In the previous issue of SafetyXChange's Safety Economics Weekly, we concluded Larry Wilson's series on behavior based safety in the construction industry. Now, as promised, it's your turn to comment on the whole BBS phenomenon.

Note: To any of you members whose comments we abridged-or omitted altogether-we apologize. The surprising volume of responses we received made it impossible to print everything.

Glenn Demby
Editor-in-Chief
SafetyXChange

Behavior as Part of the Safety Tripod

I'm a performance engineer at Constellation Energy in Baltimore, Maryland.  I'm part of a team that is encouraging employees to take charge of their health as part of the work/life routine. There are three legs to safety: Environment, health and behavior. We have got to bring all three legs together to reduce overall costs and maximize production. So the focus on behavior is acceptable as long as the other legs are also addressed.

Faith E. Davidson
faith.davidson@constellation.com

I Believe in Behavioral Training

I believe in behavioral based training as long as it is incorporated with task training and site specific training. I believe that a working supervisor/crew leader who is safety oriented and practices safety on and off the job is a positive influence and could help reduce all types of accidents and incidents. Near miss reports and BMP forms filled out routinely by employees are a great help in reducing injuries.

Safety Always
Guy Fregoe
Safety Coordinator
Seaway Timber Harvesting

Behavior Cuts Both Ways

I was a worker for a number of years before getting into management. So I've seen this issue from both sides. It is my position that both management and workers have responsibility for safety.

Management has the responsibility to provide as safe a work environment as it can. That includes furnishing proper tools, equipment, PPE, etc. Management also has the responsibility for providing adequate training and informing workers of hazards. Most importantly, management must enforce safety throughout the organization.

Workers also have responsibilities such as following company rules, inspecting their work areas, using PPE as instructed, working safely, informing management of problems and coming to work physically fit and alert.

When workers get hurt it's usually because of behavior--somebody in management or a worker did something they weren't supposed to do or failed to do something they were supposed to do. Root cause analysis can then identify the problem and recommend corrective action.

John A. Cox
Safety Manager

Behavior, Not Work Conditions, Cause Most Accidents

There is no question in my mind that most accidents result from risk taking behavior rather than work conditions. Take a non-industrial setting, like an elegant office. There are no real hazards beyond that you would find in a home. Yet, you still find accidents.  Why? Because of reckless behavior. Using an office rolling-swivel chair for a step-stool is a classic example. You can't blame such accidents on management or work conditions.

In industrial settings, many of the old timers (some with two or three fingers missing), said people acted safer before OSHA.  They insisted that with all the guards and other safety treatments, we get a false sense of security and get complacent.

Denis Julien
VP Insurance Risk Manager
AMCORE Bank
Rockford IL
djulien@amcore.com

Behavior Is the Cause

As a Safety Director for a logistics company, I find that the vast majority of our incidents are behaviorally based. They tend to boil down to carelessness or a lack of appreciation on the part of workers for the hazards we all deal with every day. Many of these incidents could be classified as self-inflicted because they are a direct result of a worker's personal behavior. Yep, I'm a behaviorist.

Dale

Blame It on Behavior

I worked in a foundry as a Millwright Electrician and was 100% a Union employee.  Organized Labor is in LA LA Land, if they think management can change anything without first addressing what workers are doing wrong. That's what us workers in the real world call "ACCOUNTABILITY." Management may think they police the workforce but they don't; the workers do. Changing the workers' behavior is what prevents injuries and everybody knows that. Sorry, Organized Labor.

Jeff Roseberry
EHS Maintenance

It's a Concentration Thing

In our organization we have approximately 275 workers, in three separate manufacturing facilities on one site.  Of the medical aid injuries reported in the last year it was amazing how many of the accident / incident investigation reports, filled out by employees not the management, showed that they had just lost concentration of train of thought for a second or two or thought they were capable of doing the heavy work without help. It would seem that asking for help with the heavier work is looked at as weakness not smart thinking.  My next training session will include a doctor speaking on the human back and looking after your back in the workplace as well as speakers from the Alberta WCB who will address the cost of the injuries that occur in our own workplace.

Carolyn Golar
Health and Training Coordinator
Triple M Housing Ltd

Behavior and Work Conditions Cause Accidents

This debate over behaviorism is a classic example of not being an "either/or" but a "both/and." The general cause of accidents is based in both unsafe behavior AND unsafe work conditions such as defective tools, inadequate guards or hazardous arrangement of machinery. Individual accidents are the result of unsafe behavior, unsafe conditions or both.

Tony Nations
Manager, Loss Control
PMI

Behaviorism Doesn't Work If It's Punitive

No one disputes the need for a program that makes the workplace safer. But punitive programs don't work. If discipline is swifter than corrective action, the program will lack credibility in the eyes of workers and unions.

