skip to content
Primary navigation

2014 Archived Sessions

Conference Keynote Sessions


Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, 1:15 to 2 p.m.

  • The Power of Service in Public Service
    Petra Marquart, Petra Marquart and Associates
    Since most of our customers are often other state employees or coworkers, customer service may be a concept that is somewhat difficult to fully embrace. Different from retail and other for-profit groups, customer service within the public sector requires a sophisticated understanding of service and how to provide it. In this session, Petra Marquart, customer service expert and author, will share why service matters, what customers expect and how we can use our service skills to reach our service goals.

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, 8:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.

  • New Ways to Do It: The Road to Reinvention
    Billy McLaughlin
    Simple, frank and funny, Billy McLaughlin shines a mirror on all the unseen artists in the room, especially you. From the day you were born, a new signature was imprinted onto the world. Life experienced through the eyes, mind and touch of every new generation has its own expression and communicates its own meaning. Artists embrace this notion. Finding new ways to do even the most ordinary things is the challenge we are all given. All that has been created so far cannot compare to what is yet to be introduced by people with unique perspectives and capabilities—people such as you. If it feels like the world is changing fast these days, it’s because of all the new creative inventions happening around us. Billy encourages you to step out of your spectator’s seat and recognize your ability to take an active role in designing the future that you have imagined. Billy takes you on your personal journey of reinvention, during which he shares his experiences as a musician who went from skyrocketing success to downright failure before he returned to center stage better than ever before. His presentation will open your eyes and mind to your untapped resources that, with a little practice, will empower you and others to achieve, no matter what the challenge and how achieving the impossible simply requires: clarity of purpose, commitment to mission, and celebrating each step on the path to your goals.

Concurrent Sessions


Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.

  • Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) Compliance Training/Learning Management System (LMS)
    Don Beckering, System Director, Public Safety and Compliance, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Office
    An overview of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities compliance training pilot program, development of the system compliance training matrix/annual calendar/budget tool and our partnership with CLMI to provide us with online compliance learning content and LMS record-keeping.

  • End Distractions -- Focus on Driving
    Lisa Kons, Minnesota Safety Council
    Driver distraction is involved in 80% of crashes. People who use a cell phone while driving are four to five times more likely to be in injury-causing traffic crashes, and when you text and drive you are 23 times more likely to crash. We’ll discuss three types of distracted driving, and tools you can implement within your workplace to curb distracted driving.

  • Work Habits: Out with the Bad, In With the Good!
    Katie Friend, Regional Account Manager, CorVel; JoAnn White RN, BSN, CDMS, CCM, Managed Care Manager, CorVel; and Jeff Carlson, M Ed, ATR, CDMS, Athletic and Industrial Medicine Specialist, NovaCare
    How can good work habits reduce overuse injuries? Learn how you can reduce the risk of injury without expensive equipment or with extreme exercise, presented by Jeff Carlson of NovaCare. Also, learn how the best “habits” of working with CorVel case managers can help facilitate a successful return to work for employees.

  • Champion Performance
    Petra Marquart, Petra Marquart and Associates
    Embracing the power to perform at our best – every day, in every situation – requires a spirit that goes above and beyond the ordinary. There is little effort required to simply get by. We can do that in our sleep! But people who truly want to make a difference must reach deep inside to find the same spirit that drives all champions. In this session, you will learn what motivates championship performance, the importance of spirit in our work, how to commit to be at our best and how our sense of self informs our sense of engagement.

Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, 3:45 p.m. to 4:45 p.m.

  • Human Factors, Just Culture and Systematic Approach to Safety
    Dana Dickson, Safety Administrator, Minnesota Correctional Facility - Stillwater and Melissa Warhol, Safety Administrator, Minnesota Correctional Facility - Oak Park Heights
    Systems-thinking approach to safety allows consideration of more complex relationships between safety-related events. This approach provides a way to look more deeply at why accidents occurred. A system can consist of the interaction between people (man), their machines (equipment), and the environment. The environment is where conditions for unsafe acts, unsafe supervision, and organizational influences on safety can be discovered. Knowing one part of a system enables us to know something about another part. Using systems theory encourages us to adopt a systems perspective (avoid linear, unidirectional, causation) and focus on interrelationships and processes that produce change (avoid cause-and-effect chains). Join us to learn about the “Dirty Dozen” in Human Factors, developing a “Just Culture” and improving on System Safety in this one hour presentation. It’s a lot of information in a short amount of time, but we hope you gain best practices in relation to your industry.

