Behavioral Accident Prevention Process

BST, Results Achieved with the Behavioral Accident Prevention Process Technology, BST Results Studies, 5th ed. (Ojai, CA BST, 2001). Booklet. 

The basic premise of behavior modification programs is that the primary cause of accidents is worker error. This blame-the-victim concept provides little opportunity for effective accident prevention. Behavior modification does not focus on the fundamental safety problems that we face in the continuous process industry, (p. 2)... 

Yet, this model suffers from two very major drawbacks. Firstly, the model only sheds light on cold variables with regard to human cognitive processes which does not conform well with real life situations. In reality, emotional variables such as threat do affect people s capability in problem solving and accident prevention. Secondly, internal information processes are absent. Interpretation by actual behavior observations and interviews becomes necessary but this requires expertise. Because of the two aforementioned problems, application of this model is limited to in-depth investigation with experts participation (Li 2006). 

That is issue of the effectiveness evaluation. As mentioned above, the compliance behavior (and/ or intent) is defined as the chief indicator to evaluate the effectiveness of warning sign in the article. The effectiveness is attributed to comphance behavior, because the comphance is in conformity with the idea of behavior control and behavior safety science, in which unsafe behavior contributes to almost all accident. That means, if people behave according to the correct directives and rules (warning sign), accident and loss can be prevented and reduced to a large degree. The function process of compliance is shown in Fig.3. 

Because the safety control structure and the behavior of the individuals in it, like any physical or social system, changes over time, accidents must be viewed as dynamic processes. Looking only at the time of the proximal loss events distorts and omits from view the most important aspects of the larger accident process that are needed to prevent reoccurrences of losses from the same causes in the future. Without that view, we see and fix only the symptoms, that is, the results of the flawed processes and inadequate safety control structure without getting to the sources of those symptoms. 

Understand loss events do not happen by chance — Your drivers and non-driving employees need to realize that accidents and injuries (loss events) happen as a result of either an unsafe behavior (behavioral cause) or a specific unsafe work process or condition situational cause). Therefore, accidents and injuries can be prevented by eliminating certain unsafe behaviors, and correcting safety defects in your work processes, activities, and conditions. 

Figure3.2 gives some details on the different steps of the process chain for the example of preventive pedestrian protection. Concerning data used, knowledge regarding the driver and pedestrian behavior (if not extractable from accident data) are taken from literature. The vehicle and preventive pedestrian protection related aspects are also based on literature as well as corporate knowledge. The intention is to construct evidence-based models using well-established statistical information to the greatest extent possible. The experiments and methods described in Chaps. 2 and 4 are intended to provide information necessary for developing the different models. In case specific parameters are unknown or for some reason cannot be investigated, sensitivity analyses are utilized to quantify the resulting uncertainties.

Pointing to "human errors" is a - very simplified - way of trying to explain accidents. In the course of an accident human perception and decisions, as well as possibilities of compensating for the disruption of regular processes, for example, during the work process, play a decisive role with respect to the cause of an accident. A person s safety consciousness and preventive behavior also contribute to the safety of the man-machine system in which he works. He is at all times acting together with other components of the system. A critical... 

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