Why safety incentive programs matter

By Laura Ojeda Melchor|5 min read|Updated Oct 7, 2024

When the National Safety Council formed in 1913, workplace safety in the U.S. was practically nonexistent.

Children as young as four or five worked alongside adults in factories, mines, and mills. Like their adult co-workers, they routinely suffered serious injuries—and even death—while on the job. According the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ (BLS) 1913 data, the death rate for industrial workers was 60 deaths per 100,000 workers.

Compare that with BLS data from 2022—reporting 3.5 deaths per 100,000 workers—and you can see how far we’ve come.

There is a constellation of reasons why safety has improved, from the work of passionate, early-20th century advocates like Alice Hamilton and Crystal Eastman to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the 1970 Safety and Health Act (OSHA).

But safety incentive programs also play a role. Done right, they help employees feel motivated to follow the rules in place that keep us all safe at work.

There’s a flip side, though. Done wrong, safety incentive programs can discourage employees from reporting workplace injuries and suppress whistleblowers.

If you want to strengthen the culture of safety at your organization, you can do it with a well-thought-out safety incentive program. In this article, you’ll learn what makes a good safety incentive program and how to implement one at your workplace.

A safety incentive program is a workplace initiative that rewards employees for staying safe on the job.

There are three categories of safety programs:

Outcome-based incentives: Reward employees or teams for nailing specific safety goals, such as zero accidents or injuries within a specific number of days.
Behavior-based incentives: Reward employees for demonstrating safe behaviors and practices in the workplace.
Participation-based incentives: Reward employees for actively participating in safety training, meetings, and other safety-related activities.

We’re going to focus on behavior- and participation-based incentives here. Also known as rate-based incentives, outcome-based programs are less popular these days, and for good reason.

Here’s a quick breakdown. Rates-based initiatives reward employees for maintaining a low accident or injury rate. Sounds good, right? Who doesn’t want lower accident and injury rates?

But consider this story highlighted in a 2021 article published in the Safety+Health magazine. In the 1980s, reports author Alan Ferguson, a utility company worker injured his finger while on the job. Rather than report the injury to his boss, the employee fibbed and said he’d gotten hurt at home.

Why?

Because the employer was running a safety incentive program that rewarded employees if they didn’t get injured for X number of days. If the employee reported his injury, the whole team would lose the reward.

As Ferguson explains, “This can result in longer pain and suffering for the employee as well as increased claims costs for the company once the injury is reported. Essentially, instead of addressing the root cause of the problems, these programs may hide them.”

Under OSHA, programs that suppress reporting can be unlawful, as Section 11(c) of OSHA “prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee because the employee reports an injury or illness.”

Incentive programs that unintentionally discourage reporting can also unintentionally discriminate against whistleblowers.

Yikes. Of course, if you’re very careful, rates-based programs can work. But we want to focus on behavior- and participation-based programs instead.

But at this point, you might be wondering if your organization even needs a safety program.

We think most orgs can benefit from incentive programs done well.

Any organization with workplace safety risks can benefit from a safety incentive program.

But these programs are particularly useful for industries like manufacturing, construction, warehousing, transportation, healthcare, and oil and gas. Physical hazards are usually more prevalent in these industries.

That said, even offices and service-oriented businesses can benefit from these programs, because accidents can happen anytime, anywhere.

Many organizations choose to implement safety programs:

To address a high rate of workplace accidents or incidents
After observing compliance gaps or violations in safety standards
As part of a broader initiative to improve employee satisfaction and retention
In response to rising insurance or workers' compensation costs
As a post-incident measure to prevent future occurrences

These are mostly reactive reasons, though, and the best time time to create an incentive program to drive safety is before accidents happen. Regardless of when you implement it, the core goals of safety incentive programs are to:

Reduce workplace accidents: Safety programs help prevent accidents by encouraging employees to pay close attention to safety practices.
Drive employee engagement: When employees are rewarded for their contributions to safety—including blowing the whistle on potential hazards—they’re more likely to stay engaged in the entire process of keeping everyone safe.
Improve compliance with safety standards: Safety programs that offer incentives for following regulations help ensure employees stick to safety rules and standards, like those set by OSHA.
Lower costs: Fewer accidents mean fewer claims, which leads to lower workers' compensation costs and insurance premiums. Plus, with fewer injuries, you’ll avoid the productivity loss that comes when employees are out due to injury.
Promote a positive safety culture: A good safety incentive program helps build a workplace where safety is second nature. The goal is to create a culture where everyone looks out for each other. Safety becomes a shared priority that benefits everyone on the team.

If your company or organization wants to accomplish one or all of these goals, it’s time to design a safety incentive initiative.

Building a complete safety incentive program takes time, thought, and careful planning. We’ve put together a step-by-step guide to help you start one at your current workplace.

Start by evaluating where your workplace stands when it comes to safety. Review past incidents, accident reports, and any other areas with frequent safety violations. Talk to employees to gather feedback on what concerns they have and what risks they encounter day-to-day.

This is a great place to establish a culture of appreciating and addressing concerns instead of inadvertently suppressing them. Take careful notes and revisit them after each interview. Do you see any patterns? Any common concerns employees have? Anything that stands out as particularly troubling?

These are the areas where a safety incentive program can make the biggest impact.

The success of your program hinges on setting measurable goals that focus on preventing accidents rather than just tracking incident rates. So instead of emphasizing something like a 10% decrease in reported accidents, or going 50 days accident-free, cultivate proactive safety behaviors.

Set goals around actions that directly contribute to a safer environment. This could mean:

Increasing the frequency of safety audits
Ensuring consistent use of personal protective equipment (PPE)
Achieving 100% participation in safety training.
Identifying potential hazards during routine inspections
Reporting near-misses so they can be analyzed
Achieving specific milestones related to safety education

Focusing your safety incentive program on actions that lead to prevention—rather than just improved outcomes—means your program will encourage employees to create a safer workplace. Without the fear of losing a reward or getting roasted by their peers for ruining it, to boot.

