Below are the first 10 and last 10 pages of uncorrected machine-read text (when available) of this chapter, followed by the top 30 algorithmically extracted key phrases from the chapter as a whole.
Intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text on the opening pages of each chapter. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Do not use for reproduction, copying, pasting, or reading; exclusively for search engines.

OCR for page 18
19 Safety Incentives and Rewards vice Recognition Program promotes customer safety and satisfaction with yearly awards. Our Safe Driving A safety incentive program can enhance and foster improve- Awards Program gives yearly pins to drivers who have ments to established safety programs. They serve as a mech- not been in a preventable accident. anism to help build cooperation and commitment among · We provide safety pins for years of service without employees, management, and organized labor. However, the preventable accidents. main goal of any employee safety incentive program is to · We have an annual Safety Pin Program that recognizes increase employee awareness of safety issues and encourage drivers who are accident-free. We also hold a bus roadeo additional attention to safe behaviors, rather than focus on each year for all drivers who have not been involved in a the incentives or rewards. preventable accident. · Safe driver awards are presented to those operators who perform accident-free for a year; safe worker awards go Organization Reward Practices for Safety to those maintenance employees who are accident-free for a year. Survey respondents were asked if their agencies offered indi- · Operators need to work a certain number of hours and vidual or group incentives and rewards programs designed to be accident-free. improve safety performance. As shown in Figure 13, more · Each supervisor has the ability to recognize any employee than 85% of the agencies indicated that they employed indi- for any reason--including safety-related incidents. There vidual or group incentive and rewards programs. is also a Peer-to-Peer program through which employees may recognize each other for performance or safety areas. Consolidated Open Ended Responses: There is also a program called Rising Stars which rec- ognizes improved work performance. We have several · System safety keeps track of employee's performance, specific recognition programs based on performance and/ including absenteeism, miss-outs, and accidents. Once it or safety goals that are awarded on a quarterly or annual is determined that an employee is eligible for an award, basis. These programs can be tailored to fit the changing system safety usually issues a certificate or a special goals and needs of the business unit. award ranging from $100 to $1,500. · We apply the National Safety Council program: transit · Board periodically has safety and customer service com- operators receive a recognition award for each success- petitions between six major corridor reporting locations. ful year of safe driving supplemented by our agency's The reporting location with the fewest collisions wins, as "incentive" awards, which feature special recognition. does the location with fewest customer complaints. · We award yearly safety certificates and safety pins. We · We offer safe driving pins for years of safe driving. also designate one day (usually in May) to recognize our The agency used to give savings bonds, but budget safe operators with coffee and doughnuts in the morning cuts eliminated them. and pizza, subs, and beverages in the afternoon. We also · The agency names a driver of the month and year. Also, hang up a poster with the names of the operators and the safety pins are awarded based on safe miles driven. number of their safe driving years. · We have implemented a number of incentive programs · Operators are recognized each year with a safe driving to promote safety at our contractors. Our Customer Ser- lapel pin. FIGURE 13 Use of incentive reward programs.

