Tuesday, March 20, 2012

EU-OSHA Guide to Economic Incentive Schemes

EU-OSHA’s new Guide to Economic Incentives Schemes serves as a recommendation for how incentive providers can optimize their economic schemes. The guide outlines the seven steps that providers can follow to develop a good incentive plan, what kinds of economic incentives can be used and for what target groups (exp. high risk groups like the construction sector). The guide discusses what parameters must be taken into account to create an effective scheme such as the number and types of accidents in total, sickness rates and job satisfaction. “An incentive scheme should not be designed with the sole purpose of having the strongest possible incentives,” the guide states. “The incentive element must be balanced to take into account the workers’ legal rights and trouble-free access to health and social services.” Rewards for organizations with safe and healthy workplaces should not only apply to past results of good OSH management, but should also apply to prevention efforts that aim to reduce future accidents. This can improve corporate social responsibility, especially in large companies, says EU-OSHA. For more information, click here.