From The Front Lines: April 1998, Developing A Safety Program

The safety program at David J. Frank Landscape Contracting Inc., Germantown, Wis., is nearing its 15th year in a fairly formal format. The program has evolved continuously with changes and improvements made each year.

One of the five key objectives of all staff members at David J. Frank Landscape is to promote a safe and helpful workplace as well as maintain the safety standards the company has established. The company has prepared a comprehensive written safety manual that outlines the expectations, rules and guidelines of the program.

The concept of using an incentive was suggested by the production staff members through an annual pay and benefits survey several years ago. Although safety is a key part of everyone’s job, it was thought that an incentive would help focus our staff members’ attention on this important topic continuously.

Recognition is one of the key features of the program. Safety is talked about formally in weekly department meetings. Individuals that hold safety tailgate talks regularly and/or have compiled a good safety record are recognized on an ongoing basis at department meetings, in the company newsletter, on the company bulletin board and at biannual company meetings.

In addition, there are other incentives that focus on two different areas of the program. The first is results. If individuals compile an exemplary safety record, they earn one paid day off each year. This reinforces the results that we would like to achieve with the program. However, I think the real strength of the program has to do with the fact that it provides an incentive for safety-related activity, including creating and conducting a weekly safety tailgate talk. It was thought that it would be proactive to talk about safety, workplace hazards and safe working habits before accidents occur. There is a weekly monetary incentive for having these talks, and there is a monthly prize drawing to recognize the staff members that have consistently held these talks.

The results of the program have improved from year to year. Adjusted for our growth curve, total company accidents in all areas was down approximately 20 percent from 1996 to 1997. Worker’s compensation accident costs have dropped by about 66 percent in that period. In the current period, our experience modification rate has dropped an additional five percent to an all-time low of .63.

A lower number of accidents and a better safety record has improved company morale, aided in smoother operations by not having to fill in for missing people, and allowed us to negotiate very good rates with our insurance carriers and save money on the insurance coverage.