Safety Spotlight
Safety Incentives Stimulate Safe Practices W
Within the first month Morgan Asphalt, Salt Lake City, started a safety incentive program, the company recognized three team members who went above and beyond to be safe on the job. Will Polatis, a paving foreman at Morgan, called and had signs brought to a job site for overhead power lines before the crew started on the project. Fisilau Latanoa, one of the company’s drivers, stopped a new driver from running over a fresh concrete curb and showed the driver how to avoid that situation in the future. And Tony Bundy dug a trench with perfect angles and slopes, and frequent ramps for co-workers to get in and out safely. Each of the three employees received a $50 gift card and will be entered into a $1,000 drawing at the end of the year. “We wanted to establish a program that rewards live, real-time behavior,” Safety Manager Jake Ward said. “People who have rewarded lagging indicators tend to find that it leads to people not reporting incidents.”
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, lagging indicators measure the occurrence and frequency of events that occurred in the past, such as the number or rate of injuries, illnesses, and fatalities. Earlier in his career, Ward experienced an incentive program based on lagging indicators firsthand when the company for which he worked gave away a $1,000 gift card for a year without a loss-time incident. “Low and behold, we got what we wanted: no loss time accidents that year,” Ward said. It was only later that the company learned about a fairly significant injury that went unreported to keep the reward on the table. “You have to be careful not to give people an incentive to hide injuries and incidents.” That’s why Morgan opted for a proactive approach. “We’re specifically looking to correct known issues,” Ward said. “Every company has 10 things that are constantly recurring, and most of them are behavior based.” For example, Morgan has long asked its employees to help one another back around obstacles. “That’s not a new expectation, but it isn’t being practiced regularly,” Ward said. Each of the three nominations within the first month illustrated consistent problems for the company. “Now that we’ve put that reward out there, we’re seeing some more traction on our expectations.”
SAFETY INCENTIVES IN ACTION
Morgan was cautious when establishing its safety incentive program that it didn’t come across as “managers handing out gold stars,” Ward said. Instead, the company encourages peers to nominate one another simply by sending an email to management with a photo and description of what their co-worker did to promote a culture of safety.
10 // September 2021
Will Polatis, a paving foreman at Morgan, called and had signs brought to a job site for overhead power lines before the crew started on the project.
“People who have rewarded lagging indicators tend to find that it leads to people not reporting incidents.” —Jake Ward
