For a second year, the Pike County Commission has received a monetary award for its participation in the Association of County Commissions of Alabama Workers Compensation Self-Insurers Fund’s Safety Incentive Discount Program.

According to Commission Administrator Harry Sanders the commission had taken advantage of the incentives the program provides each year since the program began in 2012.

“With the discount, it adds an incentive for everybody,” Sanders said. “But, the most important part is that we have a safe work environment for our workers.”

The program contains nine basic elements all of which are aimed at making employees more aware of safety issues and taking precautionary measures to prevent safety risk and provide educational opportunities for county employees and officials.

Because the program was so important to the ACCA, Sanders said the program requires someone to oversee SIDP for each county. Pike County’s overseer is McKenzie Wilson, personnel and safety director for the commission.

“It was important to provide good leadership from the county’s perspective, and that’s where McKenzie comes in,” Sanders said. “She’s our representative in this program. She brings us all the incentives and improvements to Pike County from the state level. Thanks to her hard work and the employees she’s got working with her, we are able to enjoy the financial reward.”

The commission received a total of $18,013.96, which was made up of the commissions $6,828.89 SIDP payment and $11,185.07 representing Pike County’s portion of the state’s $700,000 investment earnings.

Sanders said the program was a benefit for Pike County because they saw the return for their hard work and safer work environments were created in the process.

“By having a work environment that is safer, you have fewer claims and with this program all the good parts of that flow back into the county,” Sanders said. “Instead of spending this money on insurance, we can now spend the money on other things we need in the county.”