Apr 11, 2016

Texas Mutual Insurance Company has awarded a $100,000 grant to College of the Mainland to fund the college’s Gulf Coast Safety Institute Center for Risk Management, which provides workplace safety courses for community employers, workers and the general public.

“Workplace safety should be a value in every business no matter the size, and our longstanding partnership with Texas Mutual helps educate area employers and employees on that topic,” Cindy Lewis, director of the Gulf Coast Safety Institute, said. “Our participants not only learn valuable lessons they can apply in the workplace, but these courses also give them a competitive edge in today’s marketplace. Thanks to the generosity of Texas Mutual, we can continue to provide the community with this valuable safety resource.”

This is the 17th consecutive year that Texas Mutual, the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance, has given the $100,000 grant to the college to sustain the Gulf Coast Safety Institute Center for Risk Management.

Since 1999, Texas Mutual—the state’s leading provider of workers’ compensation insurance—has awarded $4.5 million in safety education grants. College of the Mainland is one of five community colleges in Texas that provides safety classes via funding from Texas Mutual. Kilgore College, Midland College, Del Mar College and El Paso Community College also participate in the Texas Mutual safety education grant program and offer community safety courses.

Since the inception of College of the Mainland’s Gulf Coast Safety Institute in 2001, enrollment has totaled more than 25,000.

The 2016 schedule at the Gulf Coast Safety Institute includes courses on hearing conservation, “Focus 4” in construction, confined-space entry, heat prevention, severe weather, hazardous materials handling and other relevant safety topics.

“We’re taking a big step toward keeping workers safe by providing educational programs,” Woody Hill, vice president of safety services at Texas Mutual, said. “Through the classes at these five safety institutes, more Texas employees receive free safety training, giving them tools to be successful in business. Workplace safety education is always a sound investment and these grants, along with other Texas Mutual safety programs, demonstrate the company’s ongoing commitment to workplace safety and the prevention of workplace accidents.”

For more information about College of the Mainland’s Gulf Coast Safety Institute, including a list of courses, visit www.com.edu/gcsi or call 409-933-8365.