Pictured, left to right, are Sanborn County High Dept. employees: Jim Luthi, Kylie Forbes, Dale Schow, David Hjelm, Sheri Kogel, Tim Steckel, Bob Smith, Stacy Mendenhall, Lee Goergen. Not pictured, Brian Pearson.

Sanborn County Highway Department Employees recently received two 2017 Safety and Loss Control Recognition Awards at the County Convention held in Rapid City.
The Safety and Loss Control Recognition Awards have four levels: first level bronze, second level silver, third level gold, and the fourth and highest level is platinum. The highway employees received the two highest awards this year, the gold and platinum.
In 2016, their first year applying for the award, they received the bronze level. The highway department puts a lot of work into receiving these awards and has implemented many new safety procedures to receive the two highest awards. The department has monthly safety meetings, quarterly inspections of the buildings, 10 hours of annual safety training each year, and new employees go through 30 hours of new hire training.
One of the most important aspects of the award is the department must be accident free for the previous year. Sanborn County Highway employees have maintained no loss status for many years now.
By receiving these safety awards, Sanborn County is able to receive a reduction in insurance premiums.