Bridge Consultants
8117 W. Manchester Ave., Suite 301
Playa Del Rey, CA 90293

Telephone: (310) 577-2226

Email: stevens@bridgeconsultants.net

"This is definitely one of the better business decisions I have made"

Michael Bennish, President, P & C Poultry

SAFETY INCENTIVE PROGRAMS

Nothing prevents injuries and claims as effectively as a well-designed safety incentive program.

Why?

Behavior. The vast majority of claims happen as a result of behavior, not unsafe work conditions.
And nothing changes behavior as effectively as a motivational safety program.

Don’t confuse us with bingo or scratch cards. Our program is comprehensive and hands-on, not a game or a gimmick. Our program is:

Customized for each client, based on industry, number of employees, and claim history
Based on safety and safe behavior-no gimmicks
Led every month by our safety professional
Entertaining and instructive
Bi-lingual

"For the first time, I feel we have really created a safety culture"

Charles Dao, HR Manager,
Kathy Ireland Home Fashions/ Arrow Industries

Healthy companies have fewer injuries and claims

One of the most difficult things for a company to create and maintain is positive morale. Companies that are able to accomplish it, tend to benefit in many ways, including fewer careless injuries, and fewer fraudulent claims. When the workforce is negative, and the attitude is influenced by a few negative employees, bad things happen.

Accountability and Appreciation

Every management survey reaches the same conclusion: more than anything else,employees at every level want to feel appreciated. That is a difficult task in labor-intense industries. It is exacerbated when the workforce is predominantly Hispanic, and some employees have difficulty speaking and understanding English. Communication can be a problem.

Our program is delivered in Spanish, or bilingually, by a safety professional who speaks their language, engages them, celebrates their safety, and makes them laugh. The employees participate, and the meetings become something they actually look forward to!

How many opportunities do you have to bring the employees who have the most difficult jobs together, deliver a serious message on safe behavior, and then celebrate that behavior in a meeting where there is applause, recognition, laughter, and positive feelings?

How do you implement accountability?
We accomplish it by reviewing the safety record every month. We review the injuries and near-misses, and discuss how they can be avoided, at the start of every meeting. When careless behavior leads to disqualifications, and fewer awards, there is accountability. Everyone has a responsibility to their fellow workers to stay safe, perform their jobs in a safe manner, and to be honest.

When you combine accountability with appreciation, you have accomplished the most difficult, and most significant achievement for a healthy and productive company. When employees are motivated, claims go down.

55% Reduction in Claims

Let’s get to the measurable results. Over the past two years, we have averaged a claim reduction of 55% in the first year, measured against the previous 12 months.

In 2004 we helped a client drop from 27 claims the prior year, to 3 in the next 12 months. Another client went from 20 claims to 4 claims. Neither company had a fraudulent claim.

Since we implemented our first program in 1994, we have learned a lot. We know what works and what doesn’t, when to change the design, and how. We know how to keep positive momentum going, and how to reverse the cycle, after a bad month.

Can you afford the time and money experimenting with an internal program, when there is a company that does it as their business?

Why Not Bingo or Scratch Cards?

It is hard to convince anyone of your seriousness if your solution is a bingo game. If your goal is to send a message to your employees that you care about their safety, doesn’t a bingo game, or a scratch card send the wrong message?

No games or gimmicks, no out-of-the-box programs. Ours is more personal, more fun, more effective.