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[ Issue Table of Contents ]

Workplace Safety First: The Role of Incentives

Every employer is concerned about safety in the workplace, and marketers can play a critical role in translating policy into action. This article reviews the recent thinking on safety programs and describes how incentives are used to launch them and keep them going.

Safety is an important bottom-line consideration for most companies. Effective safety programs play a critical role in reducing worker injuries and thereby save money. Most programs use incentives to encourage employee participation, and that's where sales and marketing professionals can play a vital role. While the intricacies of plant safety are not the usual domain of marketers, incentive programs are. So, too, are the communication functions that play a key role in promoting, administering, tracking, and maintaining safety programs. (For a comprehensive overview of incentive techniques, see Doc. 3010, Premiums and Incentives.)

BACKGROUND

In 1997 there were more than 6.1 million work-site injuries and illnesses in the U.S., or 7.1 cases for every 100 full-time workers. Each cost employers a significant amount of money in lost productivity, workers' compensation claims (and the premiums that they are instrumental in determining), damaged equipment, and lawsuits.

In injury-prone industries, such as contracting, heavy manufacturing, and chemical processing, these costs can be staggering, but every company has safety concerns. For instance, repetitive-motion injuries keep workers off the job the longest, an average of 18 days. Such injuries typically do not involve high levels of exertion; often they come from typing, picking up a phone, scanning groceries at the checkout counter, or similar activities.

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PROS AND CONS OF SAFETY PROGRAMS

The good news is that safety programs work. The total number of worker injury cases has been dropping steadily for the past seven years, a fact mainly attributable to the widespread adoption of safety programs. Safety programs are recognized as having a dramatic impact on safety-related expenditures.

The current move toward reforming workers' compensation insurance in-cludes initiatives in many states to reward companies for effective safety programs. Missouri, for example, recently passed a bill that gives companies a 5 percent credit on their workers comp premium the following year, provided they institute certified safety programs and decrease the number of injuries, illnesses, and lost work days by 50 percent. An employer that has no injuries or lost work days receives a 10 percent credit.

In New York State, insurance regulators are experimenting with programs that offers taxi companies discounts on insurance premiums for adopting risk-management procedures and enrolling drivers in accident-prevention classes.

About the only negative to an effective safety-incentive program is that it may lead to an underreporting of work-site injuries, if employees cover up incidents they fear will blemish their safety record. Severe injuries are nearly impossible to hide, but many minor ones that go unreported worry management, because they can lead to chronic conditions. The solution is to gear your program toward creating and maintaining safe practices.

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CRITICAL ISSUES

Be proactive. The clear winners among safety programs are those that are proactive rather than reactive. That means identifying dangerous behavior and using education and incentive programs to reduce or eliminate it. This is a far more comprehensive process than merely tracking accidents as they happen. You must analyze every aspect of the workplace with regard to safety and construct a clear set of guidelines for preventing unsafe conditions. Experts agree on the critical components to a behavioral safety approach:

• Regular observation of behavior on the job;
• Goals for improving safety;
• A feedback loop;
• Recognition for improvement.

The carrot vs. the stick. Programs that punish unsafe practices are clearly less effective than those that reward safe ones. You want full employee investment in the program, and that means creating a benefit scenario that goes beyond trying to keep people out of the hospital. That is why the incentive component is critical to any safety program. Many state and private workers' comp insurance policies recognize this, requiring a clear incentive component in order to achieve reductions in premiums. Obviously, marketers are the logical people to put together such a component.

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SAFETY BY DESIGN

Here are the essential elements of a successful incentive program to promote safety:

• Assemble your team. Good safety programs work from the bottom up, so begin your program structure with your employees. Employee input will help you pinpoint critical areas as you examine every process in the workplace to see how safety can be improved. And employees should continue to contribute during every phase of the program. Form a safety committee and designate a safety manager. Outside input should be solicited as well. This may include safety consultants, insurance company representatives, people from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and representatives of your state workers' comp program. Assign employees to enforce the safety procedures and analyze results as the program progresses. That means having regular safety meetings.
  
  
• Develop safety procedures and set goals. What you learn during the observation and planning phases of the program should be articulated to all employees. The best vehicle for this is a precise, comprehensive set of procedures that identifies safe behavior on a task-specific basis. Safety program policy should be broken down by work function and department. It should even spell out procedures for using specific tools and machines.
  
  
• Implement a training program. Safety training is the best way to insure that your procedures are understood and followed. Also, look at the training process as a way to promote the incentive component and to boost employee ownership of the safety program in general. Training should be ongoing, especially as you adjust procedures based on what you learn. Again, safety should not be dictated from on high. Employees should be involved at all levels, including training.
  