OCR for page 18
20 · In the Lost Time Program, the department qualifies cies indicated they employed both ongoing and time-limited (100 days, 200 days, 300 days, or 365 days per fiscal incentive and reward programs (see Figure 14). There is a year) by not having any on-duty injuries resulting in days common belief among some in the transit industry that ongo- off on workman's compensation. Operators qualify for ing "incentive" programs become "status quo" and lose their the Safe Driver Award with no preventable accidents and effectiveness as motivators. 90% attendance for the year. This award is cumulative. · There is an annual safety banquet. Operators and main- Consolidated Open Ended Responses: tenance workers are rewarded for each year that they have had no accidents. · Awards are presented at each board meeting (six per · Certificates and patches are awarded. year) for safety and customer service; individual safe · Employees are rewarded for safety performance. driving awards are given to collision-free drivers on · We review incidents on a monthly basis in three an annual basis. categories: driver complaints including safety-related · Board presents annual and cumulative awards. incidents, missed trips, and fleet maintenance. Based · Time limits vary at contractor locations. on the number of substantiated incidents, performance · Rising Stars is a monthly program. Peer-to-Peer is falls in either the "superior," "acceptable," or "unaccept- ongoing, as is the Road Call Lunches program. We able" range. Incentives are given for "acceptable" and had a complaint reduction program that was planned "superior" service (more for superior), and penalties are for a year. imposed for "unacceptable" service. · Major awards are presented to operators after consecu- · For each year of service without a preventable accident, tive years without a preventable accident. Regular safety operators receive a safety award which includes a gift awards are ongoing. certificate. Employees can also receive major awards, · As a result of budget cuts, this program has been such as jewelry, for 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 years of continu- suspended. ous safe operation. · A bonus is paid quarterly but goes on a per year basis for · Operators receive a pin and a certificate for consecutive funding levels. A meal is provided at a meeting anytime years of safe driving. the safety record stands at more than 45 days. There is · Quarterly bonuses are paid to employees scoring several a shared bonus pool for all drivers who had no safety behavioral items. Lunch is provided at safety meetings violations, which is paid annually. when milestones are reached. Certificates for safe oper- ation and recognition at meetings including a shared The following were some of types of incentives and group monetary incentive for accident-free operation. rewards reported by respondents: · Employees with perfect safety records are eligible for clothing and cash awards. · Quarterly bonuses · Use of National Safety Council recognition program When asked about the duration of the programs, respon- · Breakfasts or luncheons dents reported that close to 61% of the programs are ongoing, · Jackets 9% described them as time-limited, and 30% of the agen- · Inclusion in the annual safety banquet FIGURE 14 Duration of incentive programs.

OCR for page 18
21 FIGURE 15 Bus operator involvement in program development. · Names on posters in the operating facilities gram development. The involvement of organized labor in · Printed recognition certificates these programs, as detailed in Figure 16, is not as high, at · Pins, badges, and belt buckles 43% of responding agencies. · Gift certificates · On-the-spot recognition program. As detailed in Appendix B, 4 of the 25 responding transit agencies are not unionized. Of the unionized systems, the number involving their unions in the application of their Participation of Employees in Policy Development safety program is 12 (57%). As detailed previously, the existence of employee programs (i.e., safety, discipline, or incentive/reward) does not ensure Involvement of Nonoperator Work Units effective self-implementation and regulation. The key to any safety program is employee and/or union "buy-in" (i.e., While 64% of the respondents had incentive and rewards pro- acceptance of and commitment to such a program). grams for their bus operators, only 42% had similar programs for their maintenance and other agency departments (Figure 17). With the concept of buy-in in mind, respondents were asked several questions about union and employee involve- Consolidated Open Ended Responses: ment and education regarding the incentive and rewards programs. · Safety and training department currently only provides programs for the operators at our contractors. Any other Figure 15 reveals that close to 64% of survey respondents programs are at the option of the contractor. involved bus operators in their incentive and rewards pro- · Other, nonoperator departments do not have one. FIGURE 16 Organized labor involvement in program development.

OCR for page 18
22 FIGURE 17 Maintenance incentive programs. · They have an Automotive Service Excellence bonus for · Collision information is tracked on a monthly basis as is keeping up their certifications. accident and incident information from the Joint Health and Safety Committees. · As most of these programs started up in the past year, Effectiveness of Safety Incentive and Rewards Programs we have minimal data to go on. However, we have seen an approximately 4% decrease in agency accidents and Survey respondents were asked if their organization pos- a 41% decrease in contractor accidents. These statis- sessed any data that would indicate the effectiveness of their tics do not include our mobility services. We have also incentive and reward programs or their impacts on agency changed one contractor during the implementation of safety performance. As shown in Figure 18, only 37.5% of our programs and have not included its statistics in our respondents indicated that their agency had data to document results as we believe they will not accurately identify the effectiveness of their agency's safety-related incentive and the impact of these programs. reward programs. This is similar to the 36.4% positive response · Each year we have a greater number of employees earn- in Figure 12 to the question of whether the agency was able ing safe driver awards. to monitor the effectiveness of employee discipline programs, · Rewards are not safety-specific, but are performance- related. Consolidated Open Ended Responses: · In the Lost Time Program, the data are tracked by the type and decline in workmen's compensation claims. · Agency collates accident data and low worker's com- A new program called Return to Work has impacted pensation claims. the number of days an employee is on workman's comp. FIGURE 18 Available data to measure incentive program effectiveness.