Bonuses for not killing workers.
Bonuses for not killing workers.
Author
Discussion

shed driver

Original Poster:

2,905 posts

184 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/28/b...

Should bosses be rewarded for zero workplace deaths?

SD.

randlemarcus

13,646 posts

255 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
What's the alternative? You either positively reward someone for meeting a metric you have an interest in meeting, or you punish them when they fail to meet the metric. The deduction from the reward package listed in the article puts a very low value on the metric.

As someone who likes to think of themselves as a decent human (sometimes), I'd prefer to see the "reward" being entirely separate from the rest of the remuneration package, and a "good year" results in a company wide reward, but I do recognise that £1.72 each isn't that enticing biggrin

Stick Legs

8,447 posts

189 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
Not having a reportable injury was removed from my list of KPI’s a few years ago as it encourages under reporting.

This is different. If a senior executive is not paid his bonus because of a fatality anywhere in the business then it means they will be inclined to accept the costs associated with prohibiting cost cutting.

To put it another way, would The Guardian be happier if their bonus was unaffected by a fatality in the organisation?

Uggers

2,224 posts

235 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
One of the most dangerous workplaces I've ever worked hadn't had an LTI for 3 years. Nothing at all to do with the $3000 safety bonus at the end of the year for all who worked there.

Make it a bonus just for the managers, they will tie up the workers in so much red tape and safety systems nothing will actually get done.

There is a happy medium to be met using all reasonable and practicable precautions. But I'm yet to realistically see that for myself, just more paperwork.

Financial rewards may achieve the result needed, but from 2 completely impractical angles. Personal gain financially shouldn't ever come into the safety equation IMO.

Dan_1981

17,977 posts

223 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
We're not allowed to financially target any of our suppliers with H&S related targets - manly due to the issues highlighted by the other posters.


nikaiyo2

5,786 posts

219 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
Stick Legs said:
To put it another way, would The Guardian be happier if their bonus was unaffected by a fatality in the organisation?
No the Guardian would not be happy, could you imagine that? As long as there is private property the Guardian will be a sea of abject misery, read by the miserable.

Worse than the Mail, at least they can function without begging.

Stick Legs

8,447 posts

189 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
nikaiyo2 said:
As long as there is private property the Guardian will be a sea of abject misery, read by the miserable.
biglaugh

Jawls

787 posts

75 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
For safety critical industries, safety performance should be part of any corporate scorecard. It therefore makes sense that safety performance should impact bonuses. The precise metrics that are measured/rewarded is a more technical question.

But in principle, no objections here.

InitialDave

14,369 posts

143 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
Our company wide bonus incorporates whether the site has met its target for number of safety corrective actions identified, which is a good way to do it. It doesn't discourage incident reporting, and encourages people to think about ways to remove risks and hazards.

Uggers

2,224 posts

235 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
InitialDave said:
Our company wide bonus incorporates whether the site has met its target for number of safety corrective actions identified, which is a good way to do it. It doesn't discourage incident reporting, and encourages people to think about ways to remove risks and hazards.
Again a target can create a situation where false reporting can result in potential safety situations been missed. Or incorrect trends been identified.

A worksite I was on demanded a STOP card from everyone, everyday.
The safety guy then had 120 cards to sift through of which most were failure to use trailing hand technique on stairs and water tight doors were left open everyday. Of course these were false as people had to create a card. There might be at best 5% genuine ones amongst the crap.

Thankfully within my industry they have finally relented on numbers, and prefer to have a low number of quality genuine cards, rather than 98% bullst everyday.

808 Estate

2,574 posts

115 months

Wednesday 28th April 2021
quotequote all
Maybe they should word the bosses contract to "if anyone dies, their family gets your entire bonus".

donkmeister

11,785 posts

124 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
Uggers said:
InitialDave said:
Our company wide bonus incorporates whether the site has met its target for number of safety corrective actions identified, which is a good way to do it. It doesn't discourage incident reporting, and encourages people to think about ways to remove risks and hazards.
Again a target can create a situation where false reporting can result in potential safety situations been missed. Or incorrect trends been identified.

A worksite I was on demanded a STOP card from everyone, everyday.
The safety guy then had 120 cards to sift through of which most were failure to use trailing hand technique on stairs and water tight doors were left open everyday. Of course these were false as people had to create a card. There might be at best 5% genuine ones amongst the crap.

Thankfully within my industry they have finally relented on numbers, and prefer to have a low number of quality genuine cards, rather than 98% bullst everyday.
Oil and Gas?

Never worked in that industry myself but a friend who works for one of the big companies, out of offices in Surrey, told me about such a system being deployed company wide. Maybe it's worthwhile on a rig, but in the offices people ended up having to report bs like "he walked up the stairs carrying a mug of coffee with no lid on it" and "I estimate his speed in the car park was 7mph, exceeding the 5mph limit". It led to ill-feeling between some colleagues and there was a general disdain for it.

Jinx

11,919 posts

284 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
shed driver said:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/28/b...

Should bosses be rewarded for zero workplace deaths?

SD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob1rYlCpOnM

in 1975 no one died
in 1976 no one died
...
in 1980 someone died
in 1981 no one died.....

lauda

4,202 posts

231 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
Jinx said:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob1rYlCpOnM

in 1975 no one died
in 1976 no one died
...
in 1980 someone died
in 1981 no one died.....
laugh

Not really funny, I know, but this always springs to mind whenever workplace deaths are mentioned.

KAgantua

5,102 posts

155 months

Thursday 29th April 2021
quotequote all
Jinx said:
shed driver said:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/apr/28/b...

Should bosses be rewarded for zero workplace deaths?

SD.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ob1rYlCpOnM

in 1975 no one died
in 1976 no one died
...
in 1980 someone died
in 1981 no one died.....
LOL I was poised to post the exact same link biggrin