The Safety Tipping Point:
Incentive and Recognition Programs -
Critical Tools for Creating a Superior Safety Culture
Incentive and recognition programs are powerful tools for creating a superior safety culture that will reduce injuries, improve a company’s bottom line, and, in some cases, save lives.In the 2005 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index Findings, the two biggest benefits of workplace safety mentioned by CFOs were Productivity (42.5%) and Reduced Costs (28.3%). Companies looking to move from a good safety culture to a great one should upgrade their existing safety incentive and recognition programs or implement new ones. Creating a great safety culture in the workplace is the collective result of most employees’ conscious and subconscious efforts to build a safe work environment and foster safety awareness. Companies with a potentially high risk for accidents invest significant resources in employee screening, worker training, drug testing, equipment training, safety meetings, and more. Yet many continue to struggle to reduce their accident frequency rates and contain expenditures. In many cases the problem is not insufficient training or commitment; it is the failure of individuals to pay attention. Airplane crashes, truck accidents, industrial fires and the like often are traced back to human error.
Improving safety depends on increasing individual awareness. Incentive and recognition
programs help increase safety awareness and thus reduce the frequency and costs associated with accidents, lost time, workers compensation, insurance, and claims. In fact, a safety incentive program is a corporate investment that can produce a significant positive return on investment and transition a good safety culture into a great safety culture, one characterized by well-defined safety initiatives, infused with management support, and employee participation. A Safety Incentive Program will thrive and produce the greatest return on incentive investment in an environment with established safety programs and policies, such as employee screening, drug testing, ongoing training, frequent safety meetings, regular communications, etc. In this environment a well-designed safety incentive program will help foster measurable productivity gains and substantially reduce costs.
CREATING A SAFETY CULTURE
Where work and hazards are an unavoidable mix, employers and employees need to take safety seriously. The primary goal is to create a superior and sustainable safety culture throughout the organization. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2004 there was a disabling workplace injury every 7.8 seconds, and a fatal workforce injury every 96 minutes. The problem is not confined to large companies. On the contrary, according to a RAND
Corporation study, evidence shows that small establishments with single physical locations have significantly higher rates of deaths or serious injuries than larger establishments, which is of particular concern considering that over 55 percent of Americans are employed in businesses with fewer than 100 workers.
Creating a safety culture is no simple task. Safety programs tend to be most effective when they build awareness through frequent reinforcement, team building, group interaction, positive peer pressure, and constant communication. The quest for an effective safety culture must be based on
individual awareness and attention to detail. People, not policies, prevent accidents; they do so day-by-day and moment-by-moment. Fewer accidents mean lower costs, both in human terms and on the balance sheet. So the goal is to motivate employees to adopt safety as a personal issue. While a safety incentive program is a vital element of a company's overarching safety strategy, it will not be successful if it is deployed in an organization with a poor safety culture. The
following is a list of elements that typically comprise a robust safety program. Many of these elements must be in place before an incentive program is layered on top; others can be added in conjunction with the launch of a new incentive program.
TYPICAL SAFETY PROGRAM ELEMENTS
Good safety programs contain a variety of elements that overlap and interact. Weaving together these elements creates the foundation for a successful safety culture.
In his ASSE presentation titled "Using Behavioral Safety to Improve Culture," Joshua Williams from Safety Performance Solutions lists these common characteristics of a successful safety program include employee driven, positive reinforcement, management support, and satisfaction with training.
These characteristics and others can be achieved through the adoption of the appropriate safety program elements, many of which are listed and briefly outlined below to provide a high level view of the tools used by companies to establish a good safety culture. For the most part, companies should plan to utilize outside resources to address these issues since many of them require a significant level of expertise to implement properly.
Employee Screening & Background Checks - Used to check on previous employment, driving records, education claims, credit history, and criminal background issues including felony and misdemeanor history.
Training/Education – Necessary for both employees and supervisors. Training includes driver, equipment, industrial hygiene, emergency response, OSHA compliance, hardware/software, etc. Supervisors and managers need additional training on the proper ways to implement and manage new safety initiatives. Training and education are ongoing needs and should be updated and refreshed regularly.
