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6 chapter two Literature RevieW This chapter summarizes the findings from the literature incentives or feedback were successful, to some degree, in review of reports and documents that address the connec- improving safety conditions or accident reduction. Chhokar tion between reward programs and employee safety perfor- and Wallin (1984) confirmed the applicability of a behavioral mance, as well as the effectiveness of reward and discipline approach to safety as part of a more comprehensive approach programs in transit organizations. that included training, goal-setting, and feedback. A literature review of the topic identified one study that One published study by Beaudry et al. (2006) examined establishes a "definite link" between a transit behavioral the effects of an incentive program at a small, non-profit tran- intervention program and a reduction in the rate, severity, sit agency on driver performance, including at-fault accidents. and cost of accidents. Additionally, a number of studies The study concluded that incentives resulted in improved tangential to transit also appear to establish a connection driver performance at a private, nonprofit agency. between "consequence management" programs and prac- tices (i.e., involving the systematic application of reward and Guzzo and Dickson (1996) promote the idea that the utiliza- discipline) and performance. tion of a team approach is effective in enhancing the safety per- formance of both the individual and the team in general. Teams, Component elements linked to the success of these pro- by design, incorporate motivational elements of peer pressure grams and practices generally include incentives, train- within the team and an element of competition between teams ing, goal-setting, feedback, positive reinforcement, teams, if results are shared. behavioral intervention, management support, organiza- tional culture, employee awareness, and accountability. Each Miozza and Wyld (2002) reaffirmed a standing belief that element is designed in some way to influence both the skill the success of both behavior-based and incentive-based pro- level and subsequent motivation of the employee to actively grams correlate to the degree of support from upper manage- apply those skills. Noticeably lacking are published studies ment. Cooke and Rohleder (2006) provided a model whereby that isolate and equate disciplinary action with individual or managers are shown to be motivated to move the safety perfor- organizational improvement. mance of employees from normal to high reliability through the use of a safety incident learning system. Feyer and Williamson (1998) noted that "incentives must be distinguished from unexpected rewards. Incentive programs Dilley and Kleiner (1966) expanded their study beyond differ from safety engineering and safety education by attempt- management support and link the organization culture to main- ing to strengthen the motivation to be safe." Their suggestion taining safety, including employee awareness and accountabil- was that expected rewards would tend to motivate safety ity. The study even linked employee driving safety behavior behaviors in a way that unexpected rewards, system engineer- to the individual's perception of the fleet manager's safety ing, and training would not. Therefore, the use of rewards as attitude. an incentive would necessitate that the reward be defined in advance, publicized, and tied directly to performance. Short (2007) cites Uttal (1983) relating organizational cul- ture and, intuitively, its relationship to safety as "shared values Mejza et al. (2003) concluded that evidence exists linking (what is important) and beliefs (how things work) that interact reinforcement action to transportation safety outcomes. They with an organization's structure and control systems to pro- cite Geller (1998) as concluding, "Reinforcement activity duce behavioral norms (the way we do things around here)." is characterized by antecedent events (incentives and dis- However, Clarke (2000) noted that "academic discussions in incentives) and/or consequent events (rewards and penalties) this area suggest that the concept remains vague, lacks empiri- that can be used in combination to support specific behavior cal validation and is used as an `umbrella term' for all social intervention strategies." and organizational factors that affect accident rate." McAfee and Winn (1989) reviewed 24 studies of those A connection between employee safety performance and programs that have used positive reinforcement and feedback reward programs appears to exist, substantially influenced to enhance safety. They concluded that all studies found that by the safety culture of the organization, including manage-