New Performance Improvement Council White Paper Builds Foundation for Safety in the Workplace

April 9, 2014 - PRLog -- For a true culture of safety to exist in an organization, the four pillars of safety must be in place. Typically, organizations rely on tactics to promote safety culture. A new white paper by thePerformance Improvement Council (http://www.thepicnow.org/) (PIC) of theIncentive Marketing Association (http://www.incentivemarketing.org/) (IMA) entitled,The Four Pillars of Safety (http://c.ymcdn.com/sites/www.thepicnow.org/resource/resmgr/Docs/Pillar-of-Safety_Mar2014_wMb.pdf), suggests that the key to a successful safety culture lies not in tactics, but the foundation.

The paper’s author, PIC member and All Star Incentive Marketing President Brian Galonek, CPIM, explains that despite the proven benefits of fostering a true culture of safety, many C-suite executives fail, in part, because of their lack of understanding about a safety culture’s foundation. While C-suite executives often identify the pillars of safety as training, risk management, PPE, monitoring, root cause analysis and culture, these are merely safety tactics and measurement tools. The true pillars of safety are: engagement, recognition, communications and measurement. Only when these four pillars are in place can safety tactics and measurements be made effective and meaningful.

“Employee engagement is the most crucial of the four pillars—without employee engagement, safety improvements and a good safety culture are virtually impossible,”says Galonek. “To create a more engaging environment companies must foster better connections between employees and those they work with, thereby facilitating the sharing of best safety practices.”

Also essential is recognizing safe workers for their efforts in a public manner that is timely, genuine, and includes tangible rewards. Finally, communication and measurement are required throughout all phases of any successful safety effort.

To view the complete paper, visit www.thepicnow.org and click on the link from the home page.

The Performance Improvement Council (PIC) is a strategic industry group within the Incentive Marketing Association. It is a professional organization of performance marketing executives collectively focused on helping companies optimize their investment in human capital through proven and innovative reward and recognition solutions. More information is available at www.thepicnow.org.

Business improves when employees and customers are recognized, rewarded, and engaged through effectively structured programs with defined goals and proven returns. The Incentive Marketing Association (http://www.incentivemarketing.org/) (IMA) is comprised of the companies who are leaders in the incentive industry.  IMA provides education, resources and research to promote the use of incentive programs to the business community and is the umbrella organization for the Global Incentive Council (GIC), the Incentive Gift Card Council (IGCC), the Incentive Manufacturers & Representatives Alliance (IMRA), the Incentive Travel Council, the Performance Improvement Council, the Recognition Council, IMA-Australia Council, IMA-Canada Council and IMA-Europe Council. More information about IMA and the incentive marketplace is available at http://www.incentivemarketing.org/