Good data and strong relationships highlighted as building blocks of risk management
County risk managers from across the state convened recently for the 2025 South Carolina Association of Counties Insurance Trusts Member Meeting. This year’s meeting kicked off a little earlier than previous years, giving attendees several more hours of training and education.
Educational sessions included presentations from attorney William Lyon of Willson Jones Carter & Baxley on workers’ compensation issues affecting counties and attorney Gene Matthews with Richardson Plowden who shared insights into legal and human resources issues impacting county government. Chester County Administrator Brian Hester shared his insights on working with elected officials and bridging the gap with county councils when it comes to risk management strategies and procedures.
“Data is the most important thing. Data should drive every single thing that we do,” Hester said, adding that risk managers should forge strong relationships with decision-makers and leaders in their county.
SCAC staff also gave updates on the Workers’ Compensation and Property & Liability Insurance Trusts and presented educational information to help risk managers process claims and run their departments as efficiently as possible.
This year also featured a roundtable discussion, with Hester, Lyon, Matthews and SCAC Property & Liability Claims Manager Mark McKinney serving as panelists. The group fielded questions from the audience on managing workers’ compensation claims and mitigating risk for county employees.
The meeting also served as an opportunity for attendees to learn from one another. SCAC Director of Insurance Services Robert Benfield encouraged the audience to network and share resources and success stories with one another.
“Every one of you is influencing your county in one way or another. You are a leader. Make a difference where you can,” he said.
The meeting culminated in the presentation of the 2024 Risk Management and Safety Awards.
See photos from the meeting and the awards ceremony.
Anderson County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award
Anderson County responded to a potentially disastrous close call at a wastewater station by creating and assembling a Lock Out Tag Out Simulation Board to train county employees on the proper procedure for a lockout/tagout scenario, which is a safety procedure preventing workers from exposure to hazardous energy. It shows what workers should do to power down equipment and properly mark it. The county also incorporated a piece of inland marine equipment to expand training in these scenarios.
Barnwell County: Service Award
Barnwell County displayed an exemplary response to Hurricane Helene last fall. The county’s response demonstrated not only a dedication to the safety and well-being of Barnwell County residents, but also a commitment to supporting neighboring counties during a crisis.
Barnwell County’s emergency management team prioritized protection of residents and first responders by conducting stringent assessments, ensuring proper use of personal protective equipment and clearly communicating areas of danger.
The county extended critical support to neighboring counties as well, providing Allendale County with generators to ensure critical infrastructure was operational, setting up and supporting charging stations for residents and emergency responders traveling through Saluda County and supplying Edgefield County with necessary equipment to secure dangerous areas and redirect traffic.
Berkeley County: Outstanding Safety Achievement AwardBerkeley County engaged in a joint operation with the county IT and Safety departments to create a program to track all injuries and motor vehicle accidents involving county vehicles. The program’s monthly report includes a breakdown of all injuries and accidents, dividing the incidents into injury causes. This has increased the ability for the risk management department to stay fully engaged and aware of every claim, injury and accident.
Dorchester County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award Dorchester County established its Hearing Conservation Program to combat work-related hearing loss illness cases. The program requires the monitoring of noise exposure levels and the accurate identification of employees exposed to noise at or above 85 decibels on an eight-hour time weighted average. As part of this program, each county job has been reviewed, and the Risk Management Department conducted a preliminary noise exposure level test of tools and equipment that would expose employees to noise levels at or above 85 decibels.
The program’s goal is to prevent work-related hearing loss and to protect any remaining hearing. It gives workers the tools and knowledge they need to protect their hearing, and annual training is required to remain compliant.
Georgetown County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award
Georgetown County Fire discovered the physical requirements in the job descriptions for the fire departments were outdated and did not accurately depict the physical demands of the job. Those outdated job descriptions were often used in workers’ compensation claims. To remedy this, Georgetown County Risk Manager Holley Laycock worked with Georgetown County Fire Chief Jim Falkenhagen, Georgetown County Assistant Fire Chief Aaron Bostic and Midway Fire Chief Brent McClellan to revise the job descriptions for each position in their respective departments. They also developed a career training matrix to be used for all positions.
