R.H. Reny Inc. was honored with an award for outstanding safety performance during the Maine Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co.’s annual meeting of policyholders earlier this month. Only nine other employers, out of more than 20,000 MEMIC policyholders, received an award for workplace safety from workers’ compensation specialist The MEMIC Group.
Established in 1949 by R.H. Reny, Renys is a family-owned and -operated department store with more than 550 employees and 17 locations in Maine. Renys has a formal injury-management program that includes a strong return-to-work program involving all levels of leadership. Every store receives routine safety audits, all employees are involved with ongoing safety training, and each store is represented on the executive safety and wellness committee.
“Number one, you don’t want anyone to get hurt,” said R.H. Reny Inc. President John Reny. “This is a family business and all these 550 people are kind of part of the family; you don’t want your family to get hurt.”
“Renys has developed a unique family-like work environment where senior management makes the effort to meet and know the names of all employees,” said MEMIC Safety Management Consultant Hartley Webb. “Management expects every employee to be responsible for day-to-day safety and they work to raise the safety bar each year.”