Is Your Employee Safety Incentive Program Effective?

As the owner or manager of a small business, your attitude toward job safety and health will be reflected by your employees. If you are not interested in preventing employee injury and illness, your employees will probably not give safety and health much thought either.

Therefore, it is essential that you demonstrate your personal concern for employee safety and health, and the priority that you place on them in your workplace. Your policy must be clear, and only you can show its importance through your own actions. 
An effective Employee Safety Incentive Program conveys enthusiasm for the program, is relevant to the work experience of all employees, and makes the recognition for adhering to and improving of safe practices more significant than the value of the prize associated with the incentive.

Employers who do not have an established Employee Safety Incentive Program are missing an opportunity to control workers’ compensation expenditures and ultimately reduce their experience modifier.

At Marshall & Sterling, our staff of loss control professionals can conduct a thorough evaluation of your company’s existing Employee Safety Incentive Program. We will review all aspects of your program to determine how you can reap the greatest rewards.

Or, if you currently do not have a formal program, we can assist you in designing a customized plan to meet to your shop’s unique needs.

You can demonstrate the depth of your commitment by involving your employees in planning and carrying out your efforts. If you seriously involve your employees in identifying and resolving safety and health problems, they will bring their unique insights and energy to achieving the goals and objectives of your program. The men and women who work for you are among the most valuable assets that you have. Their safety, health and goodwill are essential to the success of your business. Therefore, having them cooperate with you in protecting their safety and health not only helps to keep them healthy, it makes your job easier too.

The Road to Success
Regardless, there are several common factors included in an effective Employee Safety Incentive Program. The following are some key questions to determine if your program includes these successful traits:

• Do you have a current Safety and Health policy in place? 
• Have you identified a specific method for recording performance toward reaching the goal for employees in the incentive program?
• Do you have specific rules and time limits for your Employee Safety Incentive Program?
• Have you defined parameters for participants, judges and those implementing the program?
• Do you have a designated company representative who is responsible for coordinating Employee Safety Incentive efforts?
• Does your Employee Safety Incentive policy stress goals of improving safety, but still stress timely reporting of injuries and incidents?
• Do you have an injury/accident report form to be completed by the employee?
• Do you have a method of keeping employees informed on their performance and/or standings in the program?
• Do you have a written policy endorsed by upper management that defines the specific objective, budget and themes?
• Is there an established safety committee with members representing all levels of employees with your company?
• Are all functions of this committee communicated clearly and defined to management and employees?

The main purpose of an Employee Safety Incentive Program is to improve employee morale and reduce the incidence of injury. In addition, your company will benefit from a lower experience modifier, which will reduce your workers’ compensation costs.

Any safety idea, no matter how insignificant it may seem to you, may prevent a serious accident.

Safety programs are not only the responsibility of a supervisor or safety manager – everyone must take part to keep the workplace free from hazards. Lots of work goes on behind the scenes to make your job as safe as possible, but there are also some things employees can do to take accident prevention into their own hands.

Work as a Team
Each person in the workplace, from employees to supervisors and management, must work together to achieve your safety goals. With everyone pitching in ideas and suggestions, you can solve problems and get through tough situations.

If you see a co-worker being careless or unsafe, it is everyone's job to speak up. Remember that you have the right to work in a place free from hazards.

Make Safety Suggestions
Seasoned employees can use their years of valuable experience to spot potential safety hazards. Or new employees may be able to spot something right away that a long-time pro may have overlooked.

You and your co-workers can get your own safety program off the ground by giving supervisors or safety leaders ideas on how things can be made safer. Any idea, no matter how small it may seem to you, could prevent a serious accident.

Ask Questions
If you are unsure about any aspect of your safety program, ask. It is better to ask a question if you are hesitant than wait until after a serious accident occurs.

It’s easy to make a safety program successful if everyone does their part. Tap into our loss control expertise. Contact us to evaluate your current Employee Safety Incentive Program today.