Fox et.al

• Aim: The study aimed to investigate the use of the token economy to reduce the number of accidents and injuries for a specified amount of time.
• The study was conducted in two open pit mines and their associated product processing plants. Both mines were in the USA.
• Before the study, the number of incidents and number of days lost in Mine A of the mines was over eight times the national average for all mines and three times the national average in Mine B.
• Five years before the study two people had been killed, and one person was left with a permanent disability.
• The settings were similar in many ways, they both used the same equipment and procedures and both were associated with the use of heavy machinery.
• Participants were employees from both mines. Mine A had 214 workers, and mine B had 501 workers.
• Workers were divided into four groups based on the number of working days lost days due to injury.
• Workers were given a specific amount of trading stamps withe their pay check envelops if they had not suffered lost time due to injuries or injury that required doctors attention that month.
• The groups were given a varying amount of stamps:

  • Group 1 got 300 stamps
  • Group 2 got 400 stamps
  • Group 3 got 500 stamps
  • Group 4 got 700 stamps
• All the employees were managed by a common supervisor, and they were given more stamps if nobody under that supervisor if the group of workers under that supervisor had gotten no injuries that month. If one person got an injury then nobody got stamps.
• Any acts that prevented injury or safety suggestions that were taken on were rewarded with 500 to 25,000 stamps.
• If anyone missed work due to injury, they would get no stamps for that month, 2-3 days and they would get no stamps for two months, and it kept increasing till it got to the maximum of six months.
• Stamps would be spent at local stores and be exchanged for anything.
• The token economy led to a decrease in the number of days lost.
• The baseline average for the costs of accidents decreased by 90% for both mines.
• It was concluded that the token economy was beneficial for everyone involved.