1.1. Outcome-and-behavior-based safety incentive program (OBBSIP)
principles
There are two principles in this program. The first principle was
the outcome-based approach where tiered incentives were given
based on safety performance, that is, the duration of accident free
period measured by from the last worker accident compensation
claim/s (WACC). The monetary incentive given should be small to
discourage report avoidance due to social pressure of teammates.
If the incentive is a large sum of money, teams may pressurize their
teammate not to report an accident so as the team would not be
disqualified and lose the incentive. Therefore, the incentive should
be some sum and viewed as a token, i.e. as a form of social
recognition for a team’s achievement (Hurst and Palya, 2003;
Fell-Carson, 2004). In this case, there were 3 tier incentives (i.e.
$20, $100, and $100) that were too small for an injured worker
to justify for not filing the WACC and for the teammates to socially
coerce the injured worker not to make the claim. Besides, there
was no guarantee that the teammates would get the Tier 1, Tier
2 and 3 rewards, as they would have to win the Bingo game in Tier
1 or have to be picked in random drawings in the Tiers 2 and 3. The
tiered incentives were based on Bateman and Ludwig’s (2004)
principle of setting multiple levels of achievable incentives, with
each one harder to attain than the previous. The principle was
tested and found effective in motivating behavior in a large industrial
distribution center. For the 1st tier, if all members in a small
team went a week without any WACC, the team stood a chance
to win an award in a Bingo game. The first tier should be achievable
with reasonable effort and the subsequent tiers would require
more effort. For the 2nd tier, if all teams in an area went a full
month without any WACC, then ten names were randomly drawn
for $100 gift certificates. For the 3rd tier, if all teams in an area
went a full 3 months without any WACC, then fifty names were
randomly drawn for $100 gift certificates. Table 1 summarizes
the details of the 3-tier incentives.