Examination of the Effectiveness and Long-Term Impact of Safety Incentive Programs in Construction

Incentives are used a great deal in construction safety programs; however, a great deal of uncertainty exists regarding their effectiveness of improving safety on a jobsite. Most research on safety incentives involves case studies and theoretical analysis of their advantages and disadvantages, while little has been done on examining their effectiveness over a large population of construction firms. Using primary survey data from construction firms and craft workers, this paper examines the impact of incentives on the safety performance of this population. This paper also examines the differences in the perception of their effectiveness between managers and craft workers. The study finds that incentives are effective at improving many of the safety performance metrics of construction. Moreover, the paper examines how key safety performance indicators change over time in the presence of safety incentive programs in the US construction industry. The key finding of this paper is that the effectiveness of safety incentive programs change with time. Over time, safety incentive programs become less effective as suspected by earlier experts and managers. However, craft workers have a more favorable impression regarding the effectiveness of safety incentive programs than those individuals who are in charge of the program.