Are you looking to implement a safety awards program?  If so, then this article if for you.

Hanover County had been looking to implement a safety awards program to recognize outstanding safety performance in the departments.  Greg Smithson, Risk Manager, began to use National Safety Council awards program two years ago.  Since then it has become a program of interest amongst the departments.  This year several departments received the “Occupational Excellence Achievement Award”.  In order to qualify for this particular award each department had to complete 2006 with a Lost Workday Case Incident Rate of less than 50% of the industry average published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.   

The National Safety Council is made up of more than 53,000 member organizations from across the United States representing 8 million employees.  Each year NSC reviews the applications it receives and awards the “Industry Leader Award” for best performers. Hanover County Parks and Recreation department received this award for their 2005 performance, which is quite a big deal. 

So if you’re looking to implement an awards program that gives national recognition, is easy to implement and means a lot to management and their employees, then consider NSC awards program.  There are awards that recognize significant improvement in the reduction of injury and illnesses and for outstanding safety practices which are self reported noteworthy accomplishments as well as lift truck and fleet safety awards.  You must be a member of NSC in order to qualify for these awards.

The nice thing about the National Safety Council Award Program is the criteria for the various awards have already been established, so all you have to do is determine which departments qualify, submit the application and they will send you the awards.  If you are interested in finding out more about the various types of awards available through this program then please visit their website at NSC.org and let’s start giving recognition where it is due.