Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center staff will be excited to see a representative of the Occupational Safety and Hazard Administration today.

The organization usually responsible for workplace safety inspections will visit the nursing home to give it a safety award. It received a star rating for the volunteer protection program. It is the highest rating available for a program that has facilities go through a comprehensive safety policy and program review.

"What the program is tomorrow (today) is for the staff to celebrate," said Patty Tangen, human resource director and risk management co-coordinator. Debbie Goetz is the other risk management coordinator.

At 2:30 p.m.today there will be a celebration with the OSHA representative giving the facility administrators a plaque, and guest speakers will include the Bismarck Mayor John Warford and someone from the governor's office.

The process to get this award began a few years ago. The facility applied to be considered for it. They reviewed current policies and procedures for responding to injuries and what they do to prevent injuries. Then they created a plan to improve on those processes, Tangen said.

Among the changes they made:

n A $50,000 grant from Workforce Safety and Insurance was used for ceiling lifts so the employees could use them to help bath residents.

n Purchased lifts and carts for the maintenance department to reduce the amount of lifting.

n Created an annual safety evaluation process.

In June, representatives from OSHA did an audit of the safety processes to see if it meets the criteria for being a volunteer protection program facility. To receive a star rating, Missouri Slope must have its injury rate below the industry standard. When it receives this rating, it is valid for three years and the facility is exempt from surprise inspection visits.

When the three years is up, the facility undergoes another review, and it must show that it is still meeting the same standards as it did when it received the award, Tangen said.