2024 Theo Award Winner: Harley-Davidson Motor Company

Harley-Davidson Motor Company, known for its iconic motorcycles and dedicated customer base, has engineered an equally impressive approach to employee health and safety. Under the leadership of Beth Mrozinsky, director of environmental, health, safety & security, Harley-Davidson has transformed its manufacturing locations into hubs of holistic employee care and injury prevention.

These centers offer a comprehensive suite of medical resources, including nurses, case managers, physicians, occupational/physical therapists and athletic trainers, as well as full-service health and fitness facilities.

This innovative program earned Harley-Davidson a 2014 Teddy Award, but the company didn’t stop there.

Tackling the Problem

Over the past decade, Harley-Davidson has shifted gears to prioritize loss prevention. Recognizing the challenges of an aging workforce and increased emphasis on safety training and mental health awareness, the company refined its approach to proactively address employee needs.

Early efforts focused on a more traditional health center model, but it didn’t meet the company’s goals.

They were trying to run their clinic on our site, which is not what we wanted. We wanted something that was Harley Davidson, that our employees could identify with and look at as just an extension of us, not an outside provider,” Mrozinsky said.

Those early efforts were a learning experience, which Mrozinsky’s team built upon and refined over time, leading to the launch of the first lifestyle center on Jan. 1, 2016.

“It’s what I call a triad of care: the typical occupational Health Center, our rehab area, and then our fitness center. We can transition people between all three of those.

Beth Mrozinsky, director of environment, health, safety & security, Harley-Davidson Motor Company

The lifestyle centers are located at both Wisconsin plants and the Pennsylvania plant. Every Harley-Davidson employee has access to these services, including corporate and remote workers.

Mrozinsky shared an example of how the comprehensive lifestyle centers wrap around an employee’s complex needs: “We had an employee who had been out on leave for a gastric bypass surgery. She lost a significant amount of weight and came back to the workforce. She had been doing this job for 20-plus years and thought she was done after losing the weight.

“She was feeling good but came back with spasms between her shoulder blades,” Mrozinsky said. “We started in occupational health, identified how to stop the spasms, and helped her understand that her body’s different now. The same job she did before now puts different stresses on her body.

Mrozinsky’s team helped her recover through the occupational health center, provided early intervention with certified athletic trainers, and then worked on strengthening and overall fitness in the fitness center. The employee continued working out daily, straight through her retirement, Mrozinsky shared.

“This is a prime example of how the lifestyle centers work,” she said, “managing people through their stages of life and helping them return to work after significant medical issues.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harley-Davidson adapted quickly to maintain its high-contact program in a no-contact environment. The company developed online health services, including exercise programs offered as call-in events or pre-recorded videos. They also reworked ergonomic assessments to suit at-home workers, providing job coaching to maximize home office productivity and comfort.

“We built the program to be extremely flexible,” said Mrozinsky, “and that flexibility was hugely tested during COVID. The lifestyle centers were integral to our operations during the pandemic.

Hear from Beth Mrozinsky, director of environment, health, safety & security, Harley-Davidson Motor Company, from the floor of National Comp 2024 here.

“We did COVID testing and moved to rapid testing. We managed to offer vaccines to our employees as well. We had clean rooms specific for COVID testing and decontamination. We started in tents outside our plants and then moved into exam rooms once we felt more comfortable. We never anticipated a pandemic, but fortunately we built the system with flexibility.

Harley-Davidson has forged strong partnerships to enhance its program. Unify Health Services manages the lifestyle centers, ensuring operations align with medical guidelines. Brown & Brown implemented a Performance Guarantee Audit to hold claims managers accountable. Gallagher Bassett provides dedicated claims adjusters for each manufacturing location and valuable analytics through their risk management information system.

“We’re continuing to evolve,” said Mrozinsky, “and what we look like today is probably not what we’ll look like in five years.

Success to Build On

Harley-Davidson’s comprehensive approach has yielded impressive results. Since their 2014 Teddy Award win, the company has reduced claim costs significantly and sharply lowered its recordable injury rate. Employees are now four times less likely to be injured compared to industry peers.

The total number of claims has decreased as well, demonstrating the effectiveness of the lifestyle centers’ loss prevention strategies. The program’s operations are self-sustaining, with annualized savings realized since 2012 ultimately covering its costs.

Looking ahead, Harley-Davidson plans to operate completely electronically to increase efficiency. The company switched to Modern Health as its EAP provider early this year, and the Lifestyle Centers will increase focus on overall wellness and provide behavioral health services, including crisis management and mental health first-aid training.

“Ultimately, I’d like everyone trained and versed in mental health first aid,” said Mrozinsky.

Organization: Harley-Davidson Motor Company * Location: Milwaukee, WI * Number of Employees: 6,400 * Category: Manufacturing & Heavy Industry

Mrozinsky and her team create a three-year strategic plan to continually assess and improve the program. This forward-thinking approach ensures Harley-Davidson remains flexible and prepared for any challenge, whether internal or as global as a pandemic.

By setting new standards for employee care in the manufacturing industry, Harley-Davidson’s workers’ compensation department has created a reputation that rivals its motorcycles. With a focus on comprehensive wellness and strategic partnerships, the company is making a lasting difference in the lives of its manufacturing employees while contributing to its overall success.

“Harley-Davidson’s Lifestyle Centers and workers’ compensation program set the standard for loss prevention and holistic employee care in their industry, as they help the company’s bottom line and support the safety and well-being of the workers who build the iconic motorcycles,” said Christie Grant, senior vice president, client services with Gallagher Bassett.

“It’s been quite a journey,” said Mrozinsky. “I always say it takes a village, and it does. Our vision is health and safety excellence; to provide safe work and work safely. Our mission is to achieve health and safety excellence through leadership and employee engagement.” &

 

The Theo Award celebrates its inaugural year, honoring 31 workers’ compensation programs for their excellence and service to workers across the nation. To learn more about the award and amazing qualities each winner possesses, visit here.

More from Risk & Insurance