Safety: Make sure safety bonuses don’t discourage employees from reporting injuries

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) recently issued a memorandum to its Regional Administrators and Whistleblower Program Managers providing them guidance on employer practices that may discourage employees from reporting on-the-job injuries or illnesses. The primary focus of the memorandum is safety incentive plans, such as safety bonuses, and disincentive policies, such as unfairly disciplining for workplace injuries. OSHA’s memorandum instructs investigators about the most commonly used discriminatory policies including: disciplining employees who are injured on the job, regardless of the circumstances; disciplining employees who report injuries, illnesses or unsafe conditions; and establishing safety programs that discourage the reporting of injuries.
 
Tips: When OSHA investigators start peeking into your practice of disciplining employees for safety reasons, will they like what they see? The best way to stay out of trouble is to target the unsafe act, not the result of the act. In other words, if someone violates a safety rule, they should be disciplined regardless of whether the act resulted in a recordable injury or workers’ compensation claim. Be consistent when disciplining and applying your safety rules. You should also be sure to have an attorney or safety professional review your safety incentive programs to make sure you aren’t discouraging employees from reporting injuries or illnesses. For more information, call your Vigilant safety professional or see our Legal Guide, “Safety Incentive Programs” (4906).