b',___. P_ Up_d_a ______________________ ~ H 4_R_ _-_,_ _t_c Reinforcing the Unsafe Worker JeffSHARPManager Baum,Administrative Mostsafetyprogramstendtobelieving they will never wintheunderlying feeling of disgust for the at rewardonly safeworkers.Sh safety "game."lackofconcernforsafetyan ould impormanagement provide added atten Providingrewardstotheseemployee may display. It istion for unsafe workers? Ironically,employees even though their safetytant to avoidmore than anoccathe answer is yes. T most impor practices arepooris a significantsionaldisplayofthosetypesof he tantemployee toreinforceisthech lenge.Onecertainlyshouldfeelings,it m turn an employee al asay unsafe worker.never reward poor safety practices,off to safety concerns. It is not necThesafeworkern Ibutitmaybeimportant toofferessary for ato always eedsittlesupervisor encouragementtoworksafely.praiseorother rewardstou sincerely feelthatsmall progress nsafe ghadheringwonderfuThrou prior learning experiences,employees forto the mosttowards safety is al thing, he or she already perceives the con basic of safety standards. Rewardingbutit is helpfuliftheemployee Employers shouldsequences of unsafe acts. Thus, hesafe basic behavior may provide thereceiving the reinforcement believes is self-motivated to work in abasisforachangeinthatthe supervisor is sinc inlook for goldensafeemployee\'s perception of the conse ing praise.ereprovidmanner. opportunitiesOn-the-jobtrainingmaycon quences of their action Employers,isors and s.superv forevince many employees that the pos Onceestablished,beh ioralmeno not only reinforce the av sh uld to reinforce safesibilityofinjuryisrealandthetrends tend to continue. Once ar safee but the un worker pe work r,safe consequencesareserious.Theseson has developed the habit ofr as well. Employers shouldfor behavior for thewea look employees come to realize that it ising at belt, no oth significantgo en opportunitiestoreinsea erld force unsafe worker ifin their best interest to work in areinforcement is usually needed tosafe behavior for thewo er safeunsaferkmanner,andtheybecomelargelymaintain this behavior. Inexam if they are trying to achieve ark-thiswothey are trying toself-motivated. They will enjoy theple,internalself-rein tsitelo time in ies.U:, forcemen withoutst- jurwork.siteoccurs becau ofsecu feeling sethere achieve amajorityofthebenefitsofmost safetyincentiveprograms aslongthe driverexperienceHowever,OSHA Releases Final may without lost-timeas th motivation remains intact.this internal reinforcement may notErgonomics Rule is The unsafe worker does not havealways be adequate in main iningTheOccupationalSafetyand injuries.tainternalmotivation to work safely.behavior.Therefore,theemployerHealthAdministration(OSHA) The influences of management havemay n to use external reinforce issued finalregu regarding eedlations beenunsuccessfulinproducingmentto maintainthepropersafethereliefofrepetitivestress jurieskplace safebehavior.In these cases,thebehavior.in inthewor on employer should increasingly mon The simplest solution may seemNovember. 14itor unsafe employees and reinforceto most people tonegative feed These regu have caused belations correct behavior. To effectively rein back. Although negative verbal feed great co tiona numnsterna among force anforemenbackin moderationissometim ber of employer groups who preunsafe employee,es andmanagers mustidentify thosen and may make adictthatcompliancewillbe ecessarysignifimployee ely times when he happens to be work cant impact on some e s, itextrem costly.Republicansin ing in amanner and reinforceis counter-productive if used moreCon u sought safegressnsuccessfully that safe behavior.than sparingly.Negativefeedbackto block the issuan of those regce Whenthisisdonecorrectly,discouragesemployeeloyaltyandu ns through an amendment latio to employees willlearntobehaveindesire to p well for athe Labor-HHS appropriatio berformsupervi nsill. waysthatarebeneficialtothem.sor, foremanemployer.TheNationalAssociationof or PositivereinforcementismuchThequickest,easiest andoftenManufacturers and other business moreeffectivethannegativerein most effective t of reinforcementorganizationshavefiled suitto ype forcement at internalizing safe workis positive feedback.supervisoroverturn the regulations. The text of The h but itisalsomuchmoremerely needs to recognize opportu theregulationsisavailableon abits, tricky.Employeeswhoneverwinn to say something positive toOSHA\'s web p www.osha.gov. itiesage: sincere recognition through safety incentivethe worker in away. Natuprograms may resign themselves torally, a supervisormayhavean'