Drug & Alcohol Policies - 77% of all illicit drug users are employed! (source: OHS Health & Safety Services, Inc.). Write a policy for your drug and alcohol testing program that outlines the goals, details who will be tested, explains the consequences, and delineates the type of assistance that may be available.
Safety Meetings - When executed properly, no communication element is more powerful than safety meetings. Face-to-face discussions of the safety challenges, along with past successes and failures are critical elements of any successful safety culture. Meetings should be scheduled well in advance and should occur on a frequent basis. Safety meetings require trained and enthusiastic leaders who must be well-versed in the program, its processes, and can promote real change in the organization.
Suggestion Box Programs - This simple yet effective tool can be used to improve safety, lower costs, and engage a safety-sensitive audience. Many companies offer structured awards to individuals that make valid suggestions, and larger awards when those suggestions are adopted.
Suggestion programs can have the largest potential return on investment, because they incorporate suggestions from the people who are closest to safety issues. Significant safety inroads have resulted from such programs regardless of the format used (card drop boxes or online suggestion tools).
Safety Committees - Safety committees can be formed to design, enforce, improve, and/or implement new or existing procedures. They are also used to investigate accidents, write reports, or help with training. Committees should be inclusive, involving both managers and employees. Committee members should be rotated to expand reach and orientation should be formalized to bring new members up to speed quickly.
Equipment - Personal protective equipment is mandated for certain tasks, and should be considered for other tasks even when not mandated. Every effort should be made to provide the proper equipment and equipment training to all safety-sensitive employees.
Special attention should be given to proper equipment maintenance and training on new equipment introduced into the field.
Accident Investigation Procedures - Proactive and standardized, it is important to follow established guidelines when investigating an accident. Any deviation can give rise to concerns about the fair application of company policies. Employees should be interviewed in a way that makes them feel comfortable sharing the truth and multiple sources should always be sought. Safety Audits - Use a risk-based model to determine which areas of operation are to be audited and to prioritize the list. Do not let managers and workers audit their own work areas. Use prior audits as benchmarks, and use audit results to develop future action plans. Consult your worker's compensation insurer before choosing an auditor; some insurers may provide an audit service at a low cost to clients.
Documentation - Previous accidents, safety procedures, near misses, safety suggestions, training policies, and performance records should all be documented and updated on a regular basis. This is extremely important in order to create the detailed performance background necessary to measure and compare future results, and to comply with OSHA regulations.
Incentive & Recognition Programs – When properly incorporated into an organization with a good safety culture, a well-designed safety incentive program that features tangible awards will drive exponentially greater results. Much of the balance of this white paper addresses the methods used to create superior safety incentive programs, and the theory behind the methods.
A SAFE FOUNDATION
Companies with an established safety culture share several characteristics. First, they try to hire "safe" people. Their human resources professionals take background checks and drug screening very seriously. Once an individual is hired, these companies actively promote safety throughout the training process and provide the proper equipment and ongoing communications. These are the baseline practices that lead to a workforce environment that is likely to take safety seriously. With these foundational elements already in place, companies can move from a good to a great safety culture through the introduction of a high-impact safety incentive program.
The recognition portion of incentive programs offers the unique ability to reward for leading indicators, an enormously important method of generating change. Jennifer Juergens, in her article titled "Safety First" which appeared in Occupational Heath and Safety, reinforces this fact;
"Given that as many as 86% of all workplace accidents are triggered by unsafe behavior, it is no wonder the focus often has been on reducing the number of accidents by eliminating unsafe behaviors instead of on preventing accidents by rewarding instances of safe behavior." In the 2005 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index Findings the No. 1 preferred safety intervention method listed by CFOs was to provide better training. Incentive programs have a unique ability to compel workers to pay more attention to safety training and to reinforce safe work practices by issuing points for successfully completing surveys and quizzes that keep training top of mind.
Incentive and recognition programs are the single most effective tool to generate synergistic improvement in safety performance because they focus not only on results but also on leading indicators. According to a recent study conducted by Occupational Hazards targeting health and loss prevention professionals, 84.7% of the respondents said their company's safety consciousness increased as a result of their safety incentive program.
Companies with an average or good safety culture that use safety incentive programs to recognize and reward employees will find success, as it is human nature to desire praise and appreciation. The incentive program is the "glue" that can bind together a wide range of safety initiatives to ensure that they receive optimal attention.