  
• Create an incentive program. Part of your safety policy should be a clear system of rewards based on safety performance. Behavior is the means to safety, and incentives are a proven means of improving behavior. To a large extent, the incentive component of a safety program is like any other type of employee incentive program. One major difference concerns the term of the program. Incentive programs generally have been getting shorter in recent years. Safety programs buck this trend, for obvious reasons: safety is an ongoing concern. You're not looking for a short-term boost in sales. As a result, you face a greater challenge in keeping employee enthusiasm at a high level. This is one reason why cash incentives are a poor choice for a safety program. Cash has limited trophy value, and even high levels of cash tend to be viewed, over time, as expected bonuses. Here are some guidelines for success:

  Reward levels should reach 3 to 5 percent of salary, as with other employee incentive programs.

  The promotion should have a strong theme, be ongoing, and be changed periodically as the program matures.

  Plateau programs work best with safety. Even if you achieve a 100-percent safe workplace, you want to give employees something to shoot for. Thus it's not unusual for companies to have such categories as "Five years without an accident" and an appropriate reward.

  In selecting awards, look for high trophy value, reliable vendors, and short turnaround time. Experienced vendors will help you match the award to the recipient. Whether you choose merchandise, gift certificates, travel, or a combination, you should offer the greatest degree of flexibility possible.

  Present the awards with fanfare. Whether you're recognizing an individual or a group, do so at a public occasion, preferably in front of peers. Some companies even use their annual meeting as a platform to acknowledge outstanding performance.

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CASE HISTORIES

• Setting the right safety goals. After trying several approaches to safety on its oil rigs, Shell Western E&P decided it needed a comprehensive, proactive approach. The ultimate goal was to establish lasting safe habits, rather then simply achieving a short-term drop in safety-related costs. The Plus System, which the company developed with a safety consultant, bucks traditional thinking. It doesn't use a rigid means of measuring progress, such as number of reported incidents or days lost. Instead, management made an intensive study of safety-related behaviors, such as repetitive-motion activities, and even simple things like stepping off a platform. Identifying and measuring such behaviors, the company established a compliance standard for safe habits. Thus employees are rewarded for adhering to certain "critical behaviors."

  This approach can be translated for any office where repetitive motion, such as typing on a keyboard, causes injury. It's silly to offer office workers a prize for not getting carpal tunnel syndrome, but you can reward them for adopting safer procedures. To do this properly, you need a systematic program of intensive training, monitoring, and feedback. After all, the goal of any safety program is to establish safe habits.

• Building worker involvement to promote safety. The case of Steere Enterprises Inc. illustrates the value of promoting safety effectively, and it shows why employee buy-in means more than generating excitement about incentive awards. To kick off its 1995 safety program, Steere prepared a series of charts that illustrated the company's need for better safety practices. Employees were briefed on the staggering costs of dealing with the issue, among other things a $350,000 workers' comp premium.

  Showing how an increase in safety could give the company increased options for compensating employees appealed to the employees' common sense and was a powerful motivator. Communicating the importance of safety didn't end there, however. The company followed through with poster programs, pay-stuffers, articles on bulletin boards, safety audits, and a safety scoreboard in the employee lunchroom. Besides a safer workplace, the company got another benefit: a significant decrease in its insurance premiums.

• Creating an easy-to-follow-system. The experience of Key Property Services shows how the pieces fit together in a behavior-based safety program. The property-management company began by taking representatives from field offices and forming a safety committee. The committee spent six months reviewing the company's safety record, studying safe work practices, and drafting a comprehensive safety policy. The policy was boiled down into checklists of safe practices that employees could follow and be graded on.

  The incentive component was equally simple and straightforward. For practicing safe behavior, month by month, employees received "Safe Bucks," which were redeemable for a selection of merchandise in an incentive catalog.

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THE MARKETING ANGLE

Marketers have a strong role to play in a successful safety program. For one thing, they're good at boiling down a long-winded policy into key benefits and communicating them clearly. This is critical when getting employees sold on the program. For another, program promotion is obviously an area that benefits from marketing know-how.

That goes for the initial rollout as well as the ongoing promotion. If your company is serious about safety, create a safety newsletter or at least devote a portion of the current employee newsletter to safety. Since peer pressure is an effective tool in maintaining safety, look for ways to tout the safety achievements of individual employees.

A good safety record can be promoted outside the company as well. Potential customers will be reassured when they learn that a company is maintaining a safe workplace. It implies that workers will also be conscious of quality and efficiency. From a PR standpoint, a high level of safety can be noteworthy to the press, as well as to investors.

