The Client and Its Challenge
This grocery distribution center faced an increasing number of accidents and escalating workers’ compensation costs. Rigorous individual production requirements had encouraged risk-taking behaviors and resulted in high turnover among the company’s 700 employees. Previous safety programs had included strong punitive methods for managing behavior and other performance outcomes. Additionally, high employee turnover numbers made safety training labor-intensive and expensive.

The Risk Consulting Solution
Marsh designed and implemented a behavior-based safety program that leveraged the Behavior Risk Improvement (BRI) process. The resulting program used positive reinforcements to highlight safe, rather than at-risk, behaviors. The challenge was to create a program that would generate employee support and participation.

Marsh facilitated several meetings with the company’s management team and union leadership to secure buy-in and support for the program. The union needed to be convinced that BRI was not a discipline program, but an entirely different approach. The goal was to develop a peer-to-peer observation program where positive feedback on safe workplace behaviors was an everyday activity.

Marsh consultants began by educating all employees on the principles of the BRI process and the goals of the program. Then, approximately 20 percent of the employees were trained as core team members. Working with Marsh consultants, employees developed scorecards that tracked targeted behaviors. Additional training included managing the process, observing behaviors, recording both safe and at-risk activities, and graphing results daily. Managers were trained on how to support the BRI process, including providing positive feedback, focusing on graphed safety results, validating team activities, and discussing progress at daily start-up meetings.

Results
Thus far the client has seen positive results — reducing both accident frequency and employee turnover. The recordable rate in the general merchandizing department was 19.52 in 2000. The rate dropped to 11.46 the year the program was implemented and dropped further to 7.56 in 2002, the first full year of the program. The recordable rate also dropped in the grocery department, from 23.7 in 2000 down to 12.53 two years later. Employee turnover also has slowed since the implementation of the BRI process. In general merchandise, it dropped from 48 percent in 2001 to 21 percent in 2002. Turnover in the grocery department dropped from 40 percent to 17 percent during the same time frame.