Safety awards program ideas

Rewarding people who take the wheel on such endeavors is a great way to encourage more strong, positive collaboration. This is similar to "employee of the month" awards, but it recognizes the people who represent the best their individual departments have to offer.

Whether that's human resources, sales, production or even janitorial staff, hard work deserves to be recognized and rewarded no matter who does it. Determining who these MVPs are could help you whittle down the field for that top weekly, monthly or annual prize, as well.

Working with department heads who will already have a strong grasp on performance management will allow you to identify the best candidates. While it's a great idea to reward your top performers for obvious reasons, there's also a clear purpose behind recognizing the people who put in the extra effort to take their game to another level.

Whether attempts to improve as an employee come in the form of redoubling efforts to buckle down and tackle big projects, or because the person sought additional training or certification to really excel in their chosen area of focus, companies should recognize such initiative for the invaluable addition it can represent for an office. While many managers often take it upon themselves to tackle the job of trying to motivate employees , that shouldn't be seen as solely their responsibility.

In many cases, an employee who works well with others and positively contributes to the company culture overall deserves to be recognized. With that in mind, it's a good idea to ask around for nominations, either formally - through a suggestion box or online form - or informally via normal conversation. The idea that this award was given to the winner after careful deliberation among their coworkers, rather than supervisors, could make it all the more meaningful.

Peer recognition often feels great because you know it's people you work with every day seeing what you do and saying, "That represents the best of us. Just as there are many different kinds of creativity, there are many different avenues where you can take an award for creativity. For instance, you could recognize someone who came up with a unique, creative solution to a problem that had been tough for a department to tackle, as their contribution may have unlocked a previously unexplored area for growth.

Likewise, you could take creativity in a way that's a little more straightforward to recognize an employee who was the driving force behind a great real-world advertising or social media campaign that helped improve your bottom line.

Don't feel you have to marry yourself to one type of creativity to have a great award of this type. Every manager likes an employee who goes the extra mile to get something done, helps a coworker with a problem or takes on special projects on a regular basis. For companies where workplace hazards are common, it's important to keep a strong safety record so you don't deal with workplace injuries or have to shut down operations.

With that in mind, incentivizing safety - and rewarding the employees who are often the best at upholding those standards - may go a long way toward ensuring all due caution is taken with any work-related task.

Workplace safety around hazardous materials or equipment isn't always easy to uphold, so it's critical to recognize those who excel at it, and also keep a watchful eye out for areas that could present a risk to themselves or coworkers. Employees in customer service roles are the front line between your organization and the public. They are your brand and are a representation of how your customers feel about your company.

Rewarding customer service individuals with titles that exemplify their gifts will show them how much they are valued. BMWC Constructors is a general contractor that performs multi-million dollar capital projects, maintenance services, and more for the petrochemical, refining, biotechnology, healthcare, manufacturing, and food processing industries.

Aisin Chemical Indiana, LLC, developed a risk analysis program that teaches employees the skills they need to assess risk in their operations, allowing for better prioritization of safety measures. The program has also increased worker productivity. Westech Bulding Products , which produces approximately 35 million pounds of PVC fence and decking each year, altered its method of cutting extruded PVC to length.

The new system removed nearly all plastic dust from the process, lowered noise levels in the facility, and reduced laceration hazards because employees are no longer required to interact with a sharp saw blade. Closure Systems International, Inc. Company employees participate in a minimum of three protective activities each month on topics including hazard recognition, employee behavior, and safety and health compliance observations.

In addition, the company has created a program it calls "Take a Minute Be Safe," which asks employees to think through seven safety-related questions before beginning a task.

MacLellan Integrated Services provides water and dry ice blasting services for the automotive industry. An improved safety training program requires employees involved in blasting to wear an indicator showing their current level of training on their hard hat at all times.

Since the new program was implemented, there have been no injuries. Since employers are required to comply with standards maintained and enforced by the Occupational Safety and Health Administartion OSHA , safety incentive programs can be used to highlight certain areas of OSHA regulations to encourage employees to follow these practices. Incentivizing the standards that relate to the equipment and type of work employees perform benefits everyone in the workplace. Here are some ideas to help you initiate a safety incentive program at your workplace:.

Consider using outside safety consultants. Hiring a consulting firm can help you assess your safety needs and plan for ways to encourage employees to prioritize safety. Firms that specialize in safety consulting may provide the clearest picture of your company culture. Use incentives that aren't monetary-based. Using cash prizes can prove challenging both from budget concerns and employee tax liabilities. Consider using gift cards as an alternative. Offer both rewards and recognition. Employees can benefit from praise and tangible rewards.

Consider giving both as part of your program. Create incentives that target your most-needed areas. Analyze your workplace culture and determine what safety measures need the most focus. Look for ways to encourage team members who would benefit the most from improved safety standards. Set high standards for safety incentives. Because safety should already be a part of daily work requirements, an incentive program works most effectively to reward behaviors that exceed expectations.

Consider making goals team related so employees work together to surpass safety protocols. Use a safety incentive program to complement, not replace a safety program. Safety incentives should be used in addition to a policy that is already in place for employees.

An incentive recognizes the high standards that guide employee safety in the workplace. Make reporting a priority. Even during a safety incentive, make it clear to employees that the top priority is still to identify safety hazards and report any accidents that occur at the workplace.

Consider adding leveled rewards based on the lowest number of incidents but still allowing for reporting of any occurrences. Reward employees on a regular and timely basis. When starting a safety incentive initiative, it's important to give rewards regularly over a predetermined period.

Breaking measures into monthly or quarterly initiatives can help maintain interest in a safety incentive program.

Here are some examples of safety incentives you can implement in the workplace to encourage employees to exceed safety standards:. One way to encourage safety in the workplace is to offer time off as a prize for extended periods of incident-free workdays.