Why Zero Injuries Does NOT Always Mean Your Worksite is Safe

All Industries

Using an Understanding of “Why People Do What They Do” to Promote Safety Improvements

Previously, I described the foundation of behavior-based safety, behavior-focused observation and feedback. Additionally, I provided some details on the essential characteristics of the observation card to be used by employees as part of a solid behavior-based safety process. If you will recall, the observations work not only to help employees look-out for one another and increase awareness, but as importantly, to produce the behavioral measures of safety. This month I will introduce the basic behavioral science understanding of “why people do what they do,” the foundation for promoting safety improvements in areas you’ve identified with your observations.

 
The ABCs of Safety Improvement
A major aspect of behavior-based approaches to safety focus on systematically studying the effects of various interventions on
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All Industries

Pinpointing Behaviors and Designing an Observation Card: A First Step in Cultivating the Human Side of Safety

Last month we described the importance of focusing your safety efforts upstream from the traditional measures of safety typically used to evaluate safety success in industry. The suggestion, from the perspective of behavior-based safety, was to create a system in which you can measure on-going safety-related behaviors. Moreover, it was recommended that you involve employees in the process of measurement by having them make peer-on-peer behavioral observations. This month, I’ll describe the common characteristics of a Critical Behavior Checklist that employees can use to make observations of one another, as well as the importance of each of these characteristics. I will also discuss the inherent benefits to safety at your facility of having employees regularly make behavioral observations. The Critical Behavior Checklist ...

Continue reading Pinpointing Behaviors and Designing an Observation Card: A First Step in Cultivating the Human Side of Safety