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Minnehaha County Safety Committee reports Platinum-level award, training and volunteer needs
Summary
Maria Monkfold, Safety Committee chair, reported that Minnehaha County earned the Platinum level safety and loss-control award for 2024, completed regular inspections and trainings, and that volunteer counts remain low.
Maria Monkfold, the Minnehaha County Safety Committee chair and an emergency management sergeant, presented the committee's 2024 annual report at the Feb. 25 commission meeting, noting regular inspections, trainings and a credit to the county's workers' compensation premiums.
The Safety Committee, made up of employees from multiple county departments, met monthly during 2024 to review workers' compensation and liability claims and to recommend changes to reduce injuries, Monkfold said. The committee performs routine building inspections across county facilities using a checklist from the South Dakota Municipal League Workers' Compensation Fund and offers trainings to employees.
"The trainings offered in 2024 were First Aid, AED training, Defensive driving, Back Injury Prevention and Slips, Trips and Falls," Monkfold said. She told commissioners that those trainings are required for the county to receive a safety and loss-control award from the state's insurance pool and that Minnehaha County was awarded the Platinum Level Safety and Loss Control Award from the South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance in September 2024.
Monkfold said representatives from the county attended the two-day annual safety and loss-control training conference, which the pool requires at least one county representative to attend to remain eligible for awards. She told commissioners the county received a 9% loss-control credit totaling $54,355 applied to its 2024 workers' compensation premiums.
On volunteer staffing, Monkfold said emergency management supports three volunteer groups — police reserves, the rescue squad and the dive team — and that "our numbers are low compared to past years." She added, "I don't have the total right now, but I know that will be presented next week, or the next Commission meeting as well, so I don't have the accurate numbers at the time off the top of my head." She directed residents interested in volunteering to the Minnehaha County website: "You can go ahead and go to the Minnehaha County website and there's a volunteer form that will then direct you to an application...From there we'll contact people and then, connect them with the perspective leaders for each group."
Nut graf: The committee's work produced both safety recognition and a measurable premium credit, while officials said declining volunteer rosters mean recruitment remains a county priority.
Background: The county has consistently earned high-level safety awards in recent years; Monkfold said Minnehaha County had earned at least a gold level for the last 14 years and reached platinum for 2024.
Ending: Commissioners thanked Monkfold and the committee for the report and for ongoing safety work across county departments.
