Behavior Based Safety
As a line employee, it is highly likely that your number one concern at work is your safety and health on the job. After all, you may be working with hazardous chemicals, or with high-temperature machines, or with machines with open, moving parts. Or, you may be working with all of these things!
You may be interested to know that a safety program known as Behavior-Based Safety (“BBS”) – and formalized in the 1970s/1980s –is being used in a number of companies. BBS programs are tailored specifically to each individual company, but all BBS programs involve three major components: (a) developing list of at-risk behaviors; (b) making observations; and (c) providing feedback.
How BBS works is that an evaluator (usually someone from outside of the company) comes into the workplace and spends time with you at your workstation. It is the goal of this person to make sure that you are safe in what you do at work. S/he may have read any available reports of injury or illness prior to spending the time with you at your workstation. S/he will spend time with you; how much time will depend upon your particular station and what is being done there. S/he will take notes and may ask questions. What s/he is doing is assessing your work behavior to see if anything you are doing is placing you at risk, whether you are aware of the behavior, or whether it is something that “has always been done that way”. This happens sometimes – we do not realize that something we take for granted as having always been done one way or the other may unwittingly and unnecessarily be placing ourselves in danger’s way. Sometime it takes the impartial eye of someone new to the company to see and offer recommendations on safety.
Of course, all of the things you are doing correctly and appropriately are also being noted, and you will receive this positive feedback immediately. It is always good to hear the “positives”, and to be acknowledged for doing things the right way!
If the observer finds anything that could potentially be placing you at risk, s/he will also provide feedback about that. This will make it easier for you to continue working safely.
The overarching purpose of the involvement of the independent, third-party is twofold: (1) to increase safety on the job by receiving positive feedback about everything done correctly on the job; and also (2) learning about how our work safety behaviors could possibly be improved. You may even find that you begin using the feedback in your personal life when you are working at home, or elsewhere. We tend to learn by doing; and by doing, we continue to learn!
Of course, for a program to be successful, management fully has to be behind it. Some of the factors involved with management support and commitment include strong safety leadership in the organization as well as a focus on the organization’s safety culture; an established safety management program; empowerment of employees; inclusion of employees in the safety program/processes; measurement and accountability; and of course, feedback for all employees. In order to feel involved as a contributor and committed to workplace safety, employees need to know what is going on.
At the end of the day, safety in the workplace is everyone’s responsibility. BBS is a highly successful tool that drives worker safety and provides inclusion in the safety process for everyone.
Terry Smeader
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