Fire Department Recognized for Containing Risk Costs

NORWALK, Conn. – The Norwalk Fire Department has won an award from a Connecticut risk management agency for its success in reducing workers’ compensation costs by promoting the health and safety of its firefighters.

In a news release Monday, Mayor Harry Rilling announced the department is the 2025 recipient of an Excellence in Risk Management Award for the category Substantial Impact on Total Cost of Risk.

The award was made by the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency (CIRMA), an association of 85 Connecticut municipalities, school systems and public agencies that provides insurance coverage and risk management services for workers’ compensation and liability, auto, and property claims.

The release says the department was recognized for its commitment to firefighter health and safety through its Injury Prevention and Wellness Program, which promotes fitness, mobility training, nutrition, and mental wellness.

It says the department partnered with CIRMA’s health and wellness committee, invested in advanced personal protection equipment, and conducted specialized wellness training “to help with the demanding nature of the job.”

In describing its award to Norwalk Fire on its website, CIRMA says the department’s “proactive program has yielded impressive results.”

Since 2019, it notes, Norwalk has reduced annual workers’ compensation costs by 27 percent, with claim severity dropping from $919,000 in 2019/2020 to $255,000 in 2023/2024.

The Injury Prevention and Wellness Program “continues to be instrumental in reducing our firefighter injuries,” says Fire Chief Gino Gatto in the release, with more and more firefighters participating in the fitness programs.

Gatto credits Deputy Chief of Training and Safety Joseph Coppola for reducing the department’s workforce injuries and prioritizing the safety and wellbeing of its firefighters.

Coppola says in the release that “Providing our members with such a helpful and healthful program is simply the right thing to do.”

During the Jan. 21 meeting of the Fire Commission, Gatto said the department’s “Sick Leave” report for 2024 showed expenditures for the various types of sick leave, injuries on duty, and light duty assignments declined by18 percent compared to 2023.

At its annual meeting Jan. 31, CIRMA presented four risk management awards for 2025. Besides Norwalk, the recipients were:

• Town of Manchester in the category Sustained Risk Management Program, for its comprehensive emergency training program for lifeguards.
• Thomaston Public Schools in the category New and Innovative Risk Management Initiative, for developing a comprehensive multi-year educational and facilities plan that has prioritized the safety of staff and students across the district.
• Town of Chester in the category Establishing Risk Management as an Organizational Priority, for initiating a voluntary OSHA walk-through to identify potential safety hazards, which led to a comprehensive safety plan with swift corrective actions taken by staff.

Each recipient received a $2,500 risk management grant and a crystal award.

Here is a CIRMA-produced video of Deputy Chief Coppola describing the department’s health and safety initiatives: