By Bill Sims Jr.

It was about 2:30 p.m. and I had just finished a speaking assignment for the Tarheel Safety Chapter in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are a lively group of safety professionals who asked me to come and speak about behavior change, which I did. While there I learned a lot about some changes coming down the pipeline from OSHA, from my new BFF, Bob, with OSHA (more on that later).

After the meeting, I packed up my computer and projector and put them in the trunk of my car, sliding into the front seat. As I’ve done a million times before, I put the key in the switch and turned it to the right, convinced in my mind that I was about to hear that good old V8 rumble to life, one of my top ten favorite PICs in life.

Given the potential for under-reporting and the other negative effects associated with payment schemes based on outcome measures and the lack of evidence of value from them, we recommend that such schemes should not be used in the industry.” This conclusion stated in the Digging Deeper Report regarding mine safety for the New South Wales (NSW) Mine Safety Advisory Council (MSAC), in Australia, at first glance may indicate that safety incentive programs have received a bad grade, but not so! On the contrary, the extensively researched report, that examined all sectors of the NSW mining industry, recommends the primary components of a behavior-based safety incentive process: worker participation in setting goals, management involvement, and recognition of safe behaviors that lead to safe results.

I wanted to add some factual evidence to your story about the positive reinforcement that went on in the company you spoke about where the man reached into a moving machine over a safety sign that said do not reach into moving equipment and his arm was caught and his manager called him dumb--yet his negative behavior was being supported through productivity goals.

This exact thing happened at my last job and was one of the reasons I quit. I worked for a manufacturer and was hired because of my safety background, was appointed as the safety meeting leader and was in charge of work comp and other HR and payroll. I did make a small difference in the way the safety meetings were designed, but that was about it. I changed the format a little as a first step.

We had two reportable accidents in the year I was there. The one that pertains here is where a male supervisor who had been with the company probably over 10 years stuck his hand into a moving machine to add a piece of tape to a board that was being routed, his little finger was nearly cut off--he had surgery and was expected to return to work. My take on this was that he had done this many, many times although there is a sign on the machine that states not to do that...I think he was comfortable in sticking his hand in the machine, but this last time he was caught. Production was important and productivity curves were posted in the lunchroom every week, people were also being laid off due to the recession and common scenario, when the company struggles accidents increase, our company was text book on what you teach.

This accident was troubling, I would not wish that on anyone, but the most troubling aspect of this accident was that when the man was released to come back to work without restrictions, light duty was not offered, he was off for probably 12-14 weeks, I was told, as I did payroll, that he was going to be suspended for three days without pay for not following the safety rules because he was a supervisor and was paid a higher salary and knew better than to stick his hand in a moving machine. So, not only did he almost loose a finger, he was going to be further punished by the company for not following safety rules, when in fact as you say, management was allowing him to operate his equipment this way due to emphasis on productivity. I could not believe my ears when I heard he was going to be penalized without pay. You may use this story if you want to, I am no longer affiliated with that company.

Needless to say, this is one reason I chose to pursue different employment, I knew that company would never understand positive reinforcement, so I was impressed with what you said in your presentation that certain behaviors are reinforced when we actually do not want them to be.

Thank you,

(Name withheld upon request)
Workers' Compensation
& Safety Specialist

Aubrey Daniels wites:

"Employee engagement is one of the latest topics to make headlines in today’s strained economy.  Just last week, CNNMoney.com (Less Pay. More Hours. Unhappy Workers.) reported that many American workers have admitted to doing the bare minimum to keep from getting fired.   Unfortunately morale isn’t the only thing affected by just getting by; productivity also declines.  To further the point, in a survey by the Workforce Institute at Kronos, 40% of those surveyed report that productivity has been negatively impacted and of those, another two-thirds admit that employees are less motivated then before."