News

Today, Olivenhain Municipal Water District was honored with the McMurchie Excellence in Safety Award at the California Special Districts Association Annual Conference in Monterey. The award was presented by Special District Risk Management Authority for OMWD’s safety practices.

Each year, SDRMA selects two public agencies from its over 650 members for this award. To determine the award recipients, SDRMA evaluates an agency’s safety programs, membership history, and insurance claims history, including efforts to minimize losses and reduce claims.

“Managing workplace risks not only helps OMWD control costs, but also helps ensure the safety of our employees,” said Christy Guerin, OMWD’s board secretary and member of its Safety Committee. “Our safety culture is evident by the fact that our employees haven’t experienced a preventable lost-time injury in over 1,000 days.”

SDRMA commended OMWD for its workers’ compensation claim history that is better than the industry average, making OMWD less of a risk to insure. As a result, OMWD receives a substantial discount on workers’ compensation insurance premiums, saving over $137,000 for its ratepayers in 2025.

OMWD accepts McMurchie Excellence in Safety Award at the California Special Districts Association Annual Conference (Left to right, Henri Castro of SDRMA, OMWD Safety/Risk Compliance Administrator Tim Schuette, OMWD General Manager Kimberly Thorner, and Sandy Siefert of Special District Leadership Foundation)