In our post of 12-12-17 we discussed whether or not there
was too much emphasis (or not) placed on Behavior Based Safety. In it we showed a link to many pages of research
and other studies on the subject. There
is certainly ample information in the safety industry to show that BBS can be
effective in reducing incidents. So why do we often hear from safety
professionals that they really don’t want any part of BBS?
We think the easiest explanation for that is simply because
BBS is too broad a term and is used to describe everything from basic employee
behavior audits and feedback to a comprehensive safety management system
designed to change a company’s safety culture, and frankly to anything in
between. It is lot like the term “safety
incentive” which is a catchall for a myriad of award schemes, some good…some
bad, that permeated the safety world for decades. BBS and Safety Incentives are generic terms. There’s no reason to hate them, but there are
parts of them that will help you make your safety culture more successful.
Isn’t BBS in its truest form just a way to determine
those behaviors that make your workplace unsafe? And isn’t it a way to change them into
positive safe behaviors to reduce incidents of injuries and accidents? And isn’t that what safety professional are
trying to do every day?
The name BBS itself implies that human behavior is in
play here, and if you believe that, (not sure why you wouldn’t) there are tools
that you can use to change that behavior.
In fact there are probably more papers and research conducted about
behavior change than BBS. The point is
to uncover the behaviors you should be doing, and if you’re not doing them,
then change them. Of course the devil is
in the details and it’s never as simple as this, but it’s also not a lot more
complicated either.
There are clearly some very good things about BBS as
stated by Donald Eckenfelder CSP, P.E. the principal consultant with Profit
Protection Consultants and a past president of the ASSE:
- Focuses on the human side of safety
- Defines safe and unsafe behaviors
- Encourages safe behavior and discourages unsafe or destructive behaviors
- Involves employees in safety
- Requires management to put its money where its mouth is
- Engenders commitment and passion about safety
Like any program though there can also be some negative
things about BBS according to Enkenfelder….
“Many BBS packaged programs don’t deal with the causes of
safety failures; they deal with the symptoms. “Behaviors of employees are a
long way from the root cause. If corporate management supports and encourages
safe behavior by eliminating root causes – such as engineering, process,
communication or training failures – then employees are more likely to want to
adopt safe behaviors.”
However in our experience over the years, companies,
managers and supervisors who actively and vocally support safe production and
put money and resources behind that support are more likely to have a better
BBS system, and more productive and engaged employees.
With the overarching emphasis throughout the entire
organization on employee engagement it would seem to make sense to have a BBS
program of some type within your safety culture. No one seems to disagree with the original
basic concept of BBS – pointing out to employees how they contribute to a safe
work environment by informing them when they are performing safe or unsafe acts
– can be an essential part of a system that contributes to a healthy safety
culture.
Of course knowing some basic principles and common sense
approaches of how to interact with your workforce about behaviors, how to
change that behavior and then how to recognize them for the positive behavior
change is important.
For more
information on AwardSafety products or services or other white papers please
contact us at awardsafetyinfo@cox.net
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