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Construction safety - Employers providing incentives for safety

By Megan Roth

Remember learning about Pavlov's response? Let me refresh your memory: the dog was conditioned to respond in a 'do something and be rewarded' sort of way. This conditioned response works well for children, too; if they know there's something in it for them, they'll do as they're told. So we provide a treat - a little something to encourage their good behavior.

In the construction industry, adults are being treated in essentially the same manner. Workers are receiving benefits for maintaining a safe work environment; many employers and other agencies are offering incentives for workers who make efforts to ensure safe, secure working conditions. In addition, many are even customizing their programs.

Often times, such programs offer incentives on a point-basis (similar to that used in my mother's first-grade classroom). How's it happen? Construction workers in such programs earn points for implementing and maintaining safety measures in the work environment; here it's important to note the fact that these points are awarded on an individual basis rather than to a group of workers as a whole. These points accrue over time and, at the employees discretion, may be 'cashed in.' But what, exactly, do the workers win?

This is dependent on the flexibility of the employer. Some employers offer cash incentives, some allow workers to 'purchase' equipment or other supplies from a catalogue, and some even allow the points to accrue for additional vacation days. In general, incentives are based on the specific group of workers they are tailored to.

Take Alliant Energy, for example. It's incentive program for new construction provides energy assistance and money-saving tactics for Iowa farmers who are working to construct an energy-efficient business from the ground up. Granted, this isn't exactly what we think of when it comes to 'construction'; however, the incentives are intended to reduce the cost of energy during construction and operation.

Organizations such as Alliant often offer these programs because they figure they don't cost much to operate and they are much, much better than the alternative.

The effectiveness of such incentive programs has been evaluated by OSHA, which has found that, like many rewards programs, the program loses effect over time. But hey - we figure that by improving safety precautions even for just a short period of time reduces risks and may be responsible for saving a life. Seems worth the risk to us...

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Megan Roth

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on July 14, 2008 (boomark / email).