The good old “safety incentive program” has been around since man walked upright and has been misleading management since its conception. The concept is valid, based on the old “carrot and the stick” model. There has always been one fatal flaw in these programs… they usually incentivize the WRONG things! The traditional safety incentive programs, many still built in this horribly wrong manner, are based solely on identifying indicators (i.e., injury rates). This approach will push injury/incident reporting underground in order to achieve the incentive, and anyone who has made this mistake in their safety incentive program will testify to this fact. Sometimes, these “secrets” are minor; however, as the incentive increases in value, so does the manipulation of the data upon which the incentive is based.
In 2024, we should be moving away from these antiqued incentive practices. If management insists on having a safety incentive program, it MUST put the incentives on LEADING INDICATORS and activities that reduce risks and create a safety culture.
This 2009 publication is from our safety friends down under in New South Wales, Australia. This is a MUST-HAVE document if you have an existing incentive program or are considering implementing one. It can be used to assess an existing program and aid in creating a new program that ensures the incentives are properly designed, implemented, managed, and measured.
The principles are as follows:
