by Terry McSween, Ph.D.
One of the questions often asked in early discussions about implementing a Values Based Safety® (VBS) process is, “How many observation checklists are required for an effective process?” Sometimes the question is worded a bit differently, “Can we have an effective behavioral safety process using a single checklist?”
“Why shouldn’t we use gift cards to reward people for doing observations and feedback?”
by Grainne Matthews, Ph.D.
The short answer is because cash-equivalent rewards are valuable enough to motivate the wrong behavior—the behavior of “pencil-whipping” a checklist. Pencil-whipping can be as bad as photocopying a bunch of checklists to submit or inventing an observation while sitting in the cafeteria at lunch. Pencil-whipping also includes situations where an observer does actually conduct an observation but puts very little effort into thoughtfully considering how safe the observed person is working, sincerely appreciating the safe behaviors, or having a meaningful discussion of potential improvements.