Surprising Incentive: An Instrument for Promoting Safety Performance of Construction Employees

BACKGROUND: In comparison with other industries, the construction industry still has a higher rate of fatal injuries, and thus, there is a need to apply new and innovative approaches for preventing accidents and promoting safe conditions at construction sites. METHODS: In this study, the effectiveness of a new incentive system-the surprising incentive system-was assessed. One year after the implementation of this new incentive system, behavioral changes of employees with respect to seven types of activities were observed. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that there is a significant relationship between the new incentive system and the safety performance of frontline employees. The new incentive system had a greater positive impact in the first 6 months since its implementation. In the long term, however, safety performance experienced a gradual reduction. Based on previous studies, all activities selected in this study are important indicators of the safety conditions at workplaces. However, there is a need for a comprehensive and simple-to-apply tool for assessing frontline employees' safety performance. Shortening the intervals between incentives is more effective in promoting safety performance. CONCLUSION: The results of this study proved that the surprising incentive would improve the employees' safety performance just in the short term because the surprising value of the incentives dwindle over time. For this reason and to maintain the surprising value of the incentive system, the amount and types of incentives need to be evaluated and modified annually or biannually.

Framework for Continuous Assessment and Improvement of Occupational Health and Safety Issues in Construction Companies

BACKGROUND: Construction industry is among the most hazardous industries, and needs a comprehensive and simple-to-administer tool to continuously assess and promote its health and safety performance. METHODS: Through the study of various standard systems (mainly Health, Safety, and Environment Management System; Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series 180001; and British Standard, occupational health and safety management systems-Guide 8800), seven main elements were determined for the desired framework, and then, by reviewing literature, factors affecting these main elements were determined. The relative importance of each element and its related factors was calculated at organizational and project levels. The provided framework was then implemented in three construction companies, and results were compared together. RESULTS: The results of the study show that the relative importance of the main elements and their related factors differ between organizational and project levels: leadership and commitment are the most important elements at the organization level, whereas risk assessment and management are most important at the project level. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that the framework is easy to administer, and by interpreting the results, the main factors leading to the present condition of companies can be determined.

intervention for the promotion of supervisor's incidents reporting process: the case of a steel company

The analysis of incidents is one way of increasing safety in workplaces. In this approach, the process of preparing exact and scientific report is a critical step. The aim of this paper was to describe an intervention supporting the improvement of supervisors' participation to report all occurred incidents. In this study, Future Workshop method was used with 44 supervisors in TAB Steel Company, Tabriz, Iran. In each subject, 11 supervisors were participated in four small groups, which they normally worked. In the Critique phase, the 4 teams reported 126 problems in the incident report process. During the fantasy phase, the teams produced 727 suggestions to solve the problems. Then, the supervisors made decisions on 35 commitments to change their incident reporting behaviors. Finally, in the implementation phase the number of reported incidents increased by 79.4% during the 1-year follow-up period. The discussion method used in Japan, Finland, and Sweden was also successfully implemented in Iran, and the process raised a great number of problems and suggestions related to supervisor's incident reporting process. Creating and maintaining the proper communicational canals among supervisors and the managers of safety and health unit are the suggestions, which have been presented to increase the amount of partnership

Evaluation of relationship between job stress and unsafe acts with occupational accident rates in a vehicle manufacturing in Iran

Nowadays, occupational accidents are one of the most important problems in developing countries. Job stress and unsafe acts have been also recognized as effective factors in increasing the risk of occupational accidents. The main goal of this research was to evaluate the relationship between job stress and unsafe acts with occupational accidents. This study was performed on 195 employees in Pars Khodro industry in 2007. Safety behavior sampling technique and standardized job stress questionnaire were used in current research. The information was then analyzed using SPSS and statistic tests. According to findings of job stress questionnaire 88 percent of workers were at level of high stress. Accidents at work were associated with job stress and unsafe acts. There was also a significant relationship between job stress and unsafe acts [p< 0.05]. The regression logistic test showed that 1% increase in the rate of unsafe practice had a higher impact on the number of accidents than a 1% increase in job-related stress. Therefore, based on the degree of change in these two variables, it is possible to predict the number of accidents in an organization. Reducing or eliminating identified effective stress factors and decreasing unsafe acts have been suggested to control the consequences of accidents. To achieve this, implementing behavior based safety principles can be an effective measure