BRANDED SAFETY
One key element necessary to ensure measurable success is to brand the safety incentive program and promote it as if it were an exciting new consumer product. Employees will respond most positively to the safety program when it has been given its own identity. Branding the solution and making it pervasive will ascribe a value to the program and cause employees to take notice and internalize the goals at a far greater level.
Branding works because human beings respond to symbols of success and accomplishment. Treating your safety program as a brand and promoting it as a symbol of excellence will add motivational power and boost top-of-mind awareness with employees. A strong safety brand is one with a distinctive name and slogan that is actively promoted in all employee communication including posters, catalogs, videos, websites, meetings, promotional items, newsletters, and reports. To emphasize the company's safety commitment to employees and customers, Don Tullos, Senior Corporate Safety Advisor at FedEx, uses his award program Web site as a platform to reinforce their safety message (source: "Delivering Timely Safety Recognition" featured in Occupational Health and Safety).
With ongoing communications, employees quickly appreciate the high value their company places on workplace safety. When they understand that they will be recognized and rewarded for their efforts, they respond by proactively paying greater attention and as a result, adopt safer work practices. This process leads to a trust factor that is a keystone in the process of creating an appealing program. In his "Building Trust for Safety" article in Occupational Hazards from the February 2005 issue, Robert Pater cites the following trust builders:
Acknowledge Employees’ Concerns as Valid - let them know when you have made a mistake - practice tolerance for different learning and communication styles.
Seek Out & Reply - don't avoid or squelch resisters, seek them out - make "thank you" your default for receiving negative feedback; don't let yourself become defensive - get back to people
quickly on their concerns.
Perspective - be straightforward about organizational realities - remind employees at all levels about the benefits of safety.
Involve - activate safety committees by training them and give them real work with high expectations - enlist select workers as peer instructors and safety change agents.
Persistent Patience - abandon the quick-fix mentality and go for continuous improvements - weave safety into all communications.
A TANGIBLE "THANK YOU"
Incentive program awards often represent the corporate thank you to employees for their safety commitment. The incentive award (typically points that lead to prizes) is a tangible symbol of that thank you. Tulles of FedEx continues, "The goal of our safety program is to reduce accidents and injuries to our employees and the general public. The goal of the award portion of the program is to thank them for doing that, and to provide an incentive for continuing that behavior."
Tangible incentive and recognition rewards are powerful tools. When used properly,these tools generate both tangible and intangible results that comprise the positive return desired by employers. Those who implement a safety incentive program should expect results and a clear return on their investment. According to a study by The Society of Incentive and Travel
Executives (SITE) tangible incentives increase work performance by an average of 22%. While safety incentive programs were only one of the many types of programs addressed by this, and other studies, it is safe to assume that safety incentive program participants fall in line with these findings. Additional highlights from studies conducted by the SITE Foundation to determine the effectiveness of tangible incentives are listed below.
¥ Incentive programs aimed at individual workers increase performance by 27%. Programs aimed at teams increase performance by 45%
¥ Incentive programs have an equally positive impact on both quality and quantity goals
¥ Incentive programs structured with employee input work best; however, only 23% of incentive systems are designed that way
¥ Long-term incentives are more powerful than short-term (44% gain vs. 20% gain) ¥ 92% of workers surveyed indicated they achieved their goal because of incentives
¥ 92% of corporations surveyed reported that their objectives were surpassed, met, or at least partially met using incentives
CHARACTERISTICS OF SUCCESSFUL INCENTIVE PROGRAMS
When a safety incentive program is structured to promote "top-of-mind" safety awareness, people respond with a measurable effort to change their behavior. Successful safety incentive programs tend to have the following important characteristics:
Goal-oriented - Goals are clearly defined and attainable based on past performance and a reasonable projected improvement. Goals are shared upfront with the target audience and
performance updates are shared on a regular basis.
Excitement - High energy is injected into the branding of safety. Banners, posters, buttons, balloons, meetings, etc; use anything and everything, to make participation fun, attractive and rewarding. Bonus point offers, special promotions, success stories, and program results are all used as ongoing tools to maintain a high level of excitement.
