Conferences, behavioral safety

Dr. Steven Simon explored the differences in the two schools of thought in a speech he gave at a behavioral safety conference held by the American Society of Safety Engineers in February 1998. Simon indicated that there are two approaches in the behavior-based safety field. One takes a macro approach—the view that operation improvement is accomplished through a culture change. The other takes a micro approach and assumes that such improvement can occur by changing the behavior of hourly workers. 

Many of the prominent consultants in the field of behavior-based safety were presenters at the 1998 ASSE conference on Behavioral Safety. Their speeches, representing a wide diversity of views, are contained in the Proceedings A Behavioral Safety Symposium published by ASSE in 1998. That publication is recommended reading It sets forth veiy well the... 

According to Dr. E. Scott Geller, who is often a writer and speaker on behavioral safety, a problem of consequence has arisen because some of those who offer themselves as behavioral consultants don t, in his view, really practice behavior-based safety. Geller, who is a practitioner in worker-focused behavior-based safety, wrote an article titled Confusion, Controversy, and Clarification, which appeared in the Januaiy 1999 issue of Occupational Health Safety. These excerpts from that article pertain to the ASSE conference on behavioral safety held in Febmary 1998. 

Aubrey C. Daniels, a well-known and long-term practitioner in the field of performance management, has also expressed concerns about what is being offered as behavioral safety. His paper The Imperative for an Integrated Approach to Behavior-Based Safety Initiatives appears in the Proceedings, ASSE 1999 Professional Development Conference. These are excerpts from it ... 

Krause s speech titled Moving to the Second Generation in Behavior-Based Safety is included in the Proceedings for the 2000 ASSE Professional Development Conference. To say that the focus of improvement is not on the worker, but on the systems that enable safe behavior is a major conceptual change in behavioral safety. Can it be doubted that Krause presents a substantial shifting in behavioral safety concepts ... 

Some practitioners in behavioral safety rhetorically asked this question at conferences Will behavioral safety be another passing fad Although interest has diminished, behavioral safety is not going to go away for... 

In a speech at the 2003 Behavioral Safety Now Conference, James Johnson, a managing director at Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, stated the following ... 

Johnson, James. Managing director. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Presentation at the 2004 Behavioral Safety Now Conference Reno, Nevada. 

AU of these organizations participate in Behavioral Safety. Now, a professional conference on behavior based safety sponsored by the Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Learn more at behavioralsafetynow.com. 

Urian, R. K. Organizational Unlearning Detrimental Behaviors Present in Chemical Process Incident Investigation T earns. Proceedings of the International Conference and Workshop on Process Industry Incidents, Orlando, FL. New York Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS), AIChE, October 2000. 

Grant, B. A. Smiley, A. (1993). Driver response to antilock brakes A demonstration of behavioral adaption. In Proceedings, Canadian Multidisciplinary Road safety Conference Vlll, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, June 14-16, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada University of Saskatchewan. 

Bachelder, Edward, and Nancy Leveson. Describing and probing complex system behavior A graphical approach. Aviation Safety Conference, Society of Automotive Engineers, Seattle, September 2001. 

But at several behavior-based safety sessions held this past June during ASSE S annual conference, a head connt of attendees revealed a different story. Topics and speakers that packed rooms five years ago were met with plenty of empty seats. 

Jim Howe, CSP, is the Assistant Director in the Health and Safety Department at the headquarters of the United Auto Workers Union. He and Thomas R. Krause, CEO of Behavioral Science Technology, were to be speakers at the Professional Development Conference to be held in June 2000.1 was to be the moderator. Tom Krause asked for a meeting with Jim Howe and me for a discussion of the program. Scott Stricoff, President of Behavioral Science Technology (BST), also attended. 

In June 2000, at the ASSE Professional Development Conference, Tom Krause gave a speech titled Moving to the 2nd Generation In Behavior-Based Safety. In May 2001, an article having the same title appeared... 

Whiting, James F. The Missing Element of Behavior-Based Programs — Calculating and Evalnating Risk. In Proceedings, ASSE s 2002 Professional Development Conference. Des Plaines, IL American Society of Safety Engineers. 

Swuste, R, van Gulijk, C. and Zwaard, W. 2008. Human behavior The first safety theory. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference iVevent/on of OcupationalAccident in a Changing Work Environment, 30 September-3 October 2008, Crete, Greece. 

Finally, encourage the development of a safety culture. Adopt policies and procedures that encourage drivers, and all employees for that matter, to become actively involved in the safety of your workplace. Treat employees fairly, set up safety committees, confer with employees on safety issues, and encourage and reward the reporting of safety problems, or imsafe driving behaviors. 

Krause, Thomas A. Moving to the 2nd Generation in Behavior-Based Safety . ASSE Professional Development Conference, orlando, Florida, June 2000. 

Almqvist, S. (1998). Speed adaptation a field trial of driver acceptance, behavior, and safety. Paper presented at the 5th World Congress Conference on ITS, Seoul, Korea. 

Fleming, M., Effective supervisory safety leadership behaviors in the oil and gas industry. Proceedings of the HAZARDS XV The Process, Its Safety, and the Environment "Getting It Right" Conference, 2000, pp. 371-384. 

Geller, E. S., Boyce, T. E., Williams, J., Pettinger, C., DePasquale, J., and Clarke, S., Researching behavior-based safety a multi-method assessment and evaluation, in Proceedings of the 37th Annual Professional Development Conference and Exposition, American Society of Safety Engineers,... 

Geller, E. S. and Roberts, D. S., Beyond behavior modification for continuous improvement in occupational safety, paper presented at the FABA/OBM Network Conference, St. Petersburg, FL, January 1993. 

---