In This Issue

Safety Partners Grant Applications Coming Soon

3rd Annual Risk & Insurance Symposium

Greeneville Police Department Achieves Accreditation

Document Retention Policies and Recommendations

Member Services Survey

Tennessee Trivia

Q. Which Tennessee city is the only one that hosted a “World’s Fair” during the 20th century?

Click here for the answer

Message from the President

Hello to all!

The 79th TML Annual Conference was held June 10 - 12 in Knoxville. It was great to see so many friends and partners at our booth in the exhibit hall and at Public Entity Partners party! We also enjoyed the fun photo booth and props. Click here to see some of the fun.

It seems as though we have gone straight from winter to summer, with very few days of springtime in-between. The current daytime 90-plus degree temperatures give rise to increased heat illnesses. According to the CDC, heat-related illnesses can come in a number of forms. Below are some of the illnesses, what to look for and what to do should you experience one of these.

Heat Stroke

What to look for:

• High body temperature (103°F or higher)
• Hot, red, dry or damp skin
• Fast, strong pulse
• Headache
• Dizziness
• Nausea
• Confusion
• Losing consciousness (passing out)

What to do:

• Call 911 right away — heat stroke is a medical emergency
• Move the person to a cooler place
• Help lower the person’s temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath
• Do not give the person anything to drink

Heat Exhaustion

What to look for:

• Heavy sweating
• Cold, pale and clammy skin
• Fast, weak pulse
• Nausea or vomiting
• Muscle cramps
• Tiredness or weakness
• Dizziness
• Headache
• Fainting (passing out)

What to do:

• Move to a cool place
• Loosen your clothes
• Put cool, wet cloths on your body or take a cool bath
• Sip water

Get medical help right away if:

• You are throwing up
• Your symptoms get worse
• Your symptoms last longer than 1 hour

Heat Cramps

What to look for:

• Heavy sweating during intense exercise
• Muscle pain or spasms

What to do:

• Stop physical activity and move to a cool place
• Drink water or a sports drink
• Wait for cramps to go away before you do any more physical activity

Get medical help right away if:

• Cramps last longer than 1 hour
• You’re on a low-sodium diet
• You have heart problems

Sunburn

What to look for:

• Painful, red and warm skin
• Blisters on the skin

What to do:

• Stay out of the sun until your sunburn heals
• Put cool cloths on sunburned areas or take a cool bath
• Put moisturizing lotion on sunburned areas
• Do not break blisters

Heat Rash

What to look for:

• Red clusters of small blisters that look like pimples on the skin (usually on the neck, chest or groin, or in elbow creases)

What to do:

• Stay in a cool, dry place
• Keep the rash dry
• Use powder (like baby powder) to soothe the rash

Stay safe and stay cool!

Best Regards,

Sincerely,

Dawn R. Crawford
President/CEO

Safety Partners Grant Applications Coming Soon

Be on the lookout for Public Entity Partners’s Safety Partners Grant application, available starting June 28. This grant helps our members purchase employee safety devices, equipment and safety education/training that might be cost prohibitive or burdensome, even when the city or agency recognizes the need. Public Entity Partners will reimburse up to 50 percent of the cost of the approved item(s), within a maximum limit.

To be eligible for the grant, your entity must be an existing PE Partner member and currently have Workers’ Compensation coverage with Public Entity Partners as of July 1, 2018. Your entity must also be in good standing with Public Entity Partners and in compliance with previous loss control recommendations.

Please visit our website to apply for the grant, read all rules for participation, and learn more about what items may be eligible for purchase under the grant. If you have questions about this grant program, your eligibility amount, or any other grant program offered by Public Entity Partners, please contact your regional casualty loss control consultant:

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3rd Annual Risk & Insurance Symposium

Registration is now underway for Public Entity Partners’s 3rd Annual Risk & Insurance Symposium, which is open to all members. We have an exciting program of sessions planned for this year’s symposium, scheduled for Aug. 22 - 24.

Symposium topics include:

• Managing the Media after a Mass Casualty Crisis – The Sandy Hook Tragedy
• Setting Up Road Courses and Driver Training
• Contractual Risk Transfer for Local Governments
• Distracted Driving
• Family Impact of Work Injuries
• Opioid Use in Tennessee
• Dangerous Crossroads Ahead: The Intersection of the First and Fourth Amendments
• Riots, Protests and Public Gatherings
• And many more!

In addition to numerous training opportunities, a member recognition lunch is planned for Thursday, Aug. 23.

Public Entity Partners will also honor several Excellence in Risk Management Award winners at the symposium. Last year’s award winners represented each of Tennessee’s three grand divisions, and encompassed a variety of safety and risk management programs. Help us recognize your entity or co-worker by submitting an entry for this year’s Excellence in Risk Management Awards. Nominations may be submitted by clicking here and are due by July 12.

More than 100 participants are currently registered for the symposium. Public Entity Partners has reserved a block of rooms at a reduced rate of $149 per night. Use the code TRM when calling (615) 261-6100 or visiting Marriott’s webpage to reserve your room. The hotel block is filling up fast, so make your reservation soon.

