How to create economic incentives in occupational safety and health : a practical guide

European countries could benefit from introducing more economic incentives to promote workplace health and safety, rewarding those organisations that work hardest to protect their employees. That is the message of the economic incentive project, undertaken by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). Some EU Member States already offer various kinds of financial rewards for businesses that invest in keeping their employees safe. These rewards range from state subsidies and grants, through to tax breaks, preferential terms for bank loans, and lower insurance premiums for the best-performing businesses. The European Community strategy 2007-12 on occupational safety and health (OSH) recognises that there is a need to use economic incentives to motivate enterprises to apply good practice in their prevention work. EU-OSHA contributes to meeting this need by providing information on the types of economic incentives that are most likely to succeed. Research has shown that external economic incentives can motivate further investments in prevention in all organisations and thus lead to lower accident rates.