City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: October 27, 2026
Agenda Item: 4.E
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Oscar Santiago, Director, Finance Department, Risk Management Subject: Award RFP #466 to and Authorize the City Manager to Enter into Agreements with Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants, Inc., and O2X Human Performance, LLC for Workplace Injury Prevention and Ergonomic Services for the Finance Department
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of no possibility of significant effect pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines;
2. Award RFP# 466 to Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants Inc., and O2X Human Performance LLC for Workplace Injury Prevention and Ergonomic Services for the Finance Department;
3. Authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants Inc., for a total amount not to exceed $636,872 over a 5-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval; and
4. Authorize the City Manager to enter into an agreement with O2X Human Performance LLC, for a total amount not to exceed $850,690 over a 5-year period, with future year funding contingent on Council budget approval.
Summary
Staff recently solicited proposals for workplace injury prevention services to satisfy Cal/OSHA ergonomic regulations and City safety policies. These services are critical to Risk Management’s efforts to keep employees safe and prevent on-the-job injuries.
Staff recommends the City award RFP #466 to Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants Inc. and O2X Human Performance LLC to provide extensive professional ergonomic 2 of 6
services to the City’s workforce. If approved, the two contracts would total $146,100 for FY 2026-27 ($62,550 for Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants, Inc., and $83,550 for O2X Human Performance, LLC. Further, over the five-year life of the two agreements, the total not to exceed contract amounts would be $636,872 for Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants Inc., and $850,690 for O2X Human Performance LLC. Based on the City’s average workers’ compensation claim cost, the annual investment in these proactive prevention services would be fully offset by avoiding just five to six injuries per year, a modest threshold given the firms’ demonstrated success in reducing ergonomic‑related injuries in comparable workplace environments. By intervening early to prevent injuries rather than absorbing the significantly higher costs of post‑incident claims, treatment, lost time, and productivity impacts, this approach yields a strong and measurable return on investment for the City.
Discussion
The City’s Safety Administrator is responsible for coordinating the City’s Safety Program and providing departments with tools and assistance to comply with various safety regulations and policies. One of these State regulations is the California Ergonomics Standard, which is triggered when two or more employees report work-related Repetitive Motion Injuries (RMIs) to the employer in a 12-month period. RMIs occur when employees repeatedly perform tasks such as lifting, gripping, pushing, and typing.
These types of injuries can be found in both office and field-oriented work environments.
During FY 2025-26, based on the injury description, 91 City employees reported RMIs.
Every employer subject to the California Ergonomics Standard is required to have a program designed to minimize RMIs. The program must include the following three components: 1) worksite evaluations to determine exposures that have caused RMIs; 2) control of these exposures by either correcting them or if not possible, minimizing them; and 3) training of employees exposed to RMIs in the workplace. Due to the specialized technical knowledge required, the City has historically used professional ergonomic consultants to provide workplace injury prevention services to ensure its compliance with the Standard. The most utilized services are ergonomic evaluations, risk assessments, early intervention screenings, one-on-one job coaching, and group 3 of 6
trainings. Since the mid-2000s, the City has used contracted professional ergonomic service providers to support these services.
The use of professional ergonomists offers a much broader benefit to the City than meeting regulatory requirements. They provide employees with training and tools to safely, comfortably, and efficiently carry out their jobs. As a result of these efforts, certain workplace injuries are avoided, which in turn lowers the City’s workers’ compensation costs. While the exact cost savings cannot be quantified, they are significant considering that the average cost of each workers’ compensation claim is approximately $53,180. In addition to the injury prevention services, ergonomic consultants provide post-injury solutions that focus on reducing lost time due to injuries.
The lost time results in additional workers’ compensation costs, as well as lost productivity and overtime costs.
Bidder Recommendation
Best Qualified Person/Firm Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants Inc., and O2X Human Performance LLC
Evaluation Criteria
(include all that apply)
Cost, Stability/References, Report/Training Materials,
Experience/Technical Competence, Value Add/ Breadth of Service, Ability to Meet Workplan/Timeline.
Municipal Code SMMC 2.24.100(b)
RFPs Received (do not list cost/prices; add rows as needed for additional vendors) Accredited Rehabilitation
Consultants Inc. CARE onsite Ergonomicworks Humanscale Corporation O2X Human
Performance LLC
RFP Data
Posted On Posted On Advertised In
(City Charter & SMMC)
Vendors
Downloaded
Date Publicly
Opened
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5/1/2026 City's Online
Bidding Site Santa Monica Daily Press 27 5/27/2026
Justification to Award
The evaluation committee, comprised of staff from Risk Management and DoT Safety, evaluated the RFP submissions from the five firms, then interviewed three shortlisted firms to better understand the respondents’ strengths, capabilities, and abilities to meet the City’s requested scope and timeline. The evaluation scoring identified two firms, with unique strengths in specific areas of ergonomics, that were virtually tied in scoring.
Based on the evaluation criteria and criteria in SMMC 2.24.100(b), the evaluation committee recommends Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants Inc. as the best qualified firm to provide primarily sedentary job task/office related ergonomic services based on their extensive knowledge and ability to identify Repetitive Motion Injury exposures in sedentary job/office related environments and provide recommendations to control/minimize these exposures, as well as their extensive background with similar government organizations.
Based on the evaluation criteria and criteria in SMMC 2.24.100(b), the evaluation committee recommends O2X Human Performance LLC as the best qualified firm to provide primarily manual work and first responder ergonomic services based on their extensive knowledge and unique preventative approach to prevention of Repetitive Motion Injury exposures in manual work and first responder-related environments, as well as their experience with government agencies and job coaching manual work jobs from an “industrial athlete” approach.
Environmental Review
The agreements to provide professional ergonomic services are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) (Common Sense Exemption) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that CEQA does not apply “where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in 5 of 6
question may have a significant effect on the environment.” The agreements would provide ergonomic services and would not result in physical changes that would have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, the agreements are exempt from CEQA.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to approve available funding from the Self-Insurance Workers’ Compensation Fund to execute an agreement with Accredited Rehabilitation Consultants Inc. and O2X Human Performance LLC for Workplace Injury Prevention and Ergonomic Services.
Agreement Request
Vendor
FY 2026-27
Request Amount
Future Years
Amount
Department/CIP
Account #
Total Contract
Amount
Accredited Rehabilitation
Consultants Inc. $62,550 $574,322 74800002.552010 $636,872 O2X Human Performance LLC $83,550 $767,140 74800002.552010 $850,690 Total $146,100 $1,341,462 $1,487,562
Future year funding is contingent on Council budget approval.
Prepared By: Don Cocozza, Safety Officer
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. OAKS Form - Accredited Rehabilitatiom Consultants Inc B. OAKS Form - O2X Human Peformance LLC
C. Levine Act Disclosure Form - Accredited Rehabilitation Consuiltants Inc 6 of 6
D. Levine Act Disclosure Form - O2X Human Performance LLC