Here’s what you folks had to say about Wayne’s story and the BBS approach. (We took the liberty of adding subheads to your notes to provide flow.)

**********

Safety Is About Responsibility and Responsibility Is About Behavior

Sorry to say I disagree with Wayne’s philosophy that BBS is “a cult” and that management is at the root of all injuries and accidents. I see it as a way of life, a way of thinking, not as some “program” which comes and goes. While I agree that there are companies out there who still do not comply with safety regulations, leaving their employees at risk, I believe that the bulk of employers DO care and want to do the right thing. And I also believe most employees want to do the right thing and want to go home each day in one piece. Isn’t that what safety on the job is really all about? Being able to go home each day and enjoy your family, your friends, your hobbies and life in general? If a person works safely on the job, they are more likely to work safely at home. What would you call that?  A behavior, I think. . .

Sue Schilling
Safety Director
Immediate Past President, Topeka Chapter #142
National Association of Women In Construction

***********

Behavior Is a Big Part of the Equation

Our Safety Culture encompasses Engineering Controls, Administrative, lots of Training and anything else that we can do to reduce or eliminate a hazard. You are always going to have people who don’t practice safe work procedures, rush, take shortcuts and risks or believe it “won’t happen to me,” which is all behaving in an unsafe manner. Behavior is a very big part of a safe work environment.

Tuesday Hamoy
Regional Safety Coordinator
Barrett Paving Materials Inc.
Dewitt, N.Y.

***********

BBS Leads to Biases that Skew the Real Causes of Incidents

I agree whole heartedly with Wayne. After many years of investigations and looking deeply at causes, I find that the systems failure is just as much of a causal factor in the majority of incidents.

Companies using pure or majority BBS systems in incident assessment and causation run the risk of a lesser trained investigator forming pre-determined opinions before the incident has even begun to be investigated. For example, an employee with minor safety violations on his record may be seen as the cause immediately with basic causes being overlooked or not even considered.

Ross Bellwood CRSP
Safety Systems Supervisor
Metro Vancouver, O&M Utilities Systems

***********

BBS Can Work But Only If There’s Real Commitment

I support the BBS philosophy because it looks at the emotional side of the employee and the reasons why people do things. I think it is clear that most accidents are caused by behaviours. You really have to be tuned in your work force to understand it.

I also believe that companies selling BBS systems are part of the problem. Coaches are trained in 1 to 3 weeks. These are typical HSE or SHE personnel, with a biased approach. Companies investing in BBS systems should understand that you will never get proper results by implementing BBS from manuals. You need people who really care about employees and that have a good discipline base within the company to allow the BBS system to work efficiently.

I personally have implemented BBS systems that have failed horribly due to my own ignorance and misunderstanding of the process. I also have seen the benefits from these systems. Providing resources around this long term strategy, planning and consistency is of the utmost importance. The process can also only work if CEOs buy into it and drive it consistently, make it a priority and make available training, take care of behaviour intervention action plans etc.

Danie Raath
HSE Manager
Murray & Roberts MEI (Pty)Ltd
Project Medupi

Story Tools:  Email This Post  Print This Post Top