Behavior Based Safety | STC | Safety & Compliance Consultants

What is behavior based safety? Many employers believe that when they understand what safety looks like and the hazards their employees are exposed to, they can determine what unsafe behaviors could occur in the workplace.

Today, companies utilize behavior-based programs to identify human actions that could lead to serious accidents or even a fatality. These behavior based programs help promote safety awareness within the organization without having to formally or daily train employees about safe work practices.

Behavior Based Programs

Behavior-based programs help organizations make safety an essential part of their work lives. The goal is that employees self-consciously make safety an essential component for the job, like breathing, without it we can’t survive.

However, companies may attempt to adapt behavior-based programs without fully understanding what it means and what is required. Many employers will adapt these programs with the mentality that it will help the company know who is performing at risky levels or could potentially create risk within the company.

Many refer to it as the “tattle tell program”, in which the company encourages employees to report unsafe behaviors with the sole purpose of preventing injuries and accidents. The reality could be different in some cases.

Improper Training

Safety leaders, supervisors, or managers who are not trained in behavior-based safety programs could push these programs to create internal harm to the organization, including:

Using the program to place blame on employees
Improper training
Using behavior-based safety as your whole focused safety program
Using the program to discipline employees (this is a very common mistake)
Not getting initial buy-in from employees
Not including all employees (management and hourly staff)

Heinrich’s Law

In 1931, Herbert William Heinrich published a book titled Industrial Accident Prevention: A Scientific Approach. Henrich was an assistant superintendent of the Engineering and Inspection Division of Travelers Insurance Company when he published his book.

In this book, Heinrich theorized that for every major accident resulting in injury, there are 29 minor accidents that cause minor injuries and 300 accidents that cause no injuries. This became known as “Heinrich’s Law”. See below:

Goals of Behavior-Based Safety Programs

While there have been substantial changes over the years to behavior-based safety, the overwhelming data shows that when implemented correctly, behavior-based programs assist in the reduction of accidents and injuries. When implemented correctly, behavior-based safety should:

Identify (or target) behaviors that affect safety
Define these behaviors precisely enough to measure them reliably
Develop and implement mechanisms for measuring those behaviors in order to determine their current status and set reasonable goals
Provide employee feedback
Reinforce progress

Conclusion

In conclusion, behavior-based safety should be a tool used to develop a strong safety culture within the organization and should not be used as a tool to punish the worker.