Safety Knights

In the past, the "reward" has varied based on the type of employees I was dealing with - some prefer money and would love an extra $100 (or whatever it is), whereas others couldn't care less and would prefer a physical item. I've had some of the millwrights in the past tell me they'd much rather get a nice flashlight (e.g., Maglite, Streamlight). If the "reward" isn't what they're wanting or interested in, then they're not going to be very motivated to get it. Just make sure it's not a pizza party, haha.

Regarding the criteria, just make sure it's proactive items that reinforce your safety programs, rather than anything tied to lagging metrics (e.g., reducing the # of OSHA recordables). Below are a few that I've used in the past, which ultimately end up improving the lagging metrics anyway:
- Training attendance % (each person must attend all required safety trainings)
- JSAs completed for every new/non-routine task (per person - this would be verified often after any incident - if they didn't do the required JSA, they lost their incentive for that quarter)
- Random shop/field audits (this is a cumulative score for everyone, but was typically conducted at least once per quarter)

I'm a big proponent of celebrating the "small wins". Instead of doing an annual incentive, I like to separate it into quarterly incentives. By doing this, they can "mess up" and miss their incentive in one quarter, but still be eligible the remaining 3 quarters. By doing annual incentives, if a person "messes up" in January and becomes ineligible for their incentive for that entire year, you've lost all motivation. The same concept applies if the person "messes up" in December and loses their incentive after all the hard work they've done for the other 11 months. By doing quarterly incentives, if there is a quarter where the person loses their incentive, you can work with them to correct that issue, then they still have a chance to be recognized for their hard work the rest of the year.

I am sure you know you cannot tie them into "Lagging Metrics!" Immediate Serious Citation under Whistleblower language by OSHA! In the old days we used this tool often! Prior to 2012 it was a good tool to use to "stop the bleeding", especially when you had a big spike in injuries!

However, there is nothing wrong with celebrating wins! At our large machining plant the first year we had an entire year with 0 Recordables we just had a big steak fry for all 450 employees. We did not promote it before and downplayed the linkage! We tied it other metrics like safety team performance and participation. Two years later we did it again (had one in the year between) but were careful not to have a big dinner! We celebrated other things an always careful!

I also agree with keeping it fresh! Run one program and have another ready to plug in quickly!

I would make one more suggestion that really really helped us! Do not make it your program or even the company's! One of our employee Safety Teams was named "Safety Promotion". They designed the programs and ran them! Management just gave them an annual budget and some parameters and let them go! THEIR programs were much more successful than mine! So engage engage engage your employees!!!!!

I am not a Fan of incentive programs. Injuries may not be reported because JOE wants his gift card to subway.

So, as mentioned by others, incentive programs cannot be tied wiht lagging metrics such as no injuries etc.

Instead, you can use them to encourage leading measures. A few ideas: If we find X number of hazards/near misses and get them corrected over the next month, everyone gets a t-shirt or bonus, or maybe the person who submits the most (legitimate) safety hazards gets a primo special parking spot close to the front of the lot.

Or, tying safety awareness initiatives in with quarterly bonuses or whatnot.
Participation in a safety team/committee gets an extra quarter an hour, or maybe gets a nice lunch or something.

Always always tie incentives to LEADING measures (new hazards/near misses identified and corrected, positive safety behaviors identified, training completed on time etc).