Reporting Employee Safety Program Success

Back in May I posted an entry on tracking and reporting employee award program results. Reporting is especially vital when it comes to safety award programs because even though managers realize safety in the workplace is imperative they are often confronted with time and budget constraints. Additionally, reporting allows safety program administrators to evaluate the safety program’s impact and popularity and adjust the program if necessary.

Safety award program reporting should cover a number of areas including accident statistics, safety program popularity and impact or progress. Reports should detail:

• The types of accidents and severity of accidents that have occurred in a given time period
• The time and day of the week accidents occurred
• Safety program participation rates versus the eligible workforce population (how many times have users logged in, spent points, etc
• The safety awards most commonly selected by participants
• How many safety points are awarded for what safety goal(s)
• How employees are spending the safety points they accrue (saving for a larger item/holiday gift or are they spending as soon as they receive them)
• Estimate of the return on investment of the safety award program

Safety reporting allows you to share and document the impact of the safety incentive program over time and I advise that program administrators evaluate the safety program’s success quarterly. Employers can utilize the opportunity to take corrective action throughout the year when evaluating the program this often.

In addition to sharing the results of the safety program with your budgetary committee and program administrators, sharing program results with employees is also important so they can see the success they have generated over time. Safety program results can be shared in an employee newsletter or company-wide email or memo. One of my clients even featured pictures of three top safety performers along with the number of safety points they had earned and spent on their safety award catalog cover.

As demonstrated, safety program reporting provides you with a wealth of information that will help to decide how the safety award program works in the future. Over the past 6 years, according to a recent statement by U.S. Secretary of Labor, workplace injury and illness rates are down 21 percent. Keep your workplace safe by reporting your safety award program success and presenting it to both management and participants regularly.