Incentive - December 2007 - (Page 31)

PLAY IT STRONG INCENTIVES FOR WORKPLACE SAFETY By Ben Chapman SAFE assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), issued a statement saying, “We are pleased to see both the rate and number of fatal work injuries continue to decline.” But, Foulke added, “While these figures demonstrate progress, we still have a long way to go.” Indeed, though the numbers are promising, safety experts agree there’s still plenty of room for improvement. Bill Sims Jr. has over 25 years’ experience with employee motivation programs, and a client list of major companies like Lockheed Martin, Georgia-Pacific and Heartland Foods. Yet he says that promoting workplace safety remains a priority for too few companies, and most workplace injuries result from human error and can be avoided. “The market [for safety incentives] may be growing by leaps and bounds, but it remains a niche,” says the president of The Bill Sims Company Inc. in Columbia, S.C. “The industries that are most interested in safety incentives are still those with the greatest risk for accidents,” he continues. “You won’t find many insurance companies that are serious about safety.” Instead, it’s the businesses that operate in dangerous environments, or use risky materials, that are most concerned with safety. Another problem is that many existing programs are ineffective because of poor design or administration. The task of rewarding employees for safe behaviors is more complicated than giving gifts to workers who don’t use their sick days, Sims says. Yet, “too often managers are obsessed with finding the perfect gift. They’re incentivemag.com he Utah mine tragedy this past August was a dramatic reminder of the importance of workplace safety. A Senate investigation, a month-long search in which three rescuers were killed and the obligatory media coverage have businesses even more concerned with workplace safety—this in an environment that’s already hurting from workers’ compensation costs and lost productivity. Caved-in mines and compensation claims make lurid headlines, but most workplaces are safer now than ever. Thanks to more managers using incentive-based programs, more businesses are safe and healthy places to work. But there’s still room for improvement. While most managers aren’t operating in industries that could see employees suffocating in a collapsed cavern below tons of earth, every occupation has safety issues. T SAFETY STRENGTHS AND WEAK SPOTS A ccording to the experts, working in America is safer than ever before. The Department of Labor’s National Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries for 2006 shows that 5,703 people died from on-the-job injuries in 2006, compared with 5,734 in 2005. These are numbers for employers to be proud of, because the overall fatal work injury rate in 2006 was the lowest ever measured. When the report was issued in August, Edwin G. Foulke Jr., the | December 2007 | Incentive | 31 http://incentivemag.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Incentive - December 2007

Incentive - December 2007 Contents Editor’s Note: Revved Up In the News Cover Story: Rolls-Royce Empowers Its Own Case Study: Booz Allen Hamilton Beating Your Best Incentive Primer: Add Value to Your Event Keeping Safety In Mind Incentive Interview Potentials Here and Now Research: Corporate Gifts Facts Report Tabletop Awards: Travel Gift Cards Travel News Viva Puerto Vallarta Indigenous Spas Advertiser Index Off the Cuff: Ambassador Christoph Bubb Luxury Brands Special Supplement

Incentive - December 2007

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