The facility, which manufactures bottled water products, has had an injury and illness rate nearly 70 percent below the industry average for three years, OSHA said.
The economy, the state of U.S. public health, and workers' interest in better living have combined to make wellness incentives hot this year.
Incentive programs demonstrate their power to produce better results during a tough economy, All Star Incentive Marketing President Brian Galonek agrees. In a Jan. 20, 2009, interview with the OH&S editor, he said safety professionals are especially eager to try incentives because they've exhausted the tried-and-true ways of improving safety metrics. Excerpts from the conversation follow.
The JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Arizona is the site for the Incentive Marketing Association's 10th Annual IMA Executive Summit, with leaders promising access to "the most valuable, intellectual capital in the incentive industry."
According to the poll, only 12 percent of companies plan to offer summer hours this year--a benefit typically defined as allowing employees to put in extra hours Monday through Thursday and take either a half day off every Friday or a full day off every other Friday during the summer months.
The facility, which uses the latest technology to research and develop new steel production, processes, and methods, sometimes while working in high-temperature and gaseous environments, was honored for maintaining high employee health and safety standards.
An unappreciated, underused resource for employers was thrust into the limelight recently when the National Business Group on Health released "An Employer's Guide to Employee Assistance Programs" at a Washington, D.C., news conference. Two years of studying best practices and evidencebased approaches to the design and delivery of effective employee assistance programs (EAPs) contributed to the guide.
The string of bad news coming out of New York City in the past year—from Eliot Spitzer's sockladen rendezvous to the domino effect of a failing Bear Stearns to Bernard Madoff and his minions of mini-Madoffs— may make the megalopolis seem more like the notorious Gotham City of the '20s and '30s than the gentrified clean streets of Sex and the City. However, despite the overnight return to its grainy, corrupt past, the city may be one of the only places that can get the nation out of the recession. Companies are tightening their purse strings, cutting everything from office supplies to their workforce, and employees are going to work fearing they may be next on the chopping block.
There's been lots of talk lately about safety culture. How setting your sights on cultural change may be the A-1 approach for engaging the clutch of safer and more productive performance, especially during these beleaguered times.
The company has "a highly involved frontline employee workforce, an excellent medical program, and energy control procedures. Safety is valued from the bottom up," said Greg Baxter, OSHA's regional administrator in Denver.
Two special reports will help employers boost the ROI of their health and wellness offerings and ensure they, and their employees, are financially healthy, too.
"Telemundo KVDA-TV 60 is the nation's first broadcaster of Hispanic programming to earn VPP star recognition," said OSHA's Region VI Administrator Dean W. McDaniel. "The station's outstanding efforts include zero injuries and illnesses over the past three years."
According to a recently published report, the total cost spent on managing chronic health diseases in the U.S. is estimated to be $1.3 trillion annually, with $1.1 trillion spent in lost productivity and another $277 billion on treatment.
"Suppliers exhibit behind their tabletop booth, and after 15 minutes are up, each DPA member rotates to the next booth in their rotation order. You really accomplish a lot by the time the conference is over," said DPA Executive Director Zachary Haines.
"Monsanto Aviation has gone above and beyond in establishing a culture of workplace safety," said Charles E. Adkins, OSHA's regional administrator in Kansas City.
The results also exposed a growing emphasis on "personal responsibility" and a potential blind spot related to generational differences.
Forty-five percent of employees polled believe that because of the continuing economic conditions they face greater risk that their job will change or be eliminated, and 55 percent believe the risk that their future earnings will plateau or decline has increased.
”No one’s sure why that happens, but it's thought to be influenced by limited food choices on the night shift, eating at the wrong times of day, and having limited time and energy for exercise,” the study says.
The economy is weak, and unemployment is growing. Most employees have watched their retirement accounts tumble in value. Prospects for raises this year appear dismal. It is understandable that many may feel depressed and hopeless. Just at a time when organizations need their employees to work even harder and with greater focus to maximize performance, morale in many places is probably at an all-time low.