Safety Behavior is a Function of Its Consequences

A person does something because of what happens to them when they do it.  The cause of the behavior doesn’t happen because of what you tell them or train them to do; it happens because of what they experience immediately after the behavior…the consequence.

Behavioral research has shown that… 

A small, positive, immediate consequence has more impact on behavior than a large, future and uncertain one.

By consistently and continuously reinforcing behavior change with positive consequences you will change behavior.

Research also indicates that managers spend 85% of their time either telling people what to do, figuring out what to tell them to do, or deciding what to do because employees didn’t do what they were told to do in the first place. Safety managers still spend a great deal of their time telling workers want them to do and not enough time on the consequences. If the behavior is a function of the consequence wouldn’t it just make sense to put an equal amount of time into that side?

Understanding Consequences

Every behavior has multiple consequences, even the simplest ones, and a negative consequence to one may be a positive consequence to another.  It would take a course in behavioral science to understand all the nuances, but some fundamentals are necessary to help apply safety awards to get better results.  Unsafe behaviors are being repeated regardless of how often you tell employees not to do them.  It’s the characteristics of the consequences that give them their power.  When virtually everyone knows that smoking or being overweight is proven to be bad for you, do you ever ask yourself why people smoke or don’t lose weight?  Understanding these characteristics help to answering that question.

Positive vs. Negative

These are two sides to the same coin.  Positive consequences encourage more of the same behavior; negative consequences discourage more of the same behavior.  Positive consequences can be sustained over time, negative consequences cannot.

Example:  Public praise can be very positive for some and they strive to get more.  Others may be embarrassed by it (they don’t like it especially in a public forum) it and it will discourage the repeat behavior that achieved it.

Immediate vs. Future

Immediate consequences are much more powerful than future consequences.  The further away the consequence the weaker the influence. 

Example:  Threatening the negative consequences of smoking to a teenager

Certain vs. Uncertain

Certain consequences are much more powerful than uncertain ones.  When it is uncertain it will ever happen, it is not very powerful.  Consider the behavioral motivation of a sweepstakes where anyone that doesn’t have a reportable accident is put into a sweepstakes for a truck at the end of the year.  This type of incentive will not change the behavior of the majority of your people because while it may be positive to a few, most will view it as negative (they act accordingly but have little chance of getting the prize.)  is not immediate or certain).

Another example:  When children play with matches and get burned they get a certain and immediate consequence which will not likely be repeated.  When you speed for years and don’t get a ticket, because the threat of being pulled over and getting a ticket are so uncertain.

According to Dr. Aubrey Daniels, a well-known psychologist in the study of human behavior...“Consequences that are both immediate and certain (regardless of whether they are positive or negative) are the most powerful.  Consequences that are positive, immediate but uncertain are the next most powerful....consequences that are negative, immediate but uncertain are less powerful.  Those consequences that are certain but future (whether positive or negative) are also less powerful.  Consequences that are both future and uncertain are the weakest of all.”

Think about past safety award programs you may have been involved with.  How many of them have been programs that awarded employees in some form at the end of a quarter or year if they didn’t have an accident?  In other words, how many of those programs were in the PFU (positive, future but uncertain) category?  

The Award of Choice award system gives you a tool to provide reinforcement on a PIC basis (positive, immediate and certain.)  Your objective should be to change the behavior of your people, build long lasting, safe habits that reduce your incidents of accidents and injuries. 

For more information on AwardSafety products or services or other white papers please contact us at awardsafetyinfo@cox.net