Anybody out there currently use a safety incentive program? My boss just came back from a conference with an idea for me  to set up an incentive program.  His plan is for each department to "compete" against one another for best safety record. But we haven't discussed the best way to do it - i am sure it is complicatd.  .

If you are using one, what kind of program do you use? Does it really work.  Any ideas or  info on this would be greatly appreciated.

You sure you want to do that?  I hate incentives - I think they allow for cover up, improper reporting, and sooner than later the employees consider them more of an entitlement.  So, as you can tell, I don't care for them much.

I did a bunch of research on this and have, we think, found a way to get around the issues safetysuzy brought up.  Email me for the full program (abedarf@rivanna.org) but basically we said, to get the 8 hours leave (they were already getting this under the old program), they have to:  attend regular (monthly) tailgate talks; submit one safety suggestion, positive work observation of another, or near miss of their own per year, review at least 3 JSAs per year, and report any accident within 24 hours.  We also eliminated post-accident drug testing to help alleviate accident cover-ups.

We currently use Safety Bingo and On The Spot Recogntions. Both seem to work pretty well.

 

We have implemented a safety section to our quarterly audit of each facility.  The hourly employees have to qualify for their bonus, and safety topics cover 25% of their audit.  If there is an accident the cost of the accident comes directly out of the bonus pool if negligence is found.  If an accident is not reported the bonus does not get paid at all.

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Thanks,

Nicole

kristenvela:

We currently have several safety incentive programs. Email me for more information. kvela@afvw.com

 

-Kristen Vela

 

could you please email me the info you have mentioned ? I would greatlty appreciate it,

I'm Trying to jump start our incentive programs and I am looking for new Ideas.

Thanks,

Heidi

I work for comcast, and I set up an incentive plan, that placed everyone on a team, so that each team works to have no accidents or injuries. I used a simple poster board to list the teams and then with clip art created little cut outs to show what happened to each team that month, vehicle accident, (crashed car) speeding ( car with flames), driver check (telephone with 1-800) and so on, I never mention who had the incident.  At the end of each month the winning team(s) gets a small safety prize.  I use postive promotions for the gifts -- very inexpensive safety items.

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Tammy Jumper

Well it sounds good, teamwork.   But it does not work as we have found out. 

We have monthly lunches given for no reportable accidents for different teams of people.

What happens is people quit reporting the accidents/near misses because they don't want to be given a lot of crap from their co-workers.    I would think twice about doing the team program.  It doesn't promote safety, just hides what's really going on.

Hope this helps

Cindy

 

We used to have a bonus monthly per department for "No recordable accidents", but ran into the same problem of people not reporting accidents because they didn't want to be responsible for their department losing the safety bonus. So we got together a committee and came up with our Safety Bucks program which works great. We had Safety Bucks printed in different denominations and the employees are rewarded for safety suggestions, hazard recognition, attending safety related training (such as C.P.R., accident investigation,etc.), writing J.S.A.s, etc. They are also rewarded for coming up with corrective actions when we do have an accident or incident, and answering safety questions correctly when we have our departmental safety meetings. Then every quarter we purchase prizes using our safety program budget and we have a silent auction.They bid on the prizes with their Safety Bucks. It is a lot of fun and those who don't get a big prize at the auction get smaller safety incentives and can use their "bucks" at the next auction. That way, no one is "punished" for an accident and everyone has incentive for prevention. It has worked well for us.

Linda

Dear Colleague,

I have found that competitions between departments can lead to "Cover-Up" of near miss accidents and incidents because they do not want to compromise their record. However, I have had a great deal of success in implimenting a Safety Improvement Suggestion Program that identifys "Potential" as well as existing issues that need action for mitigation. The Employee Safety Committee then judges the submissions quarterly and issues an award to the individual or team with the best submission. As this award is coming from a committee made up entirely of their peers and not management, it also bolsters recognition by their fellow employees. Something to consider when developing a program.

We have a Safety Involvement Program that earns the associates Visa Gift Cards, it includes reporting incidents, making suggestions that are used, reporting hazard sitings, participating on the Safety Team, giving a Tool Box talk, memorizing the Vision, Values & Mission Statement, so this takes them awhile to accumulate points and gives them different ways to earn them.

My problem is we have been having lots of turnover and I don't know how to get the 'temps' on board.  They understand it's a part of being hired here, but we want them to step up alittle.  So any suggestions for working w/temps would be appreciated.

Barnardd, I am a Risk Manager for a Staffing Company and have some experience with your turnover issue.  In my opinion, our clients and staff need to work together to discuss and hire with the values and culture of the company in mind.  If safety is a core value for example, staffing employees should be selected based on their having the same value.  The other thing I see is that when they are treated like and referred to as "temps", they do not feel part of the team.  It may seem like a trivial thing, but the onboarding process can really go a long way in bringing them into the fold or your company being just another short-term paycheck.  I hope that helps.

Go ask them, here today gone tommorrow, get some feedback - good question

Sounds logical, can you email me more on your incentive programs?

 

Aaron

aknowlton@diamondman.com

Greetings,

I would like to offer an artical in the Occupational Safety & Health publication on safety incentive programs and promotion.  I think the reason most safety incentives fail is they begin with the wrong premise.  Those that hate safety programs claim, "I tried them and they did not reduce accidents."  Incentive programs first and foremost, raise awareness to safey performance, not reduce accidents.  It is said most accidents are caused by unsafe acts.  I think most accidents are caused by unsafe thinking.  Lifting injuries, along with slips, trips and falls remain the highest incidents in the industry but I do not hear anyone claiming, "I tried those training video, seminars, etc...and they did not work."  Thought comes before action.  Get employees thinking about safety behavior is the first step to getting employees acting safety.  Train, education and awareness is the key.  Safety incentive programs raise awareness to the training and education that they have or should have received.  Top of the mind awareness is what you need for employee safety.  Incentive promotions and programs can deliver that key ingredient if implamented properly and with a clear understanding of purpose.  Take a minute to read the article.  http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?src=websearch&requestId=f5ff397c616a3472&clickedItemRank=3&userQuery=pizza+analogy&clickedItemURN=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stevenspublishing.com%2FStevens%2FOHSpub.nsf%2Fd3d5b4f938b22b6e8625670c006dbc58%2Fb329daef42b5ae8a86256c950051379c%3FOpenDocument&title=Better+Ingredients%3A+The+Pizza+Analogy+Frequency+of+message+equals+...&clickedItemPageRanking=3&clickedItemPage=1

Please feel free to e-mail your comments to me at mkleier@safe-t-word.com .

BSAFE