The Dover Fire Department is receiving a sizeable grant from the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation.
 
Fire Chief Russ Volkert says the department has been awarded $33,326 to purchase two cot loading systems, to reduce or eliminate the risk of injuries related to the manual handling of patients, as they are loaded and unloaded into emergency vehicles. 
 
Volkert says the department transports patients around 13-hundred times a year.
 
            
 
He says a fairly high percentage of employees have been afflicted with back injuries from transporting patients.
 
            
 
Volkert says the BWC designed the Safety Intervention Grant Program to assist Ohio employers in reducing illnesses and injuries and to create a partnership to establish the best practices for accident and injury prevention.
 
He says the grant money represents 2/3rds of the costs associated with the project.
 
            
 
According to BWC Officials, over $465,000 worth of grants was awarded to more than 18 state employers.