Behavior-based safety training

In a comprehensive research project, my Ph.D. students and I systematically evaluated 20 different industrial sites where behavior-based safety had been in effect for at least one 

the value of giving quality behavior-based safety training cannot be overemphasized. Obviously, people need to know how to carry out a process. They need sufficient training to feel confident they can complete every procedural step effectively, but they also need to believe the process is worthwhile. More specifically, they need to trust that implementing the methods of behavior-based safety will work to prevent injuries. This requires education, not training. There is a difference. 

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Figure 9J Most employees in a work culture need basic behavior-based safety training.

Altirough tire title of this section is "Behavior-Based Safety Training," I hope it is dear that botir training and education are needed. First, people need to understand and believe in the theory and principles rmderlying the behavior-based approach to preventing injuries. This is commonly referred to as education. 

Behavior-based safety places responsibilities on workers for which they may not be qualified. Although worker involvement is important, it has limitations and is not a substitute for technically competent health and safety experts reviewing both existing and future operations to insure that hazards are identified and controlled. Few workers have been trained in hazard identification, risk evaluation or methods of control (hierarchy) [p. 17]. 

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 ... 

BST provides training in behavioral-based safety programs. 

Joint labor-management committees are a popular method of employee participation. Other types of committees also have been used successfully to allow employee participation. At many unionized facih-ties, employee safety committees (with members selected by the union or elected by employees) work alone, with little direct management participation, on various tasks. In other workplaces, employees participate on a central safety committee. Some worksites use employees or joint committees for specific purposes, such as conducting workplace surveys, investigating incidents, training new employees, and implementing behavioral-based safety (BBS) systems, etc. [7]. 

Success of any behavior-based safety process relies on trust among the employee (observers), management, and the employees being observed. Observers are trained to ask the employee for permission to make an observation where feedback is immediate. When this occurs, this is a win-win situation for everyone. One key to remember is when providing employees feedback you need to consider how you would like to be approached. The way you say the words and how you act toward the employee are keys to successful two-way communication. Observers need specific training in how to observe and provide feedback in a positive, constructive manner. 

Remove the traffic cop (management), and what controls speed/ shortcuts Fear, time, engineering design, etc. Thus, there is a need to address the factors that cause the behaviors. These are addressed through acceptance and an overall culture change through activity-based safety (behavior-based safety, employee participation, training, communication of past events, JHAs, etc.). 

This favorable trend has occurred because management and employees now give safety a much higher priority than they did say 20 years ago, and companies have invested heavily in a wide variety of programs such as the use of personal protective equipment, Job Safety Analyses (JSAs), and first-aid training. In particular, companies have emphasized the importance of behavior-based safety. 

A few prominent writers would have you believe that behavior modification, training, and leadership (consisting largely of what is referred to in OSHA literature as administrative controls) are almost the entirety of the practice of safety. But, events of the recent past indicate that several of the big hitters in behavior-based safety have revised their positions and now talk and write about taking a systems approach to safety management (see Chapter 8, Improving Serious Injury and Fatality Prevention ). 

MANAGING BEST PRACTICES Display your competencies POSITIVE SAFETY CULTURES When the choice is to change or die TRAINING STRATEGIES Move beyond behavior-based safety... 

Du Pont STOP. One popular behavior-based safety intervention is Du Font s STOP (for Safety Training and Observation Program). Employees are given STOP cards to record the occurrence of at least one at-risk behavior or work condition each workday, along with their corrective action. At the end of the day the STOP cards are collected, compiled, and recorded in a data log. Sometimes the data are transferred to a display chart or graph for feedback. 

Why should employees want such training Figure 9.7 illustrates one reason, but I hope a more proactive rationale can motivate participation. First, as I have indicated in earlier chapters, behavior-based safety works to reduce injuries. The principles and methods of behavior-based safety are applicable in many situations—when and wherever human performance is a factor and can be improved. Thus, training in behavior-based safety provides skills useful in numerous domains at work, at home, during recreational and sport activities, and traveling in between. 

Understanding, belief, or awareness is not sufficient, however, to implement a particular behavior-based safety process. People need to learn the specific behaviors or activities required for successful implementation. This requires training and should include behavior-based observation and feedback. In other words, participants need to practice the behaviors called for by the intervention process and then receive constructive behavior-focused feedback from objective and vigilant observers. 

An ExxonMobil Chemical facility in Texas has demonstrated exemplary success with a coaching process based on the principles and procedures described in this chapter. By the end of two years, they had almost 100 percent participation and have reaped extraordinary benefits. From an outcome perspective, they started with a baseline of 13 OSHA recordable injuries in 1992 (TRIR = 4.11), and progressed to 5 OSHA recordables in 1993 (TRIR = 1.70). They sustained only one OSHA recordable in 1994 (TRIR = 0.30) and reached their target of zero OSHA recordables in 1997 and 1999. At the time of this writing (mid-2000), they are still injury free for the year. Figure 12.18 depicts the total recordable injury rate (TRIR) for this plant from 1991 to mid-2000. They had received behavior-based coaching training in the latter half of 1992, implemented their observations and feedback process plantwide in 1993, and by 1994 everyone was on board as a behavior-focused coach. They have continued this process ever since and have had numerous occasions to celebrate their phenomenal safety success. 

A better approach to reducing problems with MSDs is to change how a person performs the work using behavioral modification (behavior-based safety is discussed in Chapter 4). Workers are trained in how to carry out tasks effectively and safely. 

The first type of behavior-related measures that can be used before the fact, or before an accident occurs, is the percentage of safe behaviors observed for an observation time. The greater the percentage of safe behaviors, the smaller the percentage of unsafe behaviors, and, thus, the fewer chances for an accident. Other types of measures related to the performance of safe behaviors involve a number of activity-based measures. Some of these may include monitoring the number of job tasks evaluated for potential hazards and compliance with various safety regulations, the number of job tasks for which safe job procedures have been established, and the amount of safety training provided to workers. 

Safety training and incident analysis based on the behavioral inven-... 

Still working on the design and implementation of a behavioral safety process Design team members should conduct observations Ensures a realistic process Provides a base for training others... 

My colleagues at Safety Performance Solutions use both education and training to teach safety coaching skills. They start with education, teaching the basic principles behind a behavior-based approach to coaching. Then they use group exercises to implement a training process. 

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