Example: An employee gets an infraction (demerit driven) for slipping on an ice-and snow-covered parking lot. Numerous requests had been made to clear the snow but it wasn't done due to cost cutting. Investigation finds that the cause of accident was employee's improper placement of feet! To workers, this is just management shifting the blame.

Co-operation between companies and unions is needed to address everyone's concerns. Punishment-based training is non-productive. The greatest learning tool of all is listening. Learn to listen, listen to learn.

Name withheld by request

Behaviorism Doesn't Work If It Blames the Worker

Behavior based safety is a wonderful thing - as long as it applies to all levels of management and their responsibilities in the safety program as well as the front line worker. Blame the worker has no place in safety unless everyone in the company is scrutinized equally for their safety performance or lack of that may have contributed to an incident or accident.

Bill L Bennett, O.H.S.P.

Employees Must Accept Some Responsibility

[Although I understand the point about management's blaming employees for accidents,] I fully embrace behavior-based safety. If the entire burden, or even the lion's share of "being safe" falls on the employer, the safety program is doomed. What does it say about me if every time I hurt myself I point to my employer (or spouse or friends)? Is this any different than when we whined as kids when we got caught doing wrong; i.e., blame everyone and everything but ourselves?

On the other hand, employees are entitled to expect a full disclosure of all the unique hazards in their workplace, technical assistance to help them protect against those risks (but not overly technical so that it can't be comprehended- remember the first time you tried to read a 9-page MSDS?) and training for skills they cannot be reasonably expected to possess.

Invariably the pendulum on any issue swings from one extreme to another, in this case from always "want of caution" to always "its the company's fault." The truth is in the middle: Society does not owe me anything except a level playing field. It's time for entities on both sides of the argument to respect the individual; he/she has the primary responsibility to take care of him/herself and the employer is responsible for providing the "tools" to do so.

Gerald Edgar

Behaviorism Is a Management Dodge

In my opinion, the critics of Behavior Based Safety programs have some validity when they accuse these programs of placing blame on the employees. It is human nature to place blame, especially upon someone else, and to dodge responsibility.

The ethic of accepting personal responsibility is part of every religious or spiritualistic faith of which I have knowledge. But it's not practiced. We make rules and laws for others, not ourselves. Add to this is the pechant for Management to be "efficient" (i.e., lazy) in looking for a quick fix, and for that quick fix NOT to apply to Management.

What is usually missing in unsuccessful BBS programs are three elements:
- A philosophy of Personal Responsibility
- Pursuit of Excellence
- Incorporation of Safe Management Behaviors

Without these elements, I believe that any BBS program will ultimately fail.

James Gainey
HSE Supervisor
Member ASSE, NFPA

Behaviorism Does Not Blame the Worker

It's very sad that "detractors criticize behavior based safety (BBS) for blaming accidents on the workers and, by implication, absolving management of responsibility." One of the basic tenets of BBS is to make the paradigm shift from fault-finding (blame) to fact-finding with respect to root causes of incidents in order to prevent reoccurrence.

I see at least two reasons for this attitude: (a) previous exposure to a poorly designed and/or implemented behavior-based process, and/or; (b) lack of understanding and education on BBS. The latter is the most pervasive issue.

It is a fact that human actions are associated with at least one of the root causes in the overwhelming majority of safety incidents. Depending on the research studies, this percentage is purported to be associated with anywhere from 75% to 95% of the incidents. That does not mean that the individual worker was "at fault"; simply that somewhere along the chain a human error occurred and that with the proper intervention, the incident could have been prevented. This could have occurred back in the equipment or system design steps on through the actions immediately preceding the incident.

In leading company-wide safety culture changes with two major corporations, we based our efforts for creating lasting change in safety attitudes and behaviors (and ultimately incident reduction) by first educating the masses on the principles of BBS, from those employees on the front lines to the President/CEO. A sincere desire to change and an on-going commitment to a system and process are absolute necessities. Otherwise, it's just another "program of the month" ... and it will fail.

Gary C. Wolf
Wolf Safety Group, LLC

Let's Get Past the Blame Game and Open Our Minds

Reducing the value of Behavior Based Safety Programs to apportioning blame is to lose the very effectiveness of such programs.  All of us were born with an individual capacity for risk taking. This capacity is a combination of genetic and environmental factors. In a workplace that is seeking to reduce injuries and accidents, the risk acceptance level of the individual has to be moderated to the risk acceptance level of the organization. Behavior Based Safety Programs allow an organization to reset the risk tolerance of an individual on a task basis. When certain behaviors are targeted as unacceptable, this very identification is the first step in the behavior modification process. As the individuals in the facility are taught to see those behaviors as unacceptable, and this teaching is reinforced through observations and interventions, the risk tolerance for that behavior is changed. Eventually, the risk acceptance level of the individual is reset to the organization's expectation, one behavior at a time.

