How Estancia Valley Solid Waste Authority Bolstered its Safety Record

Management was working on instilling a safety culture before it began assigning special recognition, with its earliest efforts being a form that employees fill out to identify job hazards they may see in the field or in the office. Managers do a job analysis for each employee, based on the form responses, every three months.

And they point out when they see a potential safety issue based on how employees fill out the form. Supervisors and a representative from each department come together for safety meetings to discuss identified concerns.

“We include representatives from each department because supervisors may have one idea, but we can get more perspective from employees of what some of their issues are on the job,” Cabber says.

The tiers for the incentive program were actually created at these meetings.

The Authority’s managers believe that incentives help bring about culture change because they make people more aware.