strong commitment to safety - from the top to the bottom. That has certainly been the case at Glade Run. We have incorporated various forms of awareness programs that involve all of the employees, which helps to focus attention on lost time incidents and timely reporting. This along with hosting frequent employee appreciation functions has helped to send the message that Glade Run takes safety very seriously.”

Glade Run’s Safety Committee is comprised of the organization’s staff and management, along with representatives from the HDH Group and Highmark Casualty, its workers’ compensation insurance carrier. The entire Glade Run safety team meets monthly to discuss and address safety issues. A sub-group of the committee, the Injury Review Process Committee, also meets monthly to examine the root causes of any recent staff injury in order to identify improved prevention measures to avoid or reduce similar instances from occurring in the future.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment for our entire organization,” shared Dr. Charles Lockwood, executive director of Glade Run. “Our mission of ‘Linking Faith and Service’ includes a responsibility to provide the safest and most nurturing environment possible for our employees, students and clients. As a result of our safety efforts we have significantly reduced work-related injuries. Improved safety is not the only benefit, we have also experienced a significant reduction in workers’ compensation claims and insurance costs. For a non-profit committed to directing as many resources as possible to our front-line mission of helping children in need, we are extremely gratified to celebrate this important accomplishment.”

This year Glade Run’s losses due to workers’ compensation claims were just twenty percent of its annual average for the past ten years, a notable reduction considering that many employees work with children suffering the devastating effects of mental illness.

According to Colleen Wright, Loss Control Consultant from Highmark Casualty Insurance Company, “Three years ago Glade Run committed to a comprehensive review of their entire safety program. All levels of employees were empowered to identify areas for improvement and develop action items to improve each component. Through this process with Glade Run we created a successful safety culture that continues to grow each year. It is great to see a customer reap the benefits of all of hard work and dedication!”

In addition to the establishment of the Safety Committee, Dr. Lockwood credits the reduction in claims in part to the frequency and extensiveness of staff training and the implementation of the Sanctuary Model®, an organizational framework that provides individuals and organizations the necessary skills to create and sustain non-violent lives and systems. Glade Run was selected by the State of Pennsylvania to implement the model and is currently in the second of a three-year implementation process. The Sanctuary Model® promotes physical, psychological, social and moral safety, including the development of individual safety plans for staff and clients that help support the organization’s safe and nurturing environment.

About HDH Group

The HDH Group is an employee-owned professional services firm offering risk management, human capital management and alternative risk business solutions that improve clients’ bottom-line performance. HDH works with clients across a wide range of industries, including transportation, healthcare, construction, manufacturing, information technology, financial services, the public sector, and others.

HDH is an owner in Assurex Global, the largest global network of independent insurance brokers with over 500 offices across 6 continents. By combining specialized industry and insurance expertise with an extensive national and international reach, HDH helps its clients to successfully manage their total cost of risk, both today and tomorrow. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, HDH also has offices in Harrisburg and Erie, Pennsylvania. For more information about the HDH Group, visit www.hdhgroup.com, or call 800-434-7760.

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