Carbon County is working to keep its employees safe on the job.

During the county commissioners' meeting on Thursday, the board voted 3-0 to ratify the proposal from the Housing and Redevelopment Insurance Exchange for workers' compensation insurance for 2015. The total premium payment is $398,329, an increase of $14,529 from 2014.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein said the increase is partially due to the high claims the county had over the past few years. The 2015 premium is based on the number of claims and the amounts paid out in the years 2011 through 2013.Commissioner William O'Gurek said that in those years, the claims totaled over $500,000 each year.But he pointed out that in 2014, there have only been $7,000 worth of claims to date, which will help lower the premium moving forward.Nothstein and O'Gurek said the county has been working to reduce workplace injuries through safety committees, which Commissioner Thomas J. Gerhard heads, as well as bringing in third-party vendors to provide workplace safety reports."We strive every day to get better," Gerhard said. "Our number one priority is that we want our employees to arrive safely and return safely to their families at night.""It's a continuous struggle," O'Gurek said. "You need to put your employees in a safe environment so they don't get hurt."The nearly $400,000 price tag seems like a significant amount of money for workers' compensation insurance, but in 2008, the county was paying $1,360,000 to the Pennsylvania Counties Workers' Compensation Trust (PComp).At that time, officials decided to accept proposals from other insurance providers.The county received 13 proposals and interviewed five companies about their policies on claims handling, loss control, risk management and assessment and return to work policies before choosing HARIE on Dec. 12, 2008.In other matters, the commissioners voted to not renew the LP gas contract with Amerigas and put the contract out for bid.Gerhard, who has over three decades of experience in the oil and fuel business, said that after looking at the figures, he felt that the county could save money by rebidding the contract.He said the county uses approximately 50,000 gallons of propane at 10 different offices. Of that amount, 45,000 gallons are to the prison; with the remaining 5,000 gallons going to the animal shelter, magistrates offices and tower sites for generators.The current contract had the county paying 34.5 cents over rack price for prison deliveries and 74.5 cents over rack price for other sites."We had the option to renew but we are rebidding it," Gerhard said. "I think, just by making a few phone calls, that we will save a considerable amount of money."The commissioners also voted to reimburse Gail Cheety, executor of the estate of Daniel B. Brunda, $692.77 for heating oil that remained in the tanks at Magistrate Casimir Kosciolek's office at 417 E. Ridge St., Lansford.The county purchased the building from Cheety for $87,000. The closing date was Dec. 12.