Is Safety Pays use of bingo a form of gambling?
From time to time, the question is raised as to whether Safety Pays, a comprehensive safety incentive program, can in some way be construed as gambling because of its use of a bingo-type game format. First of all, keep in mind this program is a nationally recognized safety incentive approach which is considered one of the best solutions available to assisting a company in reducing accidents and losses. It just so happens that one of the program’s elements is a bingo mechanism. This mechanism, though, is not utilized in any way that would be considered gambling. Why? Because gambling is defined as putting some amount of consideration, usually in the form of money, “at risk” in order to participate in the chance to receive a larger pay-out in return. Safety Pays requires nothing from a company’s employees other than their existing obligation to make best efforts to avoid on-the-job accidents and injuries. We recognize that bingo is often used as a gambling mechanism — sometimes for char
