Behavioral Based Safety

Posted on May 11, 2018

Behavioral Based Safety

Behavioral Based Safety was the topic of a discussion from a group on LinkedIn that lead to this blog.   I've been formally in the OH&S profession since 2011. I started my 30 plus years in construction as a mason’s helper. I have seen a lot of head shaking questionable things in construction. The first time I heard the phrase ‘Behavior-Based Safety’ was up at the Kearl Oil Sands Project. Located in Northern Alberta, it was the largest site I've ever seen. The OH&S professional who talked about it was Dave Fennell, and what he said really made me think.

Choices  

Being more on-site than in an office, when dealing with workers and trades we never say the word “Behavior”. What it really boils down to is “Choices”. A worker gets tasked to do a job on a site and right away he starts making choices about doing this specific job. Yes, most repetitional work has a procedure for it and everybody knows the OH&S programs on sites have to be followed. However, workers are still getting hurt, and suffering fatalities. Day of Mourning in British Columbia had listed 153 deceased workers for 2017. How and Why?

Where does it come from? 

A lot of it was from the choices workers make or being told to do the task in such a way that wasn’t safe. Their choice then was to follow the direction of their boss. On one particular site, I noticed a worker right on the edge of a patio with no guardrails, squatting down and installing the waterproof material on the outer corner. He was 6 stories up and what he was tied off to was the plastic handle on the sliding glass door. 50 pounds of force would have snapped that handle right off. To make matters worse, the side of the building he was working on faced WorkSafe BCs offices.

Bad Choice

I sure didn’t want to startle him for he might go off, so my choice was to walk up, grab the rope lifeline and pull him backward. He looked at me like I was crazy. When the matter was finally dealt with, I came up with the following conclusions.

Works Hazards

The worker only had a small task to do. In his mind, it was a lot easier and less time-consuming to do it the way he was, rather than doing the task from a man-lift on the outside. It was also quicker than walking 6 flights of stairs down and 6 more back up while carrying our doorway anchor device designed for just such situations in a mostly finished suit. He also didn’t want to appear stupid by asking for advice or help on such a small job. Pride, a seriously negative behavior for a young and new worker.

My Opinion

In my humble opinion, Behavioral Based Safety starts and ends with the workers. While working, choices and decisions are made from the mindset of a worker. Based on knowledge, experience, emotions, attitude, and mindset at that particular time. I always tell workers to take 5 before a task starts. Ask themselves “What could go wrong”. In a lot of cases, the answers they come up with (with my help) have a tendency to change their behaviors.  Upper management can formulate all the rules, regulations, and safety catchphrases, while owners and CEOs can instill a company’s core values, but it's still the choices a worker makes which could lead to a negative result.

Behavior

Behaviors in Behavioral Based Safety are the result of choices being made because of the situation a worker is in. He could be under the gun for time, or they are not specifically trained for what they are doing. Choices being made due to attitudes like, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years, I know what I’m doing. I’m not going to get hurt”. For me, since I’m on site I have to change that behavior. Corporate has nothing to do with it. Unless it’s an equipment failure or an act of mother nature, injuries and fatalities are caused by behaviors that lead to bad choices. 

Possible Results  

Behavioral Based Safety in a negative light can and in most cases as one final result. Those workers can find themselves on a Day of Mourning statistical list.