Hi Katie, In my company we've incorporated behavioural safety into our mandatory training courses, thanks in part to it being part of a syllabus we deliver in our accredited courses, but also because we want our guys to see the merit in safe behaviour. That has meant us bringing all our supervisors into the classroom for a Behavioural Safety course, which is introduced by the MD. He reiterates the H&S message and gives them his full support if they stop an activity because they believe it is unsafe. You could try a similar route - I think that due to the nature of behavioural safety (and there will be others on here with more experience of it than I) it is best to take the message and tailor the delivery to your own organisation. There is plenty of material out there. PM me if you like and I'll see if I can't help you out. A

Hello, We do need to change the culture in our Company and obviously this takes time. Again if you do have any ideas on how i can improve the behavioural aspect please let me know. Thanks again for your replies. Katie

Katie In my experience most incidents are behavioral based - so, nothing unusual there. Behavioral implies many different types of acts or omissions, I think you may need to narrow it down to fully appreciate the underlying causal factors. For instance, rule violations are normally due to people taking short cuts to save time or effort. However, it could be the rules are not very practical, it is common custom and practice, and/or supervisory staff have been turning a blind eye. Sometimes things aint what they seem. Ray

Welcome back Merv. Working in the rail/construction industry as I do, I have some serious problems with BBS. In a more 'clinical' enviroment there may be opportunities for BBS. However, in a dynamic industry it is all about 'getting the job done' and making a buck. Trying to influence hard nosed construction supervisors, managers and the client is a tough cookie. When the pressure is on to meet tight timescales even the simplest of safety measures is difficult to achieve. I think we should invent a managerial BBS system, that's where most of my problems lie and not with the hard working souls at the coal face with whom I have total respect. Ray

Welcome back Merv, how was the cruise? Sorry Katie, didnt mean to steal your thread, an interesting subject. Time to discuss we need. Regards Wizard

Hi Katie, I have a similar issue to you! We are a very conscious company and provide training and information etc etc. but we see accidents within the workplace which, considering all the above, are still occurring...! We have looked into getting assistance from our insurance company (EL) and they are funding some basic BBS pilot programme that if successful we can deliver throughout the company. This is a win - win situation for the insurance company – as they will see less EL claims and better management from us. Hope this helps :0)

"what does it profit a man ... ?" Well, usually a fast buck. There can be, and often are, benefits from working unsafely : getting the job done quicker, gaining approval for being a fast worker, spare time to read the Daily Mail at then end of the shift, and so on. The negatives of working unsafely - the probablility of an injury or other unwanted consequences are statisticaly low ; how many times have you gone over the speed limit without getting hurt or fined ?, how many times has a manager or supervisor not seen and/or not reacted to an unsafe act ? These negatives (or at least the "perceived" negatives are most often outweighed by the positives. Put that against the negatives of working safely - wearing PPE for example "I can't see, I can't hear, I can't feel, it's hot, it's heavy, it gets in the way, it takes too long, I'll look stupid .... and add in the sometimes vague positives "wear them for the next twenty years and you may not go deaf, there is a one in a hundred chance of having something fall on your foot this year, you might get something in your eye ... and the negatives of working safely very often outweigh the positives. Quite simply, working unsafely very often has immediate positive consequences. Working safely has none. (actually the only positive from wearing PPE is the absence of a negative - "I wore my safety glasses and didn't get anything in my eyes today" A very weakly motivating consequence. "Traditional" safey motivation consists of identifying unsafe behaviours and correcting them. Very often by increasing or reinforcing the negative conseqeunces. "Behavioural" safety (my way) consists of identifying safe behaviours, rewarding and reinforcing them. By ensuring positive consequences for the good guys. Easy. Hey, people. Isn't just bringing a smile to your boss's face a reward in itself ? Merv