By Bill Sims Jr.
Most safety managers in the trenches for any length of time have seen the negative effects of poorly designed safety incentive programs. These are the programs that only reward employees for reaching an injury-free milestones without changing underlying behavior.
Programs like these could lead you to conclude that all safety incentive programs are ineffective in creating a safer workplace. You might even believe they do just the opposite and actually encourage injury hiding. However, we have uncovered cases where injury hiding occurs without ANY incentive programs — leading us to a new understanding of injury hiding.
Consider the following story.
A certain non-profit organization builds houses for underprivileged people. The work is done by volunteers who receive support and housing from the organization. During a building campaign, the organization placed an emphasis on safety, establishing a goal of achieving 200,000 injury free hours. There was no incentive or recognition program involved because there was no budget for one. There was only this common safety goal, shared by 1,000 workers.
During the construction project a worker suffered a broken arm, had it reset at the infirmary and returned to work the next day so he wouldn’t blow the record for his crew.
The concerned safety staff placed him in a light duty assignment. But why did he return to work? The answer was he wasn’t trying to win a prize, he was trying to be a hero.
Human beings are goal oriented. We are taught that being a hero is admirable and that giving 110% when our bodies are functioning at only 50% is having “the right stuff.”
Newspapers are filled with stories of heroes – pulled from the sports arena, battle field and the like. Reporters can attest to their wide appeal among the general public. So is it any wonder then that We seek to imitate such heroic behaviors?
Human beings inherently want to be heroes. Often, the root cause of injury hiding may not involve an incentive at all, but a drive for recognition. Some employees want to be heroes and seek to establish themselves as the toughest guy on the crew — someone who can work through any pain or trauma.
We have heard of many employees who proudly show off a lost finger or hand. We’ve heard coworkers tell stories like, “… after his arm was cut off he picked it up with the other hand and walked to the ambulance.”
We are convinced that many behavioral safety experts have missed a major reason people hide their injuries in the work place. Being a hero and working “hurt” allows them to get needed recognition and positive affirmation from their peers.
Is it possible that employees might even fake or stage an injury, or even create one at home to gain that recognition? Sounds far-fetched, but perhaps some of the injuries employees “hide” result from trying to gain hero status after news of the injury “mysteriously” leaks out.
Numerous industry surveys have shown that employees rate the need for recognition as the number-one factor in job satisfaction, while money ranks a distant fifth. You may be surprised to learn that 73% of all employees report that they are not thanked or praised enough.
In work environments where employees are thanked and praised regularly for positive behaviors, responsible management is meeting that need for support and recognition. These environments don’t just “happen” – they are created with the help of a well-planned safety recognition program. Companies that cling to the misconception that, “a paycheck is recognition enough” have created a culture where employees will hide injuries to be a “hero” or “help” the team.
Regarding the ongoing debate of whether incentive programs lead to injury hiding or not, we would like to assert that yes they can — if misused or abused. (Keep in mind that there is a difference between incentive programs and recognition programs. The former focuses on prizes while the latter focuses on recognizing changes in behavior.)
Regardless of where you sit on the issue of injury hiding, I would caution that nobody is the master of human behavior. There are no easy answers or quick fixes. Anyone who supposes otherwise will always find himself proven wrong.