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FINDING A SUPPLIER

Here are some excellent sources for names of suppliers:

Incentive magazine's annual directory. $10. Call 212-592-6263.

Potentials magazine's annual Buyer's Guide. $25. Call 612-333-0471 or 800-707-7749.

Promo magazine's annual Sourcebook lists agencies and other resources. $50. Call 203-358-4375 or 800-254-1785.

The Motivation Show Directory provides the most comprehensive listing of premium and incentive suppliers. Free to attendees, otherwise $30. Call 630-850-7779.

The Premium Incentive Show Directory has many merchandise sources. Free to attendees, otherwise $25. Call 800-765-7615.

To find a supplier, go to #9520, Supplier Finder.

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ASSOCIATIONS

The Incentive Federation was formed to protect the rights of organizations to motivate customers and employees through the intelligent and ethical use of incentive programs. Comprised of the leading associations, trade shows, and some of the top suppliers in the incentive field, the Federation monitors Federal regulations that could affect the proper use of incentive programs and lobbies against proposals that could hinder the ability of businesses to properly use incentive programs. As part of its industry services, the Federation also conducts the only regular research on use of incentives by U.S. organizations, and manages the Incentive Promotion Campaign, the industry-wide effort to promote professional use of incentives and that underwrote this Web site. For information, call 908-233-4009, e-mail mailto:hhenry333@aol.com

Incentive Marketing Association (IMA) has a directory of suppliers and a newsletter. It can direct companies to legal counsel with experience in incentive programs. It also holds education programs in conjunction with the major trade shows in the field. Call 630-369-7780, or go to http://www.info-now.com/trek?t=202&c=1&p=27&v=0&ar=70&d=http://www.incentivemarketing.org.

Incentive Manufacturers Representatives Association (IMRA) represents factory-direct salespeople in the incentive business. Call 703-610-9021, or go to http://www.info-now.com/trek?t=202&c=1&p=27&v=0&ar=70&d=http://www.imra1.org.

Promotion Marketing Association (PMA) offers seminars and other educational programs for people involved with sales incentives, premium merchandise, and other types of promotion. Call 212-420-1100; fax 212-533-7622, or go to http://www.info-now.com/trek?t=202&c=1&p=27&v=0&ar=70&d=http://www.pmalink.org.

Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) serves suppliers and distributors of promotional products, many of which also handle premiums. Call 888-492-6890, or go to http://www.info-now.com/trek?t=202&c=1&p=27&v=0&ar=70&d=http://www.ppai.org/.

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TRADE SHOWS

For a list of Industry Events, go to #9510, Calendar of Industry Events.

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GOVERNMENT RESOURCES

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) not only sets the standards for workplace safety but provides a number of helpful plans for setting up safety programs. Call 202-693-1999; click on http://www.info-now.com/trek?t=202&c=1&p=27&v=0&ar=70&d=http://www.osha.gov/.

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) compiles statistics on worker injuries. Call 202-606-6197; click on stats.bls.gov.

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RESEARCH

"The Attractiveness and Effectiveness of Incentive Reward Options" documents employee attitudes toward incentives at a leading insurance company and ranks employee preferences. Conducted by Clemson University for the SITE Foundation. $20 members, $30 nonmembers. Call 212-575-0910.

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BOOKS

How to Run an Incentive Program is a booklet published by Incentive magazine that details how to structure incentive programs. 14 pp. $10. Call 212-592-6263.

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PUBLICATIONS

Occupational Hazards is a monthly devoted to all aspects of workplace safety, including incentive programs. It runs comprehensive pieces on individual safety programs. Call 216-696-7000.

Incentive magazine covers all aspects of incentives from premiums to travel. Free to qualified readers. Call 212-592-6263.

Promo is a monthly magazine for people who make promotion marketing part of their job. Heavy packaged-goods emphasis. Free to qualified readers. Call 203-358-4351, 800-463-4054.

Potentials, a monthly, publishes good articles on promotional-product uses, strategies, and trends. Lots of photos and case studies. Free to qualified readers. Call 612-333-0471.

Sales & Marketing Strategies & News is an eight-times-a-year tabloid with articles that cover successful companies, sales strategies, and sales tools. Sections focus on promotion and motivation. Free to qualified readers. Call 815-963-4000.

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ON THE WEB

Compuserve's Safetynet forum is an excellent place to connect with others who are managing safety programs. To subscribe to Compuserve, call 800-848-8990 or go to http://www.info-now.com/trek?t=202&c=1&p=27&v=0&ar=70&d=http://www.compuserve.com/.

© 2004. Copyright Selling Communications, Inc. Reprinted with permission from Incentive Performance Center (Article No. 3036).

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