Safety incentives - are they really incentives? By Carmen Daecher

Since the first pin was awarded, safety incentives and rewards have become part of our safety programs. Some incentive programs are simple; awarding pins and certificates, some more elaborate, involving bonuses, trips and other such items.

I get more and more questions about the effectiveness of incentive programs. This is due in part to the lack of desired results: competition among some employees, and a "take-it-or-leave-it" attitude.

So, why have them at all? After all, isn't people's safety a basic part of the job?

To explore this, let's consider the appeal of incentive programs. For employees - pride and proof of accomplishment is important. That's why pins, certificates, belt buckles and the like are always displayed. For employers-accident reduction, improved safety performance and reduced accident costs are the desired results.

The reason why most programs don't achieve desired results is because the expectations and the outcomes aren't linked. What you want and what you get may be different if there isn't a connected, focused approach to incentive reward programs.

Ask yourself this question: What is the intent of an "incentive" program? If your answer is "to reduce accidents," my question to you is: How do you manage accidents? Answer: You can't. Even more importantly, how do your employees reduce accidents? Did they intend to have them before?

An incentive program should have the principal objective of motivating individuals to behave consistently in such a way that accidents, which result from poor behavior, are eliminated. Motivation and behavior are the key words, and identifying inappropriate and poor behavior is the focus or foundation for desired improvements and incentives. Accidents and reductions of them are results of behavior, not manageable outcomes.

Rewards, as mentioned before, are accepted with pride by those who receive them. Here's the other clue into the ineffectiveness of most incentive programs: The organization doesn't reward itself. There's no way of knowing if these programs benefit the bottom line, and it can't really link its benefits to those of individual employees.

So how do you develop or retool a safety incentive program? Here are some tips:

• Determine true costs of accidents and injuries (not just claims dollars).
• Determine root causes of accidents-all of them, not just those of the driver or employee.
• Manager behavior. Are pre-trips being done correctly? Are people on time every day? Are the logs filled out completely and properly?
• Determine safety objectives and expected true costs savings to be available for incentive programs. Note: Some of the expected savings should be kept for the organization as its reward.
• Establish group and individual behavior incentives. The organization (or group) must meet its objectives, then individuals who have met defined behavior standards get the reward.
• Communicate the program to everyone.
• Measure and communicate results throughout the incentive year.

What are the benefits of such a refocused program? The entire organization is involved in meeting safety objectives. Management is focused on behavior modification: employees are motivated to help each other and themselves achieve results and everyone benefits if objectives are achieved.

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