Screen Photo Patty Furuseth, advanced personal safety professional with Marathon Petroleum, Dickinson, speaks at the Get Home Safe North Dakota news conference in Bismarck, Monday.

BISMARCK – Worker injury claims were down in fiscal year 2024 but still totaled more than 17,000, according to North Dakota Workforce Safety & Insurance statistics cited at a news conference in Bismarck Monday.

Governor Kelly Armstrong joined North Dakota WSI Director Art Thompson at the second annual Get Home Safe North Dakota news conference Monday to encourage employers and employees to make workplace safety a shared daily value.

“We have seen positive momentum across all industries,” Thompson said of the impact of the Get Home Safe campaign since its launch a year ago. From fiscal year 2023 to 2024, there were 1,086 fewer claims filed in the state, while the number of covered workers during that period rose to 10,518, he said.

“We’re trending in the right direction, but there is more work that needs to be done. Get Home Safe North Dakota is more than a campaign. It’s a movement to make safety a part of the daily fabric of every business across every job site in North Dakota,” Thompson said.

Armstrong said getting home safe doesn’t just happen on its own.

“At the heart of this initiative, it’s a simple but powerful goal – to protect the people who make North Dakota work. Every job supports a lifestyle, a family and a future. When we talk about safety, we’re talking about preserving all of those things,” he said.

In fiscal year 2024, WSI processed more than 17,000 injury claims, representing a person whose life was disrupted or may face long-term physical, emotional and financial repercussions, Armstrong added.

“That’s why we’re focused not only on reducing the numbers but on changing culture. And it starts with leadership, but it requires everyone, from new hires to seasoned managers to take ownership in safety. I encourage employers to adopt the Get Home Safe North Dakota tools, and even more importantly, the mindset that it represents,” he said.

Patty Furuseth, advanced personal safety professional with Marathon Petroleum in Dickinson, spoke about going beyond providing resources and education on safety to creating psychological safety in which workers feel safe to promote ideas and solutions.

“When the men and women in your organizations feel that level of security, it’s at that point that safety becomes second nature,” she said. “I”ve seen how a culture of safety is shaped not just by procedures but by people who look out for one another.”

WSI offers safety tools at gethomesafend.com.

“Even if you already have strong safety programs, there’s always room to grow, room to learn, room to empower others, ways that we can improve,” Furuseth said. “At the end of the day, it’s not just about policies. It’s about getting our people home safe.”