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Let Safety Incentives Strengthen Fall Protection and Boost Your Safety Culture
- Add Gamification: In today’s high-stimulation world, simply dangling a merchandise “carrot” doesn’t work. Creating or selecting a program that has a game component will build teamwork and interaction between employees that boosts the safety culture and creates more safety banter in the organization.
- Offer both individual rewards AND chances at big prizes: Over decades, strong data shows 50 percent of employees are more motivated by collecting points that will “for sure” result in a reward they can redeem. The other 50 percent? They are more motivated by a chance at a bigger grand prize. No fret, there are programs available on the market that include tickets or gamecards that deliver both points and chances for national sweepstakes-type drawing prizes or drawing prizes exclusive for your company.
- Reward teams as well as Individuals: Once a rewarding vehicle such as a ticket or gamecard is in play and is attached to fall protection and other weekly safe behaviors, to maximize effectiveness, don’t forget to also reward these cards or points to teams that reach certain safety milestones or achieve their monthly goals of high safety participation or achievement levels.
- Monitor and Evaluate Program Performance
It does not need to be complicated, but add some simple systems to track compliance with fall protection protocols. This can involve regular safety audits, inspections, and performance reviews. Collect the key data on how well employees are adhering to safety practices and use this information to evaluate the effectiveness of the incentive program.
Regularly review these performance metrics and make adjustments as necessary. For example, if certain safety practices are not improving as expected, consider revising the objectives or the incentive reward criteria.
- Show Commitment to Safety Culture
Incentives can motivate employees and take safety culture to a new level, but it’s important to show safety culture commitment from the beginning. Get upper management involved and have them help lead the way in communicating this. Encourage employees to support each other in adhering to safety protocols and create an environment where safety is a shared responsibility. Including Peer recognition and team-based rewards can enhance the collective commitment to safety as well.
This article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of Occupational Health & Safety.