Recognition - Employees are honored, recognized, and rewarded publicly for achieving safety goals promoted as rewards for achievement. Timely face-to-face recognition is an essential element of every safety incentive program.
Enticing Awards - Nothing has proven more effective at motivating long-term behavior change than brand name merchandise and travel awards. The awards that are chosen are often
aspirational items that an employee desires but may not purchase on their own.
Customized - The branding of the program reflects the unique culture and demographic makeup of the workforce so everyone feels invited to participate and eligible for rewards.
Frequent updates and adjustments are made to the program on a regular basis and communicated through all available channels.
Sustainability - Consistency, continuity and creativity distinguish well-run and successful programs. Since safety is day-to-day and moment-to-moment, incentive programs need leadership and strong ongoing administration. It is important to implement employee suggestions and address safety concerns as they occur.
Ease of Use - Online components such as an interactive Web site greatly improve access and participation, and make data collection and analysis much easier. Printed materials, Web-enabled kiosks, help desks, toll-free numbers, and online chat are all ways to make a program easier to use and more fulfilling for the participants.
Engagement - The most effective programs are both employee-focused and energized by employee participation. Credibility and value are also greatly enhanced by the full participation and support of management. A true safety rewards program does not stop and start, it is an ongoing process that can be relied on by workers and management alike.
The Dedicated to Safety (DTS) rewards program used by Allied Waste provides a great example of the proper way to develop, launch, and maintain a successful safety incentive program. Allied is a multi-billion dollar company operating in one of the most dangerous industries (waste collection and disposal) in the country. Challenged by rising costs and diminishing productivity caused by a high level of accidents and claims, Allied implemented the DTS program with astounding results.
The program was developed with the help of a full-service incentive company and was created with input from employees and managers alike. It was branded and promoted through an award site, printed posters, award catalogs, the company newsletter, a training video, letters to both managers and employees and through award vouchers. Kick-off kits were sent to division managers who launched the program during scheduled safety meetings. Safety points are distributed on custom printed point vouchers during face-to-face meetings with participants. Points can be redeemed online or off-line for thousands of merchandise and travel awards. Individual and group safety accomplishments are highlighted on an ongoing basis, and surveys and quizzes are issued to gather feedback and reinforce training. The remarkable results and a
more complete description of the program can be found in the case study located at the end of this paper.
CHARACTERISTICS OF UNSUCCESSFUL INCENTIVE PROGRAMS
As important as it is to understand the elements of a successful program, it is equally important to focus on the potential mistakes that can lead to an unsuccessful program. It is essential to learn from the documented mistakes of the past, because, as the old adage goes "...insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." Decision makers should be sure to avoid the following list of "classic mistakes:"
In-House Design - Avoid building, launching, and managing your safety incentive program utilizing only in-house resources. You will be reinventing the wheel, and more than likely you will be creating a less-effective wheel that will cost more to operate and produce poor results. There are a wide range of outside incentive solution providers that are well-equipped to build and manage the right program to solve your needs. And when man-hours and performance are factored in, the outside supplier will easily deliver a more successful program with a better return on investment.
Giving Group Awards - Safety performance awards should be tied either exclusively or primarily to individual performance objectives. Such a structure will not only have a greater impact on performance, but it will also reduce the likelihood that a participant will hide an injury. The risk of injury hiding increases substantially when awards are tied to group performance, especially when the awards are of significant value. The best programs will reward strictly for individual performance, but will promote overall goals and report group achievements. Fortunately the metrics for individual performance in a safety program are usually very
quantifiable making it easy to reward participants both based on actual performance and proactive behavior. Performance awards, as an example, are given to individuals that remain accident and/or violation free. Participants that exhibit proactive behavior might be awarded points for joining a safety committee, mentoring a new employee, completing training, etc.
Short- vs. Long-Term Programs – Short-term safety incentive programs will generally produce short-term success, and sometimes they won't even do that. In order for a safety incentive
program to generate long-term success, it must be an ongoing program. There is no way around this fact. People learn new behaviors by repeating them again and again until they are ingrained. Long-term safety incentive programs encourage the correct behavior over and over again until the behavior becomes habitual. Even after this occurs, it is necessary to continue the program because of employee turnover and new safety challenges that may evolve.
