Behavior-Based Safety Metrics

Behavior-based safety is the result of work by behavior psychologists over the years. Using the techniques from applied psychology, psychologists used combinations of behavior analysis to study industrial performance. In 1979, Thomas Krause, a psychologist and John Hindley, a psychiatrist, examined methods in which psychology could be applied to off-shore oil drilling companies in an effort to improve safety performance (Krause 2001, 28). With the majority of accidents in the workplace due to unsafe acts, a premise of behavior-based safety approach is that identification and removal of motivators of unsafe behaviors and the reinforcement of safe behaviors should improve safety performance in the workplace. 

Benchmarks are established, behaviors are observed and quantified, comparisons are made to the benchmarks, and improvement activities are implemented. 

A noted authority on behavior-based safety, E. Scott Geller, identified seven key principles that should serve as guidelines when developing a BBS process or tool for safety management. They are (Geller 1999, 40)  

Look at external factors to understand and improve behavior 

Direct behavior with activators or events antecedent to the behavior 

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More recently, safety people have applied leading, upstream, predictive, activity, preventive or process indicators or metrics to measure safety performance. This family of measures often includes safety audits, behavior-based safety measures, safety perception surveys, safety training, corrective actions completed, reductions in risk and risk factors, identifying safety and ergonomic opportunities, and other measures. Many use leading indicators to do the following ... 

Today s safety professional has moved beyond the standard measurement of safety performance in terms of the number of accidents or injuries and recordable injury and illness rates. More sophisticated techniques that involve safety performance measurement systems, ongoing tracking of results, and continual improvement processes have replaced the early measurements. While today s safety metrics still include accident and illness performance, they also encompass behavior-based safety, safety program implementation performance, and insurance costs and losses. 

Using Behavior-Based Safety Process as a Safety Metric... 

Different metrics may be used to describe past performance, predict future performance, and encourage behavioral change. They are a means to evaluate the overall system performance and to develop a path toward superior process safety performance. This is accomplished by identifying where the current performance falls within a spectrum of excellent-to-poor performance. Such information will allow executives and site management to develop plans to address the specific improvement opportunities that could lead to measurable improvement in process safety. Good process safety metrics reinforce a process safety culture that promotes the belief that process safety incidents are preventable, that improvement is continuous, and that policies and procedures are necessary and will be followed. Continuous improvement is necessary and any improvement program will be based on measurable elements. Therefore, to continuously improve performance, organizations must develop and implement effective process safety metrics. 

The use of unsafe behaviors as a metric provides the safety manager with an additional tool to use for measuring safety program effectiveness. While accidents and losses are after-the-fact metrics, safety performance based upon unsafe behaviors can be considered a proactive before-the-fact activity, which when used with other metrics, can provide the safety manager with an arsenal of safety metrics. 

With these activity-based performance measures, there is also a variety of safety metrics that can be used to assess program performance. As identified by OSHA in studies ofVPP organizations, OSHA injury incidence rates, lost work day rates, and workers compensation losses are a few safety metrics that have been correlated to the performance of the VPP criteria activities. These measures can easily be expanded to include unsafe behaviors, accident trends, and near misses. 

Commonly reported near misses include such events as exceeding operating limits, a release of a chemical or other hazardous substance that does not meet the threshold for a process safety incident metric, activation of relief valves, interlocks, or ruptured disks. Companies may establish near-miss metrics based on the specifics of their operation, based on their observations of frequent upsets or failures, or to track and correct observed unsafe practices or behaviors. 

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