How Effectively Safety Incentives Work? A Randomized Experimental Investigation

Abstract

Background Incentive and penalty (I/P) programs are commonly used to increase employees' safety outcomes, but its influence on employees' safety outcomes is under-investigated. Moreover, under developed economies lack safety culture and there is dearth of literature focusing on empirical studies over there [1]. Based on these gaps, this study attempts to see the impact of I/P programs on safety outcomes in a developing country. Methods The study was carried out in three stages, where Stage I revealed that selected 45 organizations were deficit of safety culture and practices, while only three firms were found good at safety practices. At Stage II, these three firms were divided in two clusters (groups), and were probed further at Stage III. At this stage group, one was manipulated by providing incentives (experimental group) and employees' responses in terms of safety motivation and performance were noticed. Results It was observed that the experimental group's safety motivation and performance had improved (both for immediate and 1-month later performance). The results were further probed at Phase 3 (after 3 months), where it was found that the benefits of I/P programs were not long lasting and started replenishing. Conclusion Findings of the study helped researchers conclude that safety incentives have only short-term influence on safety outcomes, while a long-term and permanent solution should be found.

A qualitative study of the reasons for low patient safety incident reporting among Indonesian nurses

“…Consequently, the staff makes no positive changes ( 45 ) . On the other hand, a randomized experimental study found that incentives impact motivation for safety reporting but are not used over the long term because salary increases to improve safety culture have a short-term impact ( 49 ) .…”

Influencing sub-contracted operatives' attitudes and behaviours towards improved health and safety culture in construction

“…An easier tactic might be to introduce a safety employee of the month as an ego boost because this is generally better than nagging where an operative will shut off (Leathley, 2016). Offering time in lieu of an extra day holiday for coming up with good safety incentives or consistent, safe behaviour was considered a commendable reward and was reiterated by Ahmed and Faheem (2021) that incentive and penalty (I/P) programs are commonly used to increase employees' safety good behaviour.…”

A Qualitative Study on Nurses’ Experiences of Reporting Patient Safety Incidents in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

“…In a safety culture, people are rewarded for improving safety, either as individuals or team members. A study conducted by Ahmed and Faheem (2021) showed that incentives affect motivation to carry out safety reporting but are not applied in the long term because salary to improve safety culture is only effective in the short term. The organization needs to establish an appropriate approach to enhance the continuous reporting of safety incidents over a long period.…”