Improving Your Safety With a Behavioral Approach

Terry E. McSween

Our problem in achieving further improvements in safety stems from our success. Most US industries have good safety records. Strictly based on chance, the average US employee can work 25 years without a lost time accident. The problem with our current level of safety is the complacency that it creates. An employee can short-cut a safety procedure and probably not get hurt. The reduced probability of having an accident is simply not enough to maintain 100% compliance with safety procedures that make jobs take longer, cause discomfort and often are inconvenient in other ways. The progressive organization has the difficult task of trying to create a positive, employee driven safety process. The behavioral safety process is one such method that focuses on improving safety practices.

Table of Contents

Ownership of habits
The record
The safety process assessment
The team process
The behavioral safety process.
Step in creating a behavioral safety process. (Table 1)
Who will conduct the observations?
How often will observations be conducted?
Should observers provide "in-process" feedback based on their observations?
Conduct training and kick-off meetings in each area
A sample observation checklist (Table 3)
Considerations for deciding who should conduct observations(Table 4)
Considerations for deciding on the appropriate frequency of observations(Table 5)
Strategies for planning feedback in conjunction with the observation process (Table 6)
Areas of training for employees
Feedback and involvement procedures
Feedback and involvement procedures (Part 2)
Establish safety incentives
Design options for safety awards and incentives (Table 7)
What is management's role?
Suggestions
Common configurations of behavioral safety processes (Table 8)

This article first appeared in Hydrocarbon Processing, 1993, 72(8), p. 119-128, and is reproduced here with permission.