Page 24 - OHS, April 2022

INCENTIVES
Modernize Your Safety Incentive Program
New advancements in gamifification, automation, and behavior rewarding deliver stronger accident reduction.
BY BUCK PEAVEY
efore we discuss how to modernize, we must understand how safety incentives have evolved and what we have learned. Programs of the past had issues, and it all start- ed with simple “dangle-the-carrot” programs. Don’t have
an accident and win a company jacket with a badge, or maybe even some cash. Employees craved cash and these programs grabbed employee attention back in the day. They did incite safer on-the-job behavior, but there were some downsides: office time to administer those programs was high, and the excitement level and effective- ness of the program waned after about six months.
The cash programs quickly morphed from being seen as safety recognition to extra compensation that employees soon felt they were entitled to. Once everyone got their jacket or pizza reward at the safety celebration, they quickly lost interest and returned to unsafe habits.
In response, the industry decided to get more creative. Gift certificates followed by the gift cards of today were dangled as the carrot instead of cash. We all thought the popular cards would create long-term safe behavior change. Not the case. Eventually, the entitlement issue mimicked the cash incentive issues and, in today’s world, gift cards are now considered taxable to the employee (like cash).
Employers in the 1980s turned to Safety Bingo. This gamification element certainly created more promotion and hype, plus it held employee interest longer. However, when employees eventually learned that there were only a few that won, the results quickly faded. The time that it took to administer and promote such programs also became a challenge for employers. As a company that has 70 years of administering and seeing the outcome of safety incentive programs, I can assure you, we have certainly learned that when administration becomes time- consuming for management, the promotion and results of a safety incentive program plummet.
The Issue with Lagging Indictors
When employers rewarded employees solely upon lagging indicators, like not having an accident, this stirred up controversy. The fear was these programs caused under reporting and hiding of smaller accidents. This, of course, was followed by many companies avoiding incentive programs altogether. High accident rates and increased fatalities returned to most of those companies that discontinued their incentive programs.
Around 2018, it was determined that when incentive programs were designed correctly, they were indeed a positive, powerful tool proven to reduce accidents and save lives. Adjustments were made, assuring that the reward was attached to leading indicators such as accident prevention behavior. Companies have since experienced the strongest, true accident reduction results in our country’s history with these properly structured programs.
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A Lesson from the Past
Today, more than ever, companies are finding that a properly designed incentive program can revolutionize safety culture and provide an excellent return. They are easier to administer, able to eliminate non-reporting issues, promote themselves, and even gain excitement and safety awareness with time, versus becoming stale.
As we have learned, program administration must be reduced or eliminated. This can now be accomplished by choosing an online or mobile safety incentive rewarding platform. If a company is unable to go the online route, they can choose a program that has merchandise awards built into it, eliminating the hassle of fulfilling the awards. Keep in mind, a system that rewards more frequently (such as weekly) for safe behavior will deliver stronger results compared to a program that only rewards at the end of the quarter or year.
Pick a program that has a gamification component. Make sure that the game delivers a tangible reward for every employee that is safe, in addition to a larger grand prize drawing component that can be promoted. After evaluating the results of literally thousands of programs worldwide over the last several decades, we completed a study that showed 52 percent of employees are more motivated by smaller, individual rewards and 48 percent were more motivated by chances at a large drawing. Successful programs have both the individual awarding and grand prize components built-in so that the program appeals and drives motivation to all employees.
Don’t forget to go the merchandise route for awards. It delivers more trophy value and avoids the entitlement issue and potential tax complications in comparison to the cash and gift card-based alternatives. An online catalog arranged in plateaued value levels has proven to drive more motivation as well. The incentive to get to the next level of prizes helps the program gain excitement with time.
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