  • Who's Got Your Back? Risk Management Division's Role in Property Protection
    Boyd Abbe, CSP, Safety Consultant, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division
    Unless the water is rising, the hail is pelting, the wind is howling or the smoke is billowing, most of us don’t think about the risks our property faces every day. Risk Management Division, on the other hand, is watching your back every day. During this session you will learn how we provide loss control services such as sprinkler system and fire protection inspection, property appraisals, life safety inspections, and infrared testing on electrical systems to limit your losses before and after a catastrophic event.

  • An Overview of the Dispute Resolution Process in Workers' Compensation
    Amy Borgeson, Mediator, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
    Learn how the dispute resolution process can be used effectively to resolve workers’ compensation disputes. This session will provide an overview of the types of disputes in workers’ compensation cases and how and why resolving disagreements through the dispute resolution process can oftentimes be the best outcome for all affected parties.

  • Championship Performance (Repeat Session)
    Petra Marquart, Petra Marquart and Associates
    See session description above.

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

  • How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the OSHA Log
    Brian Zaidman, Research Analyst, Research and Statistics, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
    How do I decide whether a particular injury or illness is recordable? How do I correctly enter a case on the OSHA log? When is a case a privacy case? This session will review the fundamental requirements of OSHA log recordkeeping and will expose the most common record keeping mistakes.

  • Managing Slip, Trip, Falls -- A Public Sector Panel Discussion
    Michael Tupy, Senior Administrative Manager, Workplace Safety and Environment Division, Hennepin County Property Services; Robert Zak, Ramsey County; Curt Fernandez, City of Minneapolis; and Todd Christenson, Program Manager, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division
    Slip, trip, falls became the leading cause of injury in state government for the first time in 2014 and continue to be a primary cause of liability claims. Counties and cities are struggling with the same issues. Join us for this panel discussion to hear about different approaches being utilized to reduce the frequency and severity of slip, trip, falls.

  • Details That Matter in the Claims Process
    Jim Froeber, Workers' Compensation Attorney, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division Gary Westman, Workers' Compensation Program Manager, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division
    What an employer does early in the claim process and continuously thereafter impacts a workers’ compensation claim. This session will cover key steps that you want to be sure you are doing effectively on every workers’ compensation claim as these steps will help control the outcome of the case and place you as the employer in the best position possible should a dispute arise.

  • Doing More with Less
    Billy McLaughlin
    Are you asked to do more with less? Budget cuts, re-organization, ownership changes and shifts in the economy all create an environment of expectations for results that are seemingly unattainable. Yet, as dramatic and painful as circumstances may be, they come with a gift: self-discovery. Having endured a condition that took away his health and career, Billy McLaughlin understands the importance of celebrating this gift. He demonstrates the marvel of discovering what you CAN do with the resources you HAVE when you stop focusing on those you’ve lost. It might require you to think upside-down or "left-handed". It might require that you stop focusing on what is broken or how you can't do something "the way you used to". Billy shows you how you can make meaningful change for yourself and your community when you move out of the mindset that everything is broken. By realizing what still works and what still matters, you can make a significant difference, regardless of the obstacles. Listen to Billy’s story; you, too, will choose to be a "difference-maker"! After hearing Billy’s story, your viewers come away with a renewed sense of purpose. They will shift their vision from obstacles to the possibilities that lie ahead. Billy provides positive proof that good things can come from bad situations, especially when you learn the power of appreciation. His message provides both inspiration and instruction on how to find your hidden strengths.

Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014, 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

  • MnDOT's Flexibility Program -- No Stretch to Realize Results!
    Lisa Dumont, Safety Administrator, Minnesota Department of Transportation, District 3
    Many companies have implemented flexibility programs and have experienced reductions in soft tissue injuries, severity of injuries, lower medical costs and a decrease in lost time. MnDOT District 3 has as well! This presentation, a follow-up to a presentation offered at the 2010 conference, will review MnDOT’s program design, implementation, some of the challenges along the road to a successful flexibility program and share the some of the benefits being realized.

  • iRISK Update and the Future of Risk Information
    Todd Christenson, Program Manager, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division
    The next phase of iRISK implementation is complete! iRISK, the Risk Management Division’s risk information management system, is now being utilized to manage property and casualty claims in addition to workers’ compensation claims. This session will overview the current system uses and look to the future of risk information management in state government, including reporting, OSHA recordkeeping, and loss recommendation tracking.

  • Why Do So Many Workers' Compensation Disputes Settle?
    Mike Kocer, Workers' Compensation Specialist Senior, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division
    Learn more about the dispute resolution process in workers’ compensation claims from the viewpoint of the claims representative and employer. This session will provide an overview of how workers’ compensation claims become disputed and the process that the claims representative and legal counsel considers in evaluating the dispute for possible settlement.

  • Doing More with Less -- Making an Impact with All That You've Got! (Repeat Session)
    Billy McLaughlin
    See session description above.

Pre-Conference Professional Development Courses


Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014, 9:00 a.m. to Nooon

  • Emerging ergo Trends - A Panel Discussion
    Mark Anderson, Ergo Systems Steve Gutmann, S.H Gutmann Consulting, LLC Breca Tschida, MN OSHA, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry Linda Feltes, Minnesota Management and Budget Jason Amborn, Minnesota Department of Public Safety
    Back by overwhelming demand and expanded to allow for more discussion! The past decade has seen a great emphasis and much progress on fitting the job to the person rather than the person to the job. However, the ways people work continue to evolve at an ever increasing pace! This session will explore emerging ergo trends, both general and office-based issues, provide an update on current office based movement studies, and review an agency based office ergonomics case study leaving plenty of time for attendee questions.

  • Violence in the Workplace: How You React Might Save Your Life
    Tracey Worsley, Emergency Preparedness Manager, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System Office
    Workplace violence doesn’t happen in a vacuum; seldom is it a totally random act with no origin or warning signs. What are they and what leads to the ultimate violent outburst? What if we don’t pick up on the warning signs and find ourselves in a workplace violence or active shooter situation? When placed in a situation where violence is occurring or imminent, everything you do or don’t do could lead to immediate death or serious bodily injury. Who will you leave these decisions to? Who is responsible at that moment? The answer is you and only you. The best defense is a set of options to choose from based on the situation, forethought as to what you can do and use to your advantage based on the information you have, quick assessment and action on your part before and during an active shooter situation, and total commitment to surviving. A combination of the best and most current immediate active shooter responses taken from various training programs and combined to provide tips and steps for managers, supervisors, teachers, and everyone who could find themselves in the immediate vicinity of an active shooter. When seconds count, everything you do, or don’t do, could have disastrous results. You can’t wait for someone else to tell you what to do. As random acts of violence fill the nightly news cast, and we think it would never happen here, it is a reality across the country and the world. These simple steps can keep you from hesitating and costing valuable time waiting to be told how to react when shots are fired.

  • Work Comp 101 for the New Work Comp Coordinator
    Jim Germain, Workers' Compensation Claims Supervisor, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division Gary Westman, Workers' Compensation Program Manager, Minnesota Department of Admin, Risk Management Division
    If you are a new workers’ compensation coordinator for your agency or simply want a refresher session on workers’ compensation basics – from when and how to file a workers’ compensation claim to dealing with special circumstances in the workers’ compensation process, this session is for you. We will cover when and how to report a claim, how to gather information necessary to report the claim as well as when and what to share on a continuous basis. Upon completion of this session, you will walk away with information that will help you in your role as your agency workers’ compensation coordinator. We will also cover the process of reporting a claim through SEMA4 and iRISK. We will show you how to use iRISK to access claim information that will save you time and help keep you in the loop as to developments and the status of any claim in your agency.
back to top