And dealers shouldn’t look at safety programs as just another expense, Koons says. In fact, companies that make a commitment to safety programs can expect a 3-to-1 return on their investment, in lower workers’ compensation insurance rates, higher production, and higher morale. “If safety is done right, it never costs you a cent …,” he explains. “It’s like buying a truck-load of 2x4s and selling it. If you know how to put together a safety program, you’ll make money off of it.”
Hildebrand confirms that the bottom-line results can be massive. Since 1998 when Universal Forest Products began to strengthen its safety culture and hold employees accountable for a safe work environment, the company has experienced annual, double-digit reductions in frequency of OSHA-recordable accidents. Even further, from the first quarter of 2004 to the same period in 2005 alone, the drop was a stunning 45 percent. That phenomenal improvement was the result of a “Good to Great” corporate strategy initiated by president and COO Mike Glenn, Hildebrand says. The strategy focuses on operational improvements, with bonuses determined by performance on each of 12 key measures, including safety. “It supports the old saying that what gets measured gets managed,” she says.
To drive home the impact, Hildebrand translated the statistics into language everyone could understand: Less injured people. Lots of them. In 2004 the number of injuries declined by 262, compared to the previous year, she says. “It goes back to that personal way of looking at it. It’s not just a percentage. It’s 262 people.”
Omaha, Neb.–based Millard Lumber also is making safety an ingrained part of its corporate culture and values. The dealer had a written safety program and followed OSHA requirements, but decided about two years ago to take a more proactive approach to help reduce its insurance costs and liability risk as the company added installed framing to its list of services, says vice president and CFO David Anderson. “I wasn’t comfortable that we were [going to be] geared to address the risk,” he says.
As a result, the company, which has 330 employees, created a full-time position of safety director and is taking advantage of jobsite safety certification training available from its local National Safety Council office. Millard Lumber’s safety training starts with Tier 1 and Tier 2 training within the first 90 days of a new employee’s hiring date. Tier 1 training, such as severe weather procedures and personal protective equipment, is required for all employees. Tier 2 training is job-specific, such as forklift training or hazardous materials handling. Online tests provide a record for OSHA and insurers that all employees have been trained and understand what’s expected of them.
The company’s safety committee, made up of employees from various departments, organizes regular training sessions geared toward addressing any trends they see in workers’ comp claims, such as back injuries from improper lifting or ankle injuries from jumping off trucks. Those individuals also perform safety inspections, are trained in CPR, and are designated first responders for accidents.
Rewarding a Job Done Safely Incentives are a great way to motivate employees to create a safe workplace, but they can be tricky, and one size certainly doesn’t fit all. The idea is to design incentives that incorporate both personal responsibility and departmental cooperation, and tailor the incentives to the interests of your staff.
Hildebrand, for example, says she’s found that incentives work best if she gives each division a budget and lets them design their own. The company’s North Carolina division developed a program with a NASCAR theme that offered race tickets as rewards. In Texas, the regional vice president got great results by giving away a pickup truck at each of its eight locations. If the location went an entire year without a recordable loss-time injury, held safety meetings, and met other requirements, every employee who had been there at least six months got his or her name put into a raffle for the truck.
But you don’t have to shell out cash or a truck to get employees excited about safety, says Mimi Wagner with Dublin, Ohio–based Rea & Associates, a human resources and safety consulting firm with experience in construction and manufacturing. You can ask vendors to donate tools your employees would appreciate and award them during a staff meeting to provide recognition. A company jacket with a patch recognizing their safety record, a letter from the president, a premium parking space, restaurant gift certificates, or tickets to a nearby amusement park or a sporting event are all low-cost ways to recognize employees for a good safety record.
Hildebrand also points out that incentives don’t drive a safety program. “What motivates [employees] is that this is important to them and their coworkers,” she says. “We tell them, ‘We want you to go home the way you came—with a little more money in your pocket and as healthy as when you got here.’ This is a way to say thank you. I think businesses miss that, giving away a cruise or a truck, thinking that will change people overnight.”
