Behavioural Safety New Approaches to Managing Workplace Safety 2019 Alan Bartholomew BSC; M.ED.; IOSH Tech.
Workshop Sessions By the end of the workshop you should be able to consider: • Different Approaches to Behavioural Safety; • The Psychology of Human Safety behaviour; • The Challenges of Safety Leadership and Culture; • Identifying Behavioural Safety Targets in your Business; • Influencing behaviour: Different behavioural approaches; • Ensuring Accident Investigators consider behavioural questions;
Session One Human Safety Behaviour Key Issues to set the Scene
The ‘Safety’ Plateau • In the 21 st century the consistent decline of accident and incidents rates has stalled. • Why is this and how can we take the next steps in safety management? Accident/Incident rates Engineering Controls Effective HSMS Systems Behavioural Management: Behavioural Management: Empowering Staff Telling Staff 1970’s 1980’s/1990’s 2000’s
What is Behavioural Safety? • ‘The systematic application of psychological research on human behaviour to the problems of workplace safety (Dominic Cooper 1999) • A central belief has been that ‘injuries and illnesses’ are a result of ‘unsafe decisions’ by workers, underpinned by a variety of factors • To prevent injuries staff at all levels should identify and target ‘unsafe behaviours’ and work together to reduce the impact of these
IOSH - ‘Looking for higher standards’ • Behavioural Safety is a natural progression from highly prescriptive engineered and procedural systems • Is a recognition that progressive companies will already have an effective H ealth and S afety M anagement S ystem (HSMS) • Behavioural Safety should recognise workers as mature human beings with an interest in their own wellbeing • Workers can contribute best when they can influence their own safety practice
Hierarchy of Risk and Human Behaviour Place Control Technical People Control Behavioural
The Target Zero Culture 1. Hands up if you have a zero target for ‘accidents and incidents’ in your business? 2. How many of you genuinely believe zero is an achievable target 365 days every year, forever? • Dr Robert Long (www. humandymensions .com) suggests these things about zero targets: They set managers and colleagues up to fail and Colleagues/managers hide or don’t report failures (e.g. near misses) for fear of being accused of failure
Is Behaviour a Matter of Choice? Choice Unsafe Behaviour Safe Behaviour If we’re honest sometimes we think safety but we don’t behave safely Why is there sometimes a mismatch between intention and practice?
Risk Decisions - Conscious or Unconscious • The unconscious brain processes 11 million bits of information per/sec prior • This unconscious brain influences our perceptions of risk – e.g. we use experience to make risk choices • The conscious mind processes How many of your information at 40 bits of information businesses have a safety per/sec. In this mode we use rational strategy that deals with risk thinking at an unconscious thinking, e.