NO one wants an unsafe work environment. Unsafe or hazardous spots in your environment must first be reported before they can be corrected, however. That takes cooperation from all employees, including those reluctant to blow the whistle.
THE promotional products business has witnessed much debate over whether safety incentive programs are successful--or even necessary--in the workplace. Opponents claim that rewarding or motivating employees to achieve positive safety records actually encourages covering up injuries and falsifying records.
THERE are two conflicting factions of safety professionals: those who believe it is important to motivate and reward people to achieve specified safety results by offering tangible incentives, such as merchandise and travel, and those who believe that tangible incentives are not necessary because safety results are part of their job and regular compensation.
QUICK fairy tale: A recently promoted case study lauded a large national service company's comprehensive safety incentive program, which awarded safety vouchers that could be redeemed for rewards. The program succeeded in raising safety awareness, promoting safe work practices, and lowering claim counts.
THE next time you are wrestling with the issue of safety, trying to figure out what you can do to get your employees to do their jobs more carefully and more safely, give yourself a two-question test:
Editor's note: The wide variety of today's safety incentives continues to amaze. Their growing popularity is less surprising. Recipients certainly appreciate restaurant gift cards when they are used as an incentive, says Cary Kuykendall, manager of gift card sales for O'Charley's (www.ocharleys.com) of Nashville, Tenn. The NASDAQ-traded company operates O'Charley's restaurants mainly in the Southeast and Midwest; a chain of Ninety Nine Restaurant & Pub locations in the Northeast; and also Stoney River Legendary Steaks restaurants in Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
THE last time Jencast Inc. experienced a lost-time accident, Ken Starr's "Report" was a work in progress, Viagra was on the verge of getting FDA approval, and fears of the so-called Y2K bug were starting to gain national attention. The Spice Girls were still on the charts.
Editor's note: Motivating the younger generation of workers is a new, more challenging ballgame, employers everywhere are learning. Fortunately, recognition and incentive programs can help them win it, says Adrienne Forrest ([email protected]), national director of special markets for Bulova Corp. (www.bulova.com) of Woodside, N.Y. She explained why in a June 27, 2005, conversation with Occupational Health & Safety's editor. Excerpts from the interview follow:
HOW much is employee health and safety worth to one of the world's largest industrial companies? Enough to divert the time and energies of some 180,000 people from their production and other responsibilities and support tasks to re-focus their attention on the company's unwavering commitment to health and safety at work.
Editor's note: Ninety percent of safety managers understand the need for proactive behavior based safety recognition, but many of them find their recognition strategy is still the old school, says Bill Sims, Jr., president of Bill Sims Award of Excellence in Columbia, S.C.
Editor's note: Skanska USA Building Inc. (www.skanskausa.com) of Parsippany, N.J., has tied IFE into incentive bonuses for its six Co-Chief Operating Officers who oversee company operations, the Account Managers who report to them, and each AM's project teams.
THAT which gets measured often gets done, which helps explain why safety programs have become such a part of American business.
Editor's note: You'll find smart ideas in this discussion to help you motivate employees or revive a slumbering incentive program. Consider "low-cost, no-cost" incentives at first, run two contests simultaneously instead of one, and offer two types of goals, suggests Keith Lauby, a safety product manager for human resources solutions provider G.Neil
THE Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise, Idaho has a well-earned reputation for being an excellent place to work. In 2004, the hospital was the recipient of the National Quality Health Care Award given by the National Committee for Quality Health.
Editor's note: The prospect of jetting away to an exotic destination to ski, cruise, or bask in the sun can be tremendously motivating, experts say.
WHEN a major distributor of tires and wheels wanted to put together a safety incentive program, the call went out to Chip Separk, president and CEO of Recognition Solutions in Raleigh, N.C., who partners with Chicago-based Hinda Incentives. CS Recognition was already doing the service award program for the company.
AS a safety manager, you have probably spent enough time in the trenches to see the ill effects of poorly designed safety incentive programs. I'm speaking of programs that merely reward employees for reaching an injury-free milestones without changing underlying employee behavior.
WORKER's compensation rates and litigation, OSHA fines, productivity losses, and other fallout from workplace illness and accidents keep employers searching for the most effective ways to involve employees in safety programs. A recent survey reveals one method of improving employee performance that is quickly gaining in popularity is the use of online incentive programs.
Occupational Health & Safety subscribers who answered an e-mailed survey earlier this year indicated they have used and planned to repeat safety incentive programs within a year. They also reported excellent results, which ranged from enthusiastic employees to measurable accident reductions, zero OSHA recordables, and a 60 percent reduction in auto accidents claims, in one case.
WORK site safety and safety awareness are integral to success. When safety programs are made part of the broader organizational culture that rewards performance, successful safety programs do more than stem the financial and human resource loss.