And as a result, there will be fewer accidents—and therefore fewer incident reports.

It’s a win-win.

Since we’re headed away from objective-based incentives, let's talk about what behavior- and participation-based incentives you can use for your safety program.

Behavior-based incentives reward individuals or teams for consistently following safety protocols, such as wearing protective gear or following equipment safety rules. These incentives encourage employees to weave safe habits into their daily routines.
Participation-based incentives, on the other hand, reward involvement in safety activities, like attending safety meetings, completing training sessions, or alerting management to potential hazards. These incentives can nourish a culture where employees see safety as a shared responsibility.

Incentives can range from small, immediate rewards like gift cards, to larger rewards like bonuses.

If you’re tempted to skip the more valuable incentives and go with a standard office pizza party, just google that phrase. Yep, just “Office pizza party.” We’ll wait.

An incentive must be valuable enough to help motivate your crew. If you're concerned about the cost of these incentives, here's the thing: a strong and supportive safety culture means fewer accidents.

Fewer accidents and injuries means fewer insurance and short-term disability payout costs.

Which means you’ll have enough spare cash to give a meaningful reward and throw a pizza party.

The next step is to establish clear criteria for what will result in employees earning an incentive.

Here’s an example of how you can do it.

A. Define the Focus Areas

Start by identifying key areas of focus that align with your organization's specific safety goals. These can include:

Hazard identification and reporting: Encourage employees to regularly spot and report potential dangers before they lead to accidents.
Active participation in safety activities: Reward employees for engaging in safety audits, training, and inspections.
Near-miss reporting: Motivate workers to report incidents that could have led to an accident, which can help your company learn and take corrective action.
Continuous safety improvement: Reward employees for proposing actionable ideas that improve safety procedures, workflow, or equipment maintenance.

These focus areas should be relevant to the types of risks and safety challenges your organization faces.

B. Set Measurable Criteria

It should be easy for employees to understand how to earn incentives in your safety program. Here's what this could look like for each key area of your program:

Hazard Identification and Reporting:

Reward employees for submitting hazard reports (e.g., $10 gift card for each verified report).
Create a tiered reward system: the more hazards identified, the higher the reward. For example:
5 hazards reported = Bronze reward
10 hazards reported = Silver reward
15 hazards reported = Gold reward

Participation in Safety Audits and Inspections:

Incentivize employees who volunteer or are selected to participate in safety audits with recognition and small rewards.
Create a points system where employees earn points for each audit or inspection they participate in, with cumulative points redeemable for larger rewards like a bonus or extra time off.

Near-Miss Reporting:

Provide a reward (for instance, a quarterly gift card or cash bonus) for employees who report near-misses.
Offer additional rewards for suggestions on how to prevent the near-miss from happening again—especially if you end up implementing the solution.

Contributing Safety Ideas:

Develop a "Safety Idea of the Month" initiative where employees submit suggestions for improving workplace safety. The best idea could receive a bonus, public recognition, or a special prize.
If an idea leads to a significant improvement or cost-saving measure, provide a larger reward, such as a paid day off or monetary bonus.

Completing Regular Safety Checklists:

Reward employees for consistently completing and submitting daily, weekly, or monthly safety checklists. For example, employees who turn in completed checklists for a full quarter might receive a gift card or monetary reward.

C. Define Reward Frequency and Value

Determine how often rewards will be distributed and what their value will be. Rewards should be frequent enough to maintain motivation but meaningful enough to reinforce desired safety behaviors. You could implement:

Immediate rewards for completing tasks like submitting a hazard report or participating in an audit (e.g., small gift cards).
Monthly or quarterly rewards for top-performing employees who consistently meet preventive safety goals (larger gift cards, bonuses, or extra paid time off).
Annual rewards for employees who go above and beyond in promoting workplace safety, like "Employee of the Year" or team-based rewards for departments that show the greatest improvements in safety culture.

D. Focus on Accountability

Make sure the rules and criteria are transparent and that employees can easily track their progress. Try:

Leaderboards that publicly display top safety performers, which can also help boost friendly competition.
Regular updates through email, newsletters, or bulletin boards to share how employees or teams are contributing to the program’s success.
Supervisors’ involvement: Managers or supervisors should be trained to monitor participation, provide feedback, and make sure rewards are distributed fairly and consistently.

The last—but still very important step—is to monitor the program’s progress and ask for feedback from employees. Adjust the criteria or focus areas as needed to keep the program effective.

For instance, if you notice that hazard reporting is high but near-miss reporting is low, you could adjust the rewards to place more emphasis on encouraging near-miss reporting. Or, if employees say it takes too long, and too many hazard or near-miss reports to earn meaningful rewards, you might need to rethink your reward criteria and incentives.

Once the program feels steady, you can do quarterly checks to make sure it’s running like it should.

Over time, your safety incentive program's focus on prevention will naturally lead to fewer incidents and a stronger safety culture.

The simplest way to send sales incentives is with Tremendous. With over 2,000 reward options — including popular gift cards, prepaid Visa cards, and monetary transfers — you can satisfy every employee's preference and ensure that they’re always getting the perfect incentive.

Plus, our rewards catalog covers over 200 countries and territories, so you can incentivize employees around the world.

With Tremendous, you can send thousands of incentives in minutes and track payouts in real-time. We handle all the logistics, from automated W9 collection to expert support for your recipients. Instead of fielding questions from sales reps, you can focus on strategies for continued growth.

Chat with our team today to learn more about how Tremendous can make your safety incentives program as easy and effective as possible.