Do Your Safety Incentives Violate OSHA Regulations?

You consider your company’s safety incentive program an effective way to promote safe behavior among your employees. But OSHA could see the very same program as unlawful discrimination and a violation of OSHA recordkeeping regulations and whistleblower protections. According to an OSHA memorandum to compliance officers, certain incentive programs discourage the reporting of injuries and encourage discrimination against workers who report injuries.

These include: 

1. Taking disciplinary action against all employees who are injured on the job, regardless of circumstances. Reporting an injury is a protected activity, and OSHA views discipline against an employee who reports an injury as a direct violation of whistleblower statutes.

2. Taking disciplinary action against an employee who violates an employer rule about the time or manner for reporting injuries and illnesses. OSHA recognizes that employers have a legitimate interest in establishing procedures for receiving and responding to reports of injuries. However, such procedures must be reasonable and may not unduly burden the employee’s right and ability to report. 

3. Disciplining an injured employee because the injury resulted from his/her violation of a safety rule. OSHA will investigate whether the employer monitors for compliance in the absence of injury and whether it consistently disciplines employees who violate the work rule in the absence of an injury. Enforcing a rule more stringently against injured employees than noninjured employees may suggest the rule is a pretext for discrimination against an injured employee.

4. Creating a program that unintentionally or intentionally incentivizes employees to not report injuries. For example, an employer might enter all employees who have not been injured in the previous year in a drawing to win a prize. 

 

A safety incentive program structured to recognize and reward positive behaviors, rather than punishing negative ones, is less likely to draw the wrath of OSHA.

 

Suggestions include:

• Providing t-shirts to workers serving on safety and health committees.

• Offering rewards for suggesting ways to strengthen safety and health.

• Throwing a recognition party at the successful completion of company-wide safety and health training. 

 

For more suggestions on structuring a safety program and complying with OSHA rules and guidelines, please contact EPIC Insurance.