What is the Teddy Award?
The Theodore Roosevelt Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management Award recognizes excellence in workers’ compensation risk management in the for-profit and nonprofit sectors for their efforts to reduce the number and cost of injuries to workers.  The award was named in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, who in 1908 introduced and promoted the first piece of significant workers’ compensation legislation in the United States.

The Teddy Award has been given by Risk & Insurance® for 17 years and is presented at the annual Workers’ Compensation and Disability Management Conference® and Expo. It is sponsored by Sedgwick.

What criteria are used to select the winners?

Winners distinguish themselves, not only by their performance data, but by their creativity and resourcefulness in solving problems. We also seek to recognize companies with programs that show strong overall loss prevention results, from both pre-injury and post-injury perspectives.

In the application, each organization is asked to provide data that represents the tangible results of the program, but other factors weigh heavily in the judges’ final decision. The application should illustrate how the organization exemplifies these key criteria:

• Performance - Applicants should express their specific workers’ comp and disability management challenges and supply documented performance in meeting those challenges. We look at the environment in which the organization operates, the level of difficulty it faces, its degree of success and the credibility of any documentation provided. 

• Sustainability - Without exception, all past winners have developed what could be termed “living” programs -- those with unlimited adaptability, and with the potential to sustain continued forward progress and results, even as the organization grows and changes. We recognize that “low-hanging fruit” is easy to pick. Continuous improvement over time is a less glamorous, but far more important measure of success.

• Team and Teamwork - By team we mean the ability of the employer to forge and maintain a team involving employees and possibly outside vendors. Evaluation of the team ranking considers breadth of knowledge and skills, stability and skill shown in overcoming special obstacles in recruiting the team. The degree of communication throughout the team is also key.

• Innovation - Applicants should be able to demonstrate a proven commitment to innovation and to implementing ideas that go beyond traditional or boilerplate solutions.

For examples of how previous Teddy Award winners have met these criteria, a list of previous winners and their profiles can be found here.

Application/Nomination process
All applicants are required to complete the online application and have the option to include attachments that support the information in the application. Judges will rely primarily on the application data throughout the initial phase of the judging process.

Applicants can now save their applications on this site and update the information to reapply in future years (if they are not winners). This functionality will greatly reduce non-essential workload on applicants and hopefully will encourage applicants to keep the judges updated on the progress of their program. Many of the past Teddy winners were runner-ups from previous years.

To apply for the Teddy Award, please utilize the online application/nomination form here.

All entries must be received by August 2, 2013.

Who selects the winners?
The Teddy Award winners are selected by an internal panel of judges consisting of editors and writers with Risk & Insurance®. The judges will select a winner and up to three finalists in each category.

Publication

Profiles of the winners and finalists will be published in the November 2013 issue of Risk & Insurance®. The information is also posted on the Risk & Insurance website, eNewsletter, web digital edition, and iPad and iPhone/Android apps.

The award winners will be announced at the National Workers’ Compensation and Disability Conference® and Expo at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. at an evening award ceremony on Wednesday, November 20, 2013.

Questions?

If there are any questions about the contest or the application material, please call Dan Reynolds, Editor-in-Chief, 215-784-0910, ext. 6285; or e-mail dreynolds@lrp.com.