Focusing on Awards Instead of Goals – When beginning the process of designing a safety incentive program, many organizations get sidetracked immediately trying to determine what the awards or the point structure should be. While these are valid questions, they are secondary to determining the true goals of the program. Initially this is where all the attention should be directed, and it is important to be specific when determining goals. Stating a goal as "reduce accidents" will not work nearly as well as "reduce slip and fall, and trip and fall accidents at the Springfield plant by 25%." More specific goals will lead to a more targeted program that enjoys greater success. Rely on help from your chosen incentive house to spell out and prioritize the objectives of your program.
Rigid and Unfair – Safety incentive programs in organizations with multiple management layers should be created with a structure that gives clear direction to the managers who will implement
the program. At the same time, that structure should not be so rigid that it stifles creative implementations that may enhance a program’s use. Create a set of overarching rules that allow for some elbowroom for managers. As an example, a program might have a universal rule that every worker that is accident- and violation-free will receive 25 points per month from their manager; However, in the same program managers in different plants can choose to award bonus points for different activities, like making safety suggestions or joining a safety committee. The part of the rule structure that should be rigid is that points or awards must be distributed fairly to all participants. Avoid creating an environment where managers can "play favorites."
Untimely Recognition - Avoid creating long lead times between earning awards and the actual recognition. In a safety incentive program recognition and the issuance of awards (in the form of points, vouchers, tangible gifts, etc.) should be done frequently. . The longest lead time that should be considered is quarterly, and monthly awards are more optimal. If the time frame is too spread out, the program is likely to lose its impact and begin to dissipate.
Ignoring Employee Input - It is essential to solicit employee input when designing a safety incentive program. Give employees a stake in the process and make sure that all employees know that their input was considered and appreciated. In larger organizations, form committees from the workforce and have them contribute ideas during brainstorming sessions. This is particularly important when it comes to unions, which by and large will accept and appreciate safety incentive programs if they have a hand in creating them.
Stagnation - Even the best conceived safety incentive programs will begin to languish if they are not enhanced on a regular basis. A program is a living entity that cannot be ignored for long periods of time without experiencing "shelf life" stagnation. Conversely, programs that are reinvigorated on a regular basis can operate indefinitely with a consistent level of success. Use new suggestions, graphics, and awards to infuse excitement. Share success stories, create quizzes and surveys, and derive new bonus point opportunities throughout the life of the program. Throwing Cash at the Problem – Cash is less effective than tangible rewards as a long-term motivator. While awarding with cash is an easy and tempting method of addressing safety, it does not provide a positive long-term return on your incentive investment. Cash has no trophy value. Recipients of cash rewards have little or no recollection of how they spent their award. As a result, the safety goals targeted in the incentive program are not readily associated with the award. A deeper examination of why cash is a bad motivator is included below.
CASH AS A BAD MOTIVATOR?
There is a fact in the "cash vs. merchandise" argument that is as interesting as it is perplexing. That fact is that the vast majority of people will say that they prefer a cash award over a
merchandise or travel award, and yet in the long run an incentive program that offers brand name merchandise and travel awards will greatly outperform programs that award with cash. According to Chester Elton, author of Managing with Carrots, "Cash given in safety programs is great at first. We all love more money. But cash quickly becomes part of an employees expected compensation and fails to motivate the expected performance."
This fact is a primary reason why the merchandise and travel portions of the Incentive Industry continue to flourish. Long-term, people will work harder and smarter for tangible awards than they will for cash. The reasons for this are best explained in psychological terms. Scott Jeffery,
Ph.D., a professor in the Department of Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, cites four psychological processes that affect the perceived value of tangible awards as opposed to cash; they are:
Evaluability - When properly presented, non-cash awards ignite the imagination in a way that enhances their perceived value.
Separability - Non-cash awards help distinguish the award from compensation; using cash invariably turns the extra reward into expected compensation.
Justifiability - Participants get a special satisfaction from tangible awards because there's no guilt associated with spending money on them.
Social Reinforcement - Non-cash awards facilitate communication and alignment because people feel free to talk about them in a way that would be inappropriate for cash compensation. Jeffery goes on to say that, "…they [non-cash incentives] are less likely to be seen as an attempt to control behavior, which often leads to the association of the reward with the behavior and does less to internalize the value of the general behavior." In other words, the actions that are to be modified by an incentive program are not associated well with a cash award and often are forgotten as soon as the money is spent.
