Safety
Recognition vs. Safety Incentive Programs
Are you opposed to recognizing your employees for a job well done? Or do you just think that since you pay your employees to perform work for you that there is no need to recognize them for doing the work well?
Here are my thoughts on Recognition. Recognition is motivation. Motivated employees perform better than employees who are just there to earn a paycheck
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What
comes to mind when you hear the term “safety incentives”? Pizza parties
held after 30 days worked without an injury? Prizes raffled off after six weeks
without a lost-time incident? Major
problems with OSHA because they have made their position very clear on
"incentive programs based on accident rates".
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There
are many ways to recognize-reward performance that meets or exceeds our
expectations that will enhance our Safety Performance and improve the Safety
Culture!
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So
why not have "Safety Reward & Recognition" that Celebrate what
you do right! That will change the
employee participation in safety activities that will result in improving your
overall Safety Performance!
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Interestingly,
small tokens of appreciation have been shown to be more effective than
larger rewards in increasing compliance.
When positive feedback is moderate and personal, employees know that
they are not being safe to earn extra cash—they are being safe because they
want to be safe. When the reward is
immediate, it causes the behavior to reoccur!!
The intent to cause the safe behavior to occur again!
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Compliance
with standards=non-negotiable, it is required and the bare minimum!
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Nobody
is interested in paying employees to follow the rules, or even to work safely
for that matter. THAT should already be
a condition of employment and is non-negotiable!
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However,
immediate rewards that will get people involved will help you to change your
safety culture!
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"Safety
Recognition" that is based on "leading indicators" of
workplace safety, which are recorded and measured before an accident occurs has
proven to effectively change the safety culture, thereby reducing work related
injury and illness.
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Ideas:
SAFETY BUCKS program, Bee Safe Recognition (cool safety glasses, cool bandana,
cool hard hat, pair of gloves (kills two birds with one stone if you get
employees to do something safe and reward them with PPE that you want them to
use), Housekeeping contest, Qrtly Safety Quiz=4 gift cards=only $160/year and a
Qrtly BBQ or Pizza Party when you achieve successes, Year-end Celebration when
achieve the Annual Goals and Objectives
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So
your goals and objectives must be assigned and measurable to know what to
reward
