Critical Behavior Inventory

The challenge is to (1) identify the specific safety-related behaviors for a particular site, (2) establish an inventory of operational definitions for these behaviors, and (3) prepare a checklist based on these critical behaviors for observers to use. Developing this critical behavior inventory serves the following purposes ... 

Select specific behaviors to observe as derived from the Critical Behavior Inventory. The strategy for this step is to pinpoint safe practices (McSween, 1995, p. 106). These behaviors should be very clear and specific so that everyone trained in the observation process can agree on the safe way to perform a task. If the organization has developed a critical behavior inventory, and established operational definitions as part of the inventory, then critical safe practices have already been identified. 

Identifying problem areas The safety mechanism that is geared for performance measurement and feedback takes its cue from the facility inventory of critical behaviors. Problem areas can be defined as those workplace behaviors that deviate from the expected critical behaviors. 

Incident reports should be the first evaluated item when developing the inventory of critical behaviors (Krause 2001). The accident reports provide the basic foundation of behaviors to target. Typically, three to five years of accident data can provide reliable and valid data. The review of the accident reports can lend insight into the types of behaviors that are most often associated with the organizations accidents. 

Behavioral safety involves measuring safety-related behaviors. Krause notes that the behavioral inventory is how we measure behavioral safety performance. Benefits of using a Critical Safety Behavior inventory for continuous safety improvement include ... 

What Are Critical Behaviors and Why Develop an Inventory of Critical Behaviors ... 

Safety Process Managing Involvement for an Injury-free Culture (Krause, 1997). Ultimately each site should develop their own inventory of critical behaviors, and the list is usually not that long— perhaps 15 to 25 behaviors that are genuinely crucial to safety performance. Earnest advises that the list be kept to five or ten critical behaviors (1994, p. 3). 

Which implies previously having identified the inventory of safety-critical behaviors and having established regular means of observing and reporting their frequency of occurrence. 

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