In its white paper titled “The Economics of Retention” produced by The Performance
Improvement Council, a unit of The Incentive Marketing Association, Jeffrey states that “Non-cash incentives may be more effective and less costly than increasing compensation or offering cash incentives to promote retention. The American Productivity and Quality Center in Houston says that it generally takes an increase of 5 to 8 percent of an employee's salary to change his or her behavior. However, using noncash incentives, behavior can be influenced at a cost closer to 4 percent of the employee's salary.”
INVESTMENT, NOT EXPENSE
Safety-sensitive companies are increasingly using incentive and recognition programs as a key element of their overall safety strategy. They use these programs to promote group achievements by motivating individual accomplishments that lead to a safer workplace. Viewed properly, these programs are not an expense but rather an investment for which a substantial positive return can be expected. In the Liberty Mutual study cited at the beginning of this piece CFO’s identified productivity gains and reduced costs as the two biggest benefits of workplace safety. Greater productivity and reduced costs? It is easy to see how incentive programs built to address safety concerns can produce a positive impact on the bottom line.
In many cases companies with a good safety culture that have yet to try a safety incentive program can expect a claims and cost reduction of 10 to 30 percent. In other situations where companies are enduring double-digit annual expenditure increases that are spiraling out of control on workers compensation, liability insurance, compliance, and claims, an incentive program can be deemed successful by at least initially staving off future increases.
An incentive specialist can provide a reasonably accurate estimate of the anticipated return on investment for a safety incentive program. This type of pre-program cost-benefit analysis is a great way to set expectations with managers and employees alike. It is a key factor in justifying
the budget for any safety incentive program. While projecting the financial impact of expected tangible benefits like increased productivity and fewer accidents, and intangible benefits like a happier and more informed workforce is necessary in the planning stage, measuring actual results is essential throughout the life of the program. Armed with this data managers will be well positioned to make important adjustments to their programs and to justify the ongoing investment necessary to continue operating them.
Proving that a positive ROI is a reasonable expectation, 68% of the respondents to a recent Incentive Magazine study reported the average ROI for their incentive programs, based on the initial investment, exceeded 10%. Thirty-eight percent of the respondents reported their ROI exceeded 25%. While the Incentive Magazine study reflected data for all incentive programs, evidence suggests that the return for safety incentive programs in particular will meet and in many cases exceed these averages. Of course, a positive return on investment does not just happen. It must be a strategic goal with the safety incentive program structured accordingly. The following strategy should be used to ensure that the program is built properly and a positive return on investment is achieved.
Map the Plan - Identify specific objectives and behaviors that you want to drive. Benchmark quantitative objectives like the historical number of claims, the number of people that attend safety meetings, and how many safety suggestions are typically received from workers during a given year. Also, identify qualitative objectives like employee job satisfaction and employee opinions on current safety measures. For qualitative benchmarking it will likely be necessary to issue pre-program surveys.
Target & Customize - Design the program to center around employee groups with the greatest potential for safety improvement. Study the challenges faced by these groups and seek their input into the program structure. Look at the employee demographics and identify the rewards that these employees value to create a mix of recognition options.
Create Rewards - Tie meaningful incentives to achievable performance. Monitor and adjust the rewards structure on an ongoing basis. Use face-to-face and/or group opportunities like safety meetings wherever possible to award for performance. Use a tangible award vehicle like safety point vouchers that can be saved and redeemed by participants for tangible awards.
Engage & Communicate - Launch the safety incentive program with enthusiasm using kickoff meetings, logo merchandise giveaways and custom collateral. Actively promote the program using scheduled and diverse communication vehicles. Incorporate bonus point offers for things like the safety suggestion of the month; give bonus points to employees that reach milestones in safety and put their pictures on the award website and in the company newsletter.
Fulfill Expectations - Deliver on promises made to employees and managers while the program was being developed. Be upfront with all employees about the specific goals of the program, share the results, and adjust accordingly. Be sure to partner with an incentive solution provider that offers a wide variety of appealing brand-name awards. Insist on a contract with that provider that specifies a service level agreement that addresses everything from how long it will take to ship awards to how quickly customer service questions will be answered.
