Advice on Marrying Safety Training with Safety Incentives

When your train someone how to be safe and then apply the principles of human behavior modification to actually performing their job in a safe manner, you will reinforce the training in such a way that it will become a habit.  When you continually and consistently acknowledge that safe performance with positive reinforcement you will be building a strong and positive safety culture that will be embedded in your companies.

In too many organizations safety training is viewed as a separate standalone function.  But in reality, safety is nothing more than the beginning of the behavior change model.  The term “safety incentive” has become a pariah in some safety circles because of the negative focus that OSHA has put on it.  Unfortunately the incentive industry as well as safety professionals who lacked the understanding of how to properly implement a successful safety incentive program have given much credence to OSHAs concerns.  But it’s time to learn from the mistakes of the past and see safety incentives as a part of your safety culture…the part that will positively affect your entire safety program. 

The only way to use a safety incentive appropriately is when you actually reward people for doing things safely.  You have to have a system to ensure that any incentive is based on an actual change or sustaining safe work habits…nothing less. 

This paper on OSHA and Safety will clarify all the confusion surrounding safety incentives.  If you want to  create a behavioral safety program that will provide results at minimal cost, be completely OSHA compliant and can provide dramatic results you may want to review the ideas in this white paper. 

Marry the right safety incentive with your safety training and achieve your goals by changing one behavior at a time.  

For further information on our products or services please contact us at awardsafetyinfo@cox.net.  

The Power of Positive Thinking & Safety Culture

While Norman Vincent Peale (1998-1994) was a prolific writer, “The Power of Positive Thinking” was by far his most widely read work.  The book was first published in 1952. Now, over 60 years later, advances in cognitive psychology and neuroscience have added some scientific evidence to his theory. 

For years the phrase “positive thinking” was considered by many to be a soft and fluffy term that was easy to dismiss.  The workplace guru’s preferred the more intellectual terms of “work ethic” and “persistence,” or more recent, “employee engagement.”  We won’t attempt to explain the vast amount of research that has gone into this study, but do want to give you some of the conclusions drawn that are very interesting when it comes to understanding employee attitudes that have so much to do with employee performance.

These recent advances in cognitive psychology and neuroscience have shown, as the scientists say, “how our life’s ups and downs activate different neural circuits in the brain and create rapid changes in a range of important neurotransmitters.”  In other words changes in brain chemistry can alter how we think which then relates to how we feel and then how we behave.

Keeping a positive attitude and reducing work stress whenever possible can be critical in a safety environment.  Consider the following conclusions that were derived from a large meta-analysis combining the findings of over 225 academic studies on employees with a positive psychological wellbeing:

• They have on average 31% higher productivity  
• Are highly predictive to have long-term physical health
• Are less likely to have elevated levels of stress and stress related illness
• Avoid the anxiety that triggers depression

Negative emotions that are caused by fear, anger, stress, self-doubt etc closes our brain off from the outside world where positive emotions broaden the sense of possibility and opens our mind to more positive options. 

A recent Gallup survey reported that 70% of the US workforce is disengaged with their job. EHS Advisor in a recent survey relayed that over 90% of safety professionals felt that the lack of worker participation was the number one issue they faced on the job. 

While maintaining and fostering a positive attitude toward safe work performance may not be the answer to a great safety culture, it certainly will play an important part.

For more information on AwardSafety products or services or other white papers please contact us at awardsafetyinfo@cox.net.

Why & How to Involve Family in Your Safety Initiatives

This article in Safeopedia is about driving your company’s safety culture at home and worth the read.  Engaging the family is something we have recommended to clients for years, something we know that can be very effective when combined with the right safety award that the entire family can share.

The message is simple, don’t just focus your safety program on your employees, focus it also on their families.  While incidents of injuries are very harmful to the company, they can be devastating to the family.

In today’s world, everyone is connected.  People are not more than a text, tweet email or Facebook message away.  Keeping your employees actively involved in the safety rules of their performance means keeping their families actively involved as well.  You can use regular communications channels to bring the families into your safety culture. Monthly mailings, tweets and other social media can be used to great effect.  Find topics that are general in nature but tie into your safety values.  Many safety topics at work can apply to family and children as well. 

Communications is important in any safety culture.  Make sure you share safety information about the challenges their loved ones face on the job, and where feasible bring the family to an event that spotlights safety…such as safety fairs. When the family understands your issues they can be more supportive of the employee in their everyday work life.

If you are using any type of safety award to motivate safe performance in leading indicators, make sure the awards can be enjoyed by the family.  This is something we have been recommending to clients for years, it doesn’t cost you anymore and can be powerful motivator for them. 

When you include family…“you will have a whole army working to build and support your company’s safety culture”

For more information on AwardSafety products or services or other white papers please contact us at awardsafetyinfo@cox.net.

Compare Open & Closed Loop Safety Reward Cards

Companies purchasing gift cards for safety incentives often debate the advantages of purchasing and awarding open loop cards vs. closed loop gift cards.

Open loop payment cards are prepaid cards carrying the MasterCard, American Express, Discover, or Visa logo. These cards may be used like cash wherever credit cards are accepted.

Closed loop payment cards are those limited to a specific vendor and can only be spent at the merchant listed on the card.  Starbucks and Amazon gift cards, for example, are “closed” because they are only accepted at those specific merchants. 

At first glance, it appears that open loop cards are the best solution as they offer the widest range of purchasing options.  But before you make that decision, consider these open loop attributes:

n  Often impose a per card fee above the face value – can be as much as $5.95 per card;

n  Often expire and/or decline in value after 6 or 12 months if full balance is not used;

n  Often impose fees when the card is swiped, when you check your balance via customer service, and other situations included in the “fine print” on the card;

n  Often result in a decline at the merchant location if cardholder does not know the exact balance and the merchant cannot tell the cardholder how much remains on the card;

n  Can be confusing at checkout if the cardholder wants to use an additional method of payment for any outstanding balance on his/her purchase (i.e. a “split tender” transaction).

Closed loop merchant cards, while restricting the cardholder to a specific merchant, have no declining values and rarely impose expiration dates. In addition, the merchant can “read” the card and tell the cardholder the exact balance that remains.  The user experience is usually much smoother with closed loop cards than with open loop.

How about a solution that offers the best of both worlds? Award of Choice gives each recipient the open loop flexibility of hundreds of merchants with the ease of closed loop

gift card use. One Award of Choice opens the door to over 500 closed loop gift card brands including those that are requested most – WalMart, Target, Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, Costco, etc.  With no fees, no expirations, and no minimums, Award of Choice combines the best of closed loop and open loop cards -- offering hundreds of merchant choices, favorable economics, and a great user experience.

For more information on AwardSafety products or services or other white papers please contact us at awardsafetyinfo@cox.net