Safety Incentive Program

Red

We currently use the STAR Program - a version of the DuPont STOP program. It was working miracles until recently when the frequency of accidents jumped up again. Has anyone used this program? What were your results? How do you "jump-start" a safety awareness program?

Dianna

We use good, old-fashioned MONEY! We play safety bingo (supplied from Safety Bingo at 800-770-9907). We start each game the Monday after paychecks are received (which is bi-weekly on Thursday). The "pot" starts out at $20.00, and for every day that goes by without an accident, $2.00 is added to the pot. If an accident occurs that only requires first aid, $1.00 is added to the pot. If an accident occurs that requires medical attention at our worker's comp. facility, the game ends and the pot returns to $20.00.

This has been VERY well received by our team members - I get requests all the time for an up-to-date list of the bingo numbers. We have had 3 winners so far, and the pot hasn't been more than $60.00, which is a huge savings compared to worker's comp. costs!

System

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 09-26-01 AT 01:50PM (CST)[/font][p]Boiled down to its essence, you're talking about modifying animal behavior (Homo sapiens) through a system of positive and/or negative reinforcement. Run through a maze, get a piece of cheese (or avoid a shock). These rewards and punishments need to be strong enough and frequent enough to motiviate the subject. But, over time, rewards and punishments tend to lose their effectiveness. That's why state lotteries constantly come out with new games -- because people gradually lose interest in the old games.

To make a long story short (oops -- too late), it seems like your system of rewards and punishment has become stale.

If your safety system uses rewards to motivate employees (like Dianna's bingo game), then I'd guess that they have become old hat to your employees. You might want to make some changes to the game or the rewards and generate new excitement through an internal marketing campaign.

If your system uses the threat of punishment to motivate your employees, then I'd guess that supervisors are falling down on the job. They're the key to reinforcing safe behavior (with praise and in performance evaluations) and punishing unsafe behavior (using performance evaluations and progressive discipline for unsafe behavior, even if it doesn't result in an injury). If your supervisors are falling down on the job, then I'd say that THEIR bosses aren't using enough rewards and punishments to modify supervisors' behavior.

This all has been a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I'm serious about the underlying message -- especially the importance of supervisors in frequently addressing safety.

I'm also serious about this: Be careful that your safety incentives don't deter injured employees from filing legitimate workers' comp claims. There was a case a couple of years ago where a company gave big bonuses if no one in a department filed a workers' comp claim. An employee got injured, and his boss strongly persuaded him not to file a workers' comp claim or get medical attention. The resulting lawsuit was expensive for the company.

To avoid this problem, your system should reward safe practices and punish accidents regardless of whether they caused a workers' comp claim. You don't want to indirectly discourage employees from filing legitimate workers' comp claims.

There's another discussion on this topic over in the Benefits area with the subject "Safety Incentives"
[url]http://www.hrhero.com/employersforum/DCForumID16/91.html#4[/url]

James Sokolowski
Senior Editor
M. Lee Smith Publishers