I recently had my annual physical exam.  This yearly ritual always reminds me of the importance of checking to be sure everything is OK even when there are no outward symptoms of a problem.  The benefit is early detection and simpler intervention to restore health if a problem does exist.

The same process can benefit your safety program.  That is, you should routinely check leading indicators of safety success, even when no outward signs of a problem exist.  To help you accomplish this, we are offering a 1-day observational assessment as quick, simple alternative to our comprehensive safety culture assessment.

The 1-day observational assessment process typically involves having one of our Ph.D.-level consultants spend a day

...

Continue reading Schedule Your Safety Check-Up Today!

Dr Boyce has an article published in the current issue of Mining Magazine.  The article describes the basic components of a safety culture assessment and gives readers a practical understanding of what to look for in a comprehensive evaluation of their workplace safety culture. Click here for a free copy of the article.

As many of our clients already know, you will always make better decisions when they are based on good information.  And, a well-done safety culture assessment will provide exactly this type of information.  If you would be interested in having Dr. Boyce conduct an assessment of your safety culture, please contact him directly at ted.boyce@cbsafety.com or by calling 775.232.3099.

Continue reading Is Your Facility Overdue for a Safety Check-Up?

The “bystander effect” is defined by people’s unwillingness to help or get involved (often in an emergency situation) when others are present.  In fact, the effect is even stronger when more people are present.

The “bystander effect” is common in industrial settings where employees work in crews.  It is often exhibited in safety when someone chooses to ignore a safety hazard rather than to point it out, much less acknowledge and correct it.

Call 775.232.3099 or e-mail ted.boyce@cbsafety.com to book world-renowned behavioral psychologist Dr. Ted Boyce today to help you:

• Understand the bystander effect and its causes
• Determine if the bystander effect is occurring in your work setting
• Develop and apply strategies for overcoming the bystander effect
• Motivate employees to get actively involved in their

...

Continue reading Understanding and Preventing the Bystander Effect in Industry

Fifteen years of experience helping businesses transform their work cultures have shown me that Evidence-Based Practices around key business needs are essential. Evidence-Based Practices are simply those that allow for objective measurement of performance that should lead to a desired outcome. For example, in the Behavior-Based Safety process that we teach, safety behaviors are measured through direct observation. Then, performance feedback is provided immediately to the individual(s) observed as a means of reinforcing desired behavior and stopping undesired behavior. We stress giving positive feedback for safe performance. And, if correction is needed, we teach a constructive feedback process that allows the performer to share with the observer all factors that may have contributed to the ...

Continue reading Evidence-Based Practices: How to Create Conversations that Lead to Beneficial Culture Change

A Brief Case Study in Behavior-Based Safety

Most traditional safety systems focus on tracking injury-related incidents (e.g., OSHA/MSHA recordables, lost-time accidents) as a means of evaluating safety success. Although it is important to track these events, the incidents themselves are most likely the result of actions taken by one or more people. Thus, they are outcomes of behavior or lagging indicators of safety.

To be most successful in preventing injuries, we recommend that you focus upstream when evaluating safety success. That is, although it is important to track incidents, you should also measure the potential for incidents to occur. This will allow your department or worksite to make adjustments prior to someone getting hurt or property

...

Continue reading How You Can Be Proactive When it Comes to Injury Prevention