When: Aug. 22 - 24, 2018

Where: Franklin Marriott Cool Springs, 700 Cool Springs Blvd., Franklin, TN 37067

Who should attend:

• Anyone with safety responsibilities, interests or concerns
• Supervisors with safety responsibilities
• Safety, risk and HR managers
• Mayors and elected officials
• City managers/administrators
• City recorders/clerks
• Finance directors
• Human resource employees
• Fleet managers
• Training officers
• City attorneys

To view the agenda and to register, visit https://thepool.xmi.events/.

All sessions have been submitted to the Comptroller’s Office for CMFO credit consideration and are marked on the agenda with any applicable credits. If you have questions about the symposium or issues with registration, please contact Halie Gallik at 615.371.6005 or
hgallik@PEpartners.org.

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Greeneville Police Department Achieves Accreditation

Congratulations to the Greeneville Police Department, Chief Terry Cannon and Accreditation Manager Michael Crum for becoming Public Entity Partners’s 32nd member agency to receive accreditation through the Tennessee Law Enforcement Accreditation (TLEA) Program!

Fifty agencies across the state have become accredited through the TLEA Program since its inception in 2010. These include 10 PE Partner member agencies that are also internationally accredited through the Commission on Accreditation of Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). PE Partner member police agencies accredited through the TLEA and/or CALEA programs receive a reduction in their Law Enforcement Liability premiums of $100 per commissioned officer per year.

Twelve additional PE Partner member agencies are currently in the benchmark and evaluation stages of the program. Another 15 PE Partner member agencies have requested applications for the TLEA Program and hope to begin their accreditation processes in the near future.

PE Partner member police agencies accredited through the TLEA Program include:

* Designates agencies that have achieved both TLEA and CALEA accreditation

Law enforcement liability is a high-risk area for many PE Partner members. Both the TLEA and CALEA accreditation programs encourage law enforcement agencies to implement best practice recommendations and address high-exposure areas. To learn more about the TLEA program, visit the Tennessee Association of Chiefs of Police accreditation page. More information on the CALEA program can be found here.

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Document Retention Policies and Recommendations

By Ross V. Smith, attorney, Farrar & Bates, LLP

Municipal government officials across our state are continually learning about the importance of the Tennessee Public Records Act ("TPRA") and its far-reaching implications. The Tennessee Supreme Court has characterized the TPRA as "an all-encompassing legislative attempt to cover all printed matter created or received by government in its official capacity."¹ The TPRA itself dictates that courts are to "broadly construe" its provisions so as to "give the fullest possible public access to public records."²

Most employees are aware of the TPRA due to its requirements that public records be made available for inspection by citizens. However, there are also provisions dictating the entity's responsibilities in maintaining those public records. It is therefore important to understand your responsibilities with regard to retaining public records.

The TPRA does not expressly state that all public records must be retained for archival value. However, there are a myriad of reasons for retaining records. First, federal law may require that you maintain payroll records, employment-related records, disciplinary records, etc. in order to comply with items such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, or Occupational Safety and Health Act.³ Additionally, Tennessee law may dictate when certain officials within local governments must preserve public records. For example, Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-4-203 requires that a City Recorder "preserve in the recorder's office … the public records, … papers and documents not required by this charter or by ordinance to be deposited elsewhere, and register them by numbers, dates and contents, and keep an accurate and modern index of such material."⁴

In order to aid municipalities with organizing and implementing document retention policies, Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-702 expressly directs the Municipal Technical Advisory Service (MTAS) "to compile and print … records retention manuals which shall be used as guides by municipal officials in establishing retention schedules for all records created by municipal governments in the state."⁵ Municipalities may dispose of physical copies of records if they have been preserved in another medium or when the retention schedule in use has expired.

As a result of the foregoing, MTAS maintains a document titled "Records Management for Municipal Governments." This document may be accessed by visiting the MTAS website at: http://www.mtas.tennessee.edu/reference/records-management-municipal-governments.

I encourage you to review these retention schedules and adopt a records retention policy if you have not already done so. These retention policies will aid you in navigating the ever-changing world of public records and help mitigate risks of lawsuits associated with failing to disclose public records.

Additional information is available by contacting the Office of Open Records Counsel at 1-866- 831-3750 or visiting https://www.comptroller.tn.gov/openrecords.

1. Griffin v. City of Knoxville, 821 S.W.2d 921, 923 (Tenn. 1991).
2. Tenn. code Ann. § 10-7-505(d).
3. See 29 U.S.C. § 2601, et seq. (FMLA); 29 U.S.C. § 201, et seq. (FLSA); 29 U.S.C. § 651, et seq. (OSHA).
4. Tenn. Code Ann. § 6-4-203.
5. Tenn. Code Ann. § 10-7-702.

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Member Services Survey

Thank you to each PE Partner member who completed the recent Member Services Survey. We received a great response and are working hard to compile the results to share with you later. We look forward to implementing your suggestions!

As you know, those who shared their ideas were eligible to participate in a drawing for a $50 Visa gift card. The winner is J. Alan Johnson from the Johnson Insurance Agency, LLC in Madisonville!

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Tennessee Trivia

Q: Which Tennessee city is the only one that hosted a “World’s Fair” during the 20th century?

A. The City of Knoxville hosted the 1982 World’s Fair, formally known as the Knoxville International Energy Exposition.