Customer Story
Entertainment
“KPA has been helping to drive down number of injuries, most importantly, but also the cost associated with them.”
Client Profile
Home to the World-Famous Kentucky Derby
Known as the home of the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks since 1875, Churchill Downs Racetrack conducts thoroughbred horse racing in Louisville, KY. The racetrack occupies 147 acres, and its barns house more than 1,400 horses each year. The company also owns and operates multiple gaming locations east of the Mississippi River.
Challenge
The Need for a Customizable, Mobile-Friendly Training Platform
Luke Bramblett, Director of Environmental Health & Safety (EHS), manages OSHA compliance for Churchill Downs, Inc., overseeing training for 230 full-time employees, expanding to 1,500 during Derby preparations.
“Some solutions we looked at said, ‘Shoot us an email on what you want to customize, and within 72 hours, we’ll get back with you,'” Bramblett said.
“We’ve established 32 OSHA programs, so it was not going to be realistic for me to fire off an email then wait every time we wanted a change.”
“We’re required to have a nutrient management plan for our concentrated animal feed operation,” he said. “We have hundreds of thoroughbred horses that we stable at any given time, so there are several EPA requirements to comply with there.”
Solution
Discovering the Ultimate in Training Customization with KPA
“When we reach out, the customer service is fantastic. So, that’s really what started the push for KPA,” Bramblett explained.
“We could take KPA’s off-the-shelf training and then modify it to what we need, mostly in-house.”
“We can point to specific things that apply to the worker. If it’s hazard communication, we’ll show them where to find their SDSs (Safety Data Sheets). We’ll show them several examples of chemical storage—proper or improper. So, the training becomes much more dynamic.”
Result
A Safer Workplace Leads to Reduced Worker’s Comp Costs
“We’ve pushed the asset management pretty hard through KPA by QR tagging our life safety equipment, so we know it’s being inspected regularly,” Bramblett said. “We have over 700 fire extinguishers just on the Churchill Downs property.”
“KPA Software has played a role in dramatically cutting our workers’ comp costs. It’s helped us establish a fully implemented, OSHA-compliant health and safety program. We know everyone’s getting trained specifically on what they need.”
The company recently celebrated a near year-long stretch without OSHA recordable incidents—bringing numbers down from 15-20 incidents annually.
“I know now that if we hire a new housekeeper or maintenance person, in that first week, they’re taking training classes, and we’ll be able to track that. Before, we may have tried to manage it with a quarterly new-hire orientation. So, you might have people working for up to three months without having all of their training completed. We’ve gotten away from that thanks to the KPA solution.”
