The long-term effects of a token economy on safety performance in open-pit mining.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Anger WK ; Fox DK ; Hopkins BL
• Description:
  A behavioral safety program using trading stamps as tokens to reinforce safety was studied using the employees of two open pit mining facilities and their product processing facilities. The mines were used in the extraction and milling of uranium ore (SIC- 1094) and coal for the electricity generating industry. Mining procedures used included the use of scrapers, large electrical shovels, draglines, diesel electric dump trucks, bulldozers, front loaders, and smaller trucks. The majority of the injuries at both sites were associated with the use and maintenance of heavy equipment. Subjects included the employees of the facilities between 1970 and 1983. Job categories included office workers, engineers, management, custodial and maintenance personnel, production workers, mining equipment operators, and processing operators. Workers were divided into four hazard groups ranked by the number of lost time injuries reported during a baseline period. Trading stamps were given with paychecks to workers who had not suffered a lost time injury or compensation injury and to those under a single supervisor whose group was free of such injuries during the month. Safety awards using stamps were also given for safety suggestions, acts that prevented accidents and property damage, and other useful actions by workers. Use of the token economy resulted in a reduction of the number of worker days lost and the number of lost time injuries at both mines. The costs of the token program were substantially less than the cost attributable to either lost worker days or lost time injuries. The authors conclude that properly administered behavioral programs can be successful for extended periods of time. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Ergonomics Manufacturing And Industrial Facilities Mining Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Safety Workplace
• Keywords:
  Accident-prevention Author Keywords: Safety Industrial-hygiene Industrial-safety-programs Long-term Effects Miners Mining-industry NIOSH-Author Occupational-hazards Occupational-psychology Token Economy Worker-motivation Workplace-studies

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• ISSN:
  0021-8855
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Kansas ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 7
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  215-224
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00174929
• Citation:
  J Appl Behav Anal 1987 Sep; 20(3):215-224
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1987
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  1094 - Uranium-radium-vanadium ores - (SIC)
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:eca2ac2a4e250848246ee82d8f5830687a328ca1af957549a015839a009fa1e344fb871556915798d4937b575918fce61ae7eee4e709fe83c3622ba25db363b9
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185350/cdc_185350_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.34 MB ]