Monitor, Measure & Improve – Use internal and external reporting to evaluate the program on a frequent basis. Use surveys and quizzes built into the program to gain data and to examine other areas like how well training information is being retained by the workforce. Evaluate objectively and measure against benchmarks. Raise the bar and repeat with fresh new ideas and
program features. Settle for nothing less than a program that is as memorable and fun as it is effective.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Six Sigma and Lean are two existing operational tools that have been utilized by businesses in a variety of ways to improve quality and efficiency. Some companies, including Baxter
International, Inc., are beginning to turn to these tools, which are comprised of processes and procedures, to improve their work environment, and employee health and safety. Baxter has gone a step further by integrating the two and refining the combined tool to create a customized system that helps improve safety for the company.
According to Baxter, Six Sigma is a statistics-based quality control initiative developed by Motorola in 1986, aimed at reducing defects. Lean is a manufacturing initiative aimed at improving efficiency by removing non-value-added activities and accelerating a process. In a company news story titled Baxter Integrates “Lean” and “Clean" into Environmental Program Baxter reports “that it first saw improvements as a result of applying these principles to its environmental program. Baxter is in the process of developing ways to apply Lean / Six Sigma tools and methodology to its safety program, which is an emerging and expanding practice.”
The story goes on to explain, “Baxter is adapting a Lean tool known as the “5 Ss” to its safety program. The 5 Ss stand for Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. The idea is that a clean and organized workstation improves efficiency by eliminating such non-value-added activities as searching around for tools and moving around in clutter. The fifth “S,” Sustain, means that one checks his or her workstation on a daily basis to ensure the area is in keeping with the other “Ss,” such as Set in order or Sort.”
“We have added a sixth ‘S' for ‘Safety,'” says Sue Miller, Baxter's global director of safety. “With the sixth S, the person conducting an inspection is checking for safety, looking for things like machine guarding, slip, trip and fall hazards, and chemical hazards. Virtually every Lean / Six Sigma concept could be applied to safety, and this can reinforce our focus on injury prevention,” says Miller.
Innovative ways of applying operational tools to a safety environment are just one method being used to push the science of safety forward. Here again, a safety incentive program can be an invaluable tool to drive the implementation and success of such ventures.
CASE STUDY: ALLIED WASTE IMPLEMENTS DTS
Allied Waste is the second-largest solid waste disposal company in the U.S. Nearly 20,000 of Allied Waste employees are in safety-sensitive positions, with most driving or working on moving dump trucks. Organized into more than 600 independently managed divisions; Allied Waste has thousands of heavy trucks on the road each day. With trash collection business ranked as the 5th most dangerous job in the country, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s not surprising that Allied Waste invests significant resources in employee screening, worker training, drug testing, equipment training, and safety meetings, to instill a strong safety culture. Despite implementing these foundational safety elements, the company continued to struggle with
creating a safer workforce and reducing the costs associated with workers compensation, liability insurance, and claims.
In order to increase individual awareness for safety and realize better benefits from their safety program initiative, Allied Waste contracted with an incentive house to create a safety incentive program that would motivate long-term behavior change. The overarching goals were to increase the safety of their employees and the general public by reducing accidents and claims, and to contain and reduce the related expenditures. To ensure success, the safety reward program needed to take into consideration a variety of challenges including a bilingual workforce, a high turnover rate, and participants with little or no Internet access from work.
All Star Incentive Marketing created and launched a bilingual, online/off-line, plateau level safety incentive program called the Dedicated to Safety (DTS) Rewards Program. Providing a turn-key custom program for Allied Waste, All Star handled concept, design, print production, Web hosting, award selection and sourcing, fulfillment and reporting. Participants earned, accumulated and redeemed safety vouchers on a custom award Web site or via a printed catalog. To kick off the program with enthusiasm and commitment, All Star produced comprehensive "launch kits" that managers used to introduce and promote the program during safety meetings. On a routine basis, participants received reward program communication through meetings, company newsletters, promotional flyers, and surveys to keep participants engaged and working toward safety goals.