Horry County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award; Most Improved County Award
Horry County established the Police Department Crisis Intervention Team in response to mental health and substance use-related issues in the community. The goal of the team is to connect those experiencing mental health or substance use issues to professional services.
The team uses various strategies and resources to assist those in need, including behavioral health screenings, assessment or diagnoses as well as referrals, outreach and ongoing case management. Team members are responsible for responding directly to active scenes with law enforcement and collaborating with officers to determine appropriate courses of action.
The implementation of this team is projected to reduce employee risk, and the chance of a resident experiencing a crisis is expected to be lessened or possibly eliminated.
Horry County’s risk management program has been a high-performing unit for several years. The county has seen significant population growth recently, which has resulted in the need for more county services. Many times, this type of growth leads to higher demand on the workforce and to health and safety being overlooked. Horry County has faced this challenge directly and continues to find ways to improve their processes and develop new initiatives. Horry County’s Risk Management team strives to improve their processes year after year with impressive results, earning them this year’s Most Improved County Award.
Kershaw County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award
Kershaw County saw an increase in lift assist service calls and addressed the issue by purchasing seven lift assist devices. The devices are compact but can lift up to 500 pounds. The lift assist devices are designed to reduce back injuries like pulls and sprains while lifting patients who have fallen or called for a lift assist. Back injuries account for 30% of injuries in Kershaw County Fire Services.
Each county fire station now has a device, and a lift assist device also has been placed in each of the battalion chief vehicles.
Lexington County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award
Lexington County Risk Management developed a system of sending out countywide safety messages to all departments. The messages are short, one-page PDFs sent via email to keep employees engaged in their own personal safety. The messages also encourage the entire department to create an environment that encourages safety conversations.
Topics for the safety messages include fire prevention, staying hydrated and minimizing hazards in the workplace. The messages have opened the door for departments to reach out to the risk management team to ask for additional topics and to discuss them during team meetings. This has forged a stronger relationship between risk management and county employees, supervisors and department heads.
Oconee County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award
A collaboration of the Oconee County Sheriff's Office, County Council and the county administrator upgraded all uniformed patrol vehicles with ballistic windshields and driver’s side door windows as well as ballistic plating on the driver’s side door. These upgrades are a direct response to an officer-involved shooting that wounded an officer in vehicle pursuit of a suspect.
The upgrades will greatly enhance the safety of all officers in the county.
Spartanburg County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award; Service Award
Spartanburg County Roads and Bridges Division established the “81 Days in 2024” initiative to bring safety awareness to every division employee. The initiative tasked crew members to innovate new ways to incorporate safety into daily operations. Crew members were put into teams, and they had 81 days to develop their ideas and record a safety video presenting their innovation. Prizes were awarded to the first-, second- and third-place presentations.
The division had 100% participation in the initiative, and because of its success, it will now be an annual program.
Also, Spartanburg County Safety Coordinator Kyle Hardin received an SCAC Service Award for his willingness to assist others through open information sharing and for safety programs designed to help other counties improve their risk management programs.
Sumter County: Outstanding Safety Achievement Award
First Amendment audits have become a more common occurrence for county employees. In light of the rise of these incidents, Sumter County held a training session to better equip county employees to manage these encounters. The training sessions focused on safety and proper communication with First Amendment auditors as well as the rights of auditors.
Employees were trained on when to call for law enforcement and when to remove themselves from potentially dangerous situations. The county Sheriff's Office discussed the laws and rights of auditors and of county employees and private residents.
Sustained Excellence Awards
The following counties received the Sustained Excellence Award for continuing to exceed the Basic Risk Management Standards and excel in their risk management and safety program.
Berkeley County
Colleton County
Dorchester County
Horry County
Spartanburg County
SC Counties Property & Liability Trust Lag Time Awards
Abbeville County: 2.58 days
Saluda County: 2.94 days
Chesterfield County: 3.53 days
SC Counties Workers’ Compensation Trust Lag Time Awards
Spartanburg County: .36 days
Colleton County: .41 days
Florence County: .48 days
SC Counties Workers’ Compensation Trust Experience Modifier Awards
Clarendon County: .66
Edgefield County: .66
Saluda County: .71
Spartanburg County: .71
Jasper County: .73