As Safety Professionals we all have an obligation to understand the complex interactions that lead to accidents in the workplace, and remember to work on all the components of safe operation.Any time we allow ourselves or our safety programs to become one-dimensional, we allow those other risk factors to go unaddressed.

Is Behavior Based Safety a good thing or a bad thing?  The more important questions are: Are we as Safety Professionals willing to embrace the complexity of maintaining an accident free workplace? Are we willing use all the available tools to address the separate but equally important components of behavior, design, operations, maintenance and culture to create that workplace? Are we willing to be ambassadors for all the elements that create a safe workplace - not just those currently in vogue?

Anne Marie

Behaviorism Works-An Oil Industry Success Story

Having worked in a behavior based observation culture over the last two years, I am convinced that it works. Not only does it work, it is working well in the area of oilfield construction. The area here in North East Alberta is screaming busy, with a great deal of employee movement between projects.

We start the BBO process as soon as the employee walks in the door. Our foremen and supervisors are all well versed in mentoring the new employee, so that a complete understanding of how it works is put forward. We have also found that the core group of employees has taken ownership of the system, making the learning curve smooth and consistent.

We don't look for some one to blame for the incident or near miss, we look for the root cause and make sure that the learning's are passed on to everyone in the entire organization so the incident can be averted in the future. I don't feel that BBO can absolve management if you use the whole program, we are after the facts to learn from, so the situation can be fixed. To use BBO as a tool of blame and discipline will stop it in its tracks as a useful tool. Having the system in place here has made our transient work force a safer work force as when people leave here they take the ideas and basics with them, it becomes a habit to practice BBO at work, home or play.

Jim Millington C.S.O.
Safety Advisor
FLINT ENERGY SERVICES
Bonnyville Mechanical
826-7055 Office
826-8836 Direct
573-8903 Cell
826-1796 Fax
jmillington@flint-energy.com

A Success Story: Behaviorism as Part of a Larger Effort

It is my belief that to have a successful program you must first address equipment and process issues.  In addition you must ensure that your safety training is of the highest quality. Once these pieces are in place, you can use a behavior based system.

This is what we did. For example, we implemented an eight-hour safety orientation for new employees. This and other measures sent the message to our employees that we were committed to addressing all safety concerns as we were striving to reduce injuries in our facility.  In 1999 our OSHA Incident Rate was 9.39 which we reduced to 2.23 by 2005.  We believe that our 76% OIR improvement in 6 years demonstrates the success of our program. I am available to answer any questions you may have about our comprehensive safety program.

Michael Coleman
Safety Manager
Rockline Industries

What Management Should Do

I believe management should make sure that the machines/equipment, processes and the working environment are safe. However, that does not mean they shouldn't also take that one step further with training employees to develop safe working habits. And make sure the training sticks. Make sure you have procedures (accessible to the employee) to follow, make sure your machines/equipment has safety checks and is in good working order, ensure the employees have a safe environment through housekeeping practices, visual aids, clear aisleways, etc. Audit, audit, audit!  ALL of this is essential to providing a safe work environment.

Cheryl Urmson

Behaviorism Is Part of the Answer

There is no one perfect safety tool. A good safety program, in my opinion (25+ years of safety) involves behavior based training and on going safety education. Inspections, scheduled and unscheduled, monthly safety committee meetings (w/ proper representation) that allow employee input and you must be honest. Give a person reasons not to get hurt and give them the (knowledge/equipment) necessary to remain injury free and your compensation rates will drop.

Dave Brick, President
Niagara Safety Management, Inc.

Behaviorism Empowers the Worker

Behavior-based safety trains employees that they are not helpless 'victims', but have control of their decisions.  A tragic example is provided by a recent news article http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/12/26/ems.bridge/.

In summary, a drawbridge operated by raising the middle section to allow boats to pass.  It was infrequently used. On a foggy night, with safety equipment inoperable (gates, lights, bells), a police vehicle was dispatched to deliver flares to the bridge operator to warn traffic.  They crossed the bridge, delivered the flares, and as they returned over the bridge, the middle section had been raised.  They drove over the edge into the river and died.

While it appears the officers were placed in a situation that should never have been allowed to occur, there may have been elements of their behavior which, if changed, would have saved their lives.

Gary O'Bannon

The Last Word

Behavior based safety is a valuable tool in our arsenal to create a safer work environment. Used correctly, everyone benefits. A part of management behavior is providing the tools and processes to work safely. They do not accept sub-standard equipment or work environments. Staff behaviors reduce the on-site factors of inattention, rushing, fatigue and complacency.

The biggest problem with behavior based safety comes when it is applied disproportionately to either management or staff; but this is true of any safety initiative. There is no one silver bullet that will keep everyone safe. Like any good relationship, it takes the daily decision to make it a priority.

Debra J. Riley
BWC Training Officer
Performance Support and Training

Story Tools:  Email This Post  Print This Post Top