Quality Safety Edge: Behavior Based Safety -- Improving Your Safety With a Behavioral Approach

Improving Your Safety
With a Behavioral Approach
(Reprinted from Hydrocarbon Processing)

Common configurations of behavioral safety processes (Table 8)

	Empirical Studies	Management-based	Staff-based	Employee-based
Observers	Independent (often from outside organization)	Managers and/or Supervisors	Staff Personnel (usually safety staff; but senior maintenance person may observe conditions)	Employees
Frequency	Weekly	Weekly	Weekly or monthly	Daily (often each employee will be ask to do one observation per week or month)
Feedback	Data summaries to manager Data reviewed in safety meeting	Behavioral feedback during observations Data reviewed in safety meeting	Data summaries to manager Data reviewed in safety meeting	May provide behavioral feedback during observations Data summaries to manager Data reviewed in safety meeting
Observations announced?	No	No	No	Some programs
Upper Management's Role	Approve plan	Approve observation plan Participate in kick-off meetings Review completion of observations Approve and participate in safety award program	Approve observation plan Participate in kick-off meetings Review completion of observations Approve and participate in safety award program	Approve observation plan Participate in kick-off meetings Review completion of observations Approve and participate in safety award program

This article first appeared in Hydrocarbon Processing (August 1993) and is reproduced here with permission.