In its first year, the DTS Rewards Program helped reduce claims by 760, a reduction of more than 11%. In the previous four years Allied had reached a claims plateau and was unable to reduce the frequency by any measurable amount. Of particular interest is that during the first year of the program, only about half of the divisions participated in the program and yet the majority of the reduction was generated by those participating divisions. With an average per claim cost in the thousands of dollars, Allied's savings from the claims decrease in participating divisions was in the millions! The divisions participating in the DTS program have almost double the reduction in claims as compared with non-participating divisions (the average claims eliminated per DTS program division is 1.72 versus .87 for non-participating divisions).
Also of interest is that although the program supports both online and offline participation, over 90% of all award orders in the program have been placed online through the award Web site. A survey was conducted in May 2006 in order to better understand the surprisingly high online redemption rate and to gather additional feedback about the success of the program. It was learned that nearly 70% of participants access the Internet from their homes and another 13% from a variety of locations including the library, friend’s house, and spouse’s work. Web site tracking reports also confirmed that the most popular days for participants to visit the award site were on Saturdays and Sundays and the average time spent in the site per visit was between 19 and 20 minutes. The fact that employees spend so much of their personal time in the DTS award site which is laden with safety tips and reminders was an unexpected additional benefit.
Most of the divisions that were not included in the program in the first year were union divisions that required contract renegotiations before any new company programs could be introduced to their members. The DTS program’s ability to reduce accidents and as a result to reduce the number of minor and major injuries to employees is one compelling reason for union employees to want to participate. In fact, while it cannot be proven conclusively, by promoting a safer work environment on such a large scale, the program likely saved lives. Another compelling reason for the unionized divisions to join is that participating employees were winning thousands of awards. These reasons convinced most of the union leaders of non-participating divisions to seek
out and request the program from Allied’s Corporate Safety Department, which gave management a powerful bargaining chip at the contract negotiation table.
SUMMARY
When properly designed safety incentive programs are introduced into companies with a solid existing safety culture, they produce an ultimate “win, win” scenario. Employees enjoy both awards and a safer work environment that fosters fewer accidents, injuries, and in some cases deaths. Management is able to provide this beneficial program to their employees while improving productivity and reducing costs.
Brian Galonek is President of All Star Incentive Marketing, a full-service incentive house and performance improvement company. Brian is also the former President and current Education Committee Chairman for the Online Incentive Council (OIC). All Star Incentive Marketing develops, implements and manages full-service custom incentive programs for their clients. The success of these programs can be attributed to All Star's "Proven Process," for program
development. A process that takes clients from concept and design through reporting and measurement to ensure a maximum Return on Incentive Investment ROI2.
Works Cited
"The Benefits of Tangible Non-Monetary Incentives", Jeffery, Scott: The SITE Foundation, 2003. "Top 10 Most Dangerous Civilian Jobs", Bureau of Labor Statistics: People, February 6, 2006. "Using Behavioral Safety to Improve Culture", Williams, Joshua of Safety Performance Solutions, Presented at ASSE, June 13, 2005.
Current Injury, Illness, and Fatality Data, Feb 20, 2004, Bureau of labor Statistics, www.bls.gov. "Are You Maximizing Your ROI2", Galonek, Brian, All Star Incentive Marketing, Sturbridge, MA, April, 2004.
"Building Trust for Safety", Pater, Robert: Occupational Hazards, February 2005.
“The Economics of Retention”, The Performance Improvement Council, a unit of The Incentive Marketing Association
"Safety First", Juergens, Jennifer: Occupational Heath and Safety, June 2004, Page 94. "Delivering Timely Safety Recognition", Tullos, Don: Occupational Health and Safety, www.ohsonline.com
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The Society of Incentive and Travel Executives (SITE) Foundation Study 2003
U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, General Workplace Impact, http://www.dol.gov/asp/programs/drugs/workingpartners/stats/wi.asp
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Baxter , “Baxter Looks to “Lean” Tools to Improve Safety Performance”, July 2005
http://www.baxter.com/about_baxter/sustainability/sust_stories/people/people_lean_tools.html Liberty Mutual, Research Institute, Workplace safety Index Study, September 20, 2005,
http://www.libertymutual.com/omapps/ContentServer?cid=1029415782133&year=2005&prid=1 078448761279&pagename=ResearchCenter%2FPage%2FPressReleaseOrange&c=Page