Reactive Safety Incentive Programs
In module one, we learned about the concepts of reactive and proactive safety programs.
Safety incentive programs can be either reactive, proactive, or both, depending on the behaviors that are being recognized and rewarded.
Believe it or not, some companies unknowingly have reactive safety incentive programs that reward inappropriate behaviors such as withholding injury and illness reports.
Hiding Injuries and Illnesses
Consider a sign that says, "80,000 hours without an accident!" When you see that sign, you'll know the company is rewarding its employees for withholding injury reports. Actually, the sign should state, "80,000 hours without a reported accident." This doesn't mean the workplace is accident free: only that accidents are not being reported. In reality, the workplace that does this is likely full of injured employees, called the "walking wounded," who don't report accidents.
The issue is that employees often conceal their injuries to avoid being seen as disloyal team members. They don't want to ruin the safety record for their department. Sometimes, the peer pressure is so great they will keep their injury a secret until the pain becomes so severe that they miss work and must report it. While this approach may lead to a decline in reported injuries, the severity of each unreported injury is likely to increase. Nobody wins.
Although a reactive program doesn't intentionally promote the withholding of injury and illness reports, its flawed strategy ends up doing exactly that. So, let's explore how we can make the incentive program truly effective.
Knowledge Check Choose the best answer for the question.
3-6. Which behavior is actually rewarded in a reactive incentive program?
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