Page 2 of 4
Let Safety Incentives Strengthen Fall Protection and Boost Your Safety Culture
It’s important to establish specific metrics to evaluate whether these goals are being met. For example, one option is to track the number of safety violations, the percentage of employees wearing proper fall protection or the frequency of completed safety training modules. Once these metrics and desired behaviors are created, attach the incentive reward to them directly. It’s going to be critical to attach smaller, ideally weekly, rewards to these safe behaviors.
- Communicate the Program Clearly (and Simply)
Effective, simple and easy-to-understand communication is key to the success of any incentive program. Ensure that all employees understand the objectives of the program, and how they can earn rewards. Communication should be ongoing and transparent, including frequent updates on program performance and any changes to the incentive rewarding criteria. Consider hiring an experienced incentive company to help do this. Some packaged programs will automatically handle the communication and rewarding, saving time.
- Develop the Proper Reward System
Choose a reward system that aligns with employee preferences and company culture but also has already been proven to motivate employees. Stay away from the old “dangle the carrot” cash-type programs that can turn the program into entitled compensation. Focus on an incentive system that will drive weekly and daily, safe behavior.
- Stay with merchandise versus cash. Think of that trophy you won in grade or high school. It meant more and was certainly more memorable than the $20 that the trophy actually cost. Points collected and redeemed for rewards they “want” have been proven to work better than offering cash or items that people “need.” This can be confusing because employees will often say what they want for an incentive is “cash” or the equivalent (gift cards). However, cash is not what has been proven the most effective at driving behavior.
- Reward for specific behaviors, frequently. First, use an easy-to-administer reward “vehicle” that delivers smaller-value points that can then be collected over time to redeem a larger-value reward. Doing so will give you more bang for your buck. Gamecards containing points have been proven to work well for this. These cards/points should be attached to the weekly behaviors that lead to the desired end result.
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.