A new Government Accounting Office (GAO) report raises concerns about the effect of workplace safety incentive programs on accident and injury reporting, and recommends that OSHA add the issue to the field operations manuals used by its inspectors.
In “Workplace Safety and Health: Better OSHA Guidance Needed on Safety Incentive Programs,” the GAO compared rate-based incentive programs, which reward workers for achieving low rates of reported injuries or illnesses, and behavior-based programs, which reward workers for certain behaviors, such as recommending safety improvements. Of the approximately 25 percent of U.S. manufacturers with safety incentive programs or policies in 2010, 22 percent were rate-based programs and 14 percent were behavior-based.