The more than $200,000 received by Wallace Thomson Hospital, Ellen Sagar Nursing Home and Carolinas Health  Associates from Palmetto Hospital Trust, the workers' compensation self-insurance pool they participate in, is proof that it  pays to put safety first.

The hospital, nursing home and company won this reward by emphasizing injury prevention in the workplace. Their achievement should inspire all of us to  think of the benefits — financial and otherwise — of safety consciousness in our homes, places of employment/business and as we travel.

A safety first mentality in the business place reduces injuries and the costs associated with them including health care costs, insurance premiums and lost production. Employees who are injured on the job can't be on the job, and the company loses the benefit of their experience and familiarity with workplace procedures and routines. A safe work environment means employees are where they should be; at work, doing their jobs, earning a living to support themselves and their families and assisting their employer in making a profit.

A company has to make a profit if it is to remain in business and that means charging the consumer more for the product or service it produces than what it cost to produce it. It  must pass its costs on to the consumer including costs it incurred when an employee was injured on the job. Costs not incurred are not passed on to the consumer and we all benefit at the checkout line.

Safety is not just for the workplace, either; and being safety conscious can make our personal lives better just as well as our professional lives.

Being safety conscious means, first, being aware of what's going on around you and then taking the precautions necessary to avoid property loss, injury or worse. Watching your step as you walk down the street, looking both ways before you cross the road and crossing at the proper place and time can mean the difference between a pleasant stroll and a ride in an ambulance.

Things like proper vehicle maintenance, driving defensively, wearing your seat belt and obeying the speed limit can mean the difference between a pleasant trip to and from home and an automobile accident that could turn you into a statistic. Properly operated, the automobile is a great convenience of modern life, but driving carelessly can turn it into a death trap.

Making sure the stove is off and nothing is left on the burners or in the oven can make the difference between coming home to your house at the end of the day or to ashes. Our homes are the biggest material investment we make in our lifetimes and we should do everything we can to ensure we're able to live out our lives in them if we choose to do so.

Keeping your floors — and especially your stairs — clear of objects that can cause you to trip and fall is another common sense precaution that can keep you safe and happy and out of the hospital.

There are many other steps each of us can take to ensure our safety and that of our family, friends, coworkers and even people we just pass on the street. All it takes is the common sense understanding that, wonderful as it is, life is not without risk and then acting on that understanding to  make it more wonderful by reducing the risk.

You may not get $200,000 for doing this but you'll get something even better; spending more time living your life in the company of family and friends and less in the company of paramedics, doctors and morticians.