League of Cities

You may have seen the University of Iowa’s Healthier Workforce Center staff, including Deputy Director Kevin Kelly and Outreach Director Shelly Campo, in various towns across Iowa this summer. They have been partnering with the Iowa League of Cities and the Iowa Municipal Workers’ Compensation Association to learn about the safety and health issues facing municipal workers in Iowa and the policies, programs, and practices being used to address them. Municipal workers can include police, firefighters, city clerks, librarians, road crews, bus drivers, municipal waste workers, park rangers, lifeguards, and a host of other types of full-time, part-time and seasonal workers.  Recently, they have been to Henry County, Spencer, Atlantic, Waukee, Carroll, Fairfield, and the Region XII Council of Governments with IMWCA loss control staff members Ed Morrison and Scott Smith. In addition, Center staff met with municipal clerks from all over the state in Ames on July 28 at the Iowa Municipal Professionals Academy sponsored by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and presented on mapping workplace hazards, sharing best practices and brainstorming on effective ways to address them. This fall, more presentations and workshops are planned at the Iowa League of Cities Annual Meeting on September 15, and at the Iowa Municipal Workers’ Compensation Association One Day Safety University on October 11. Both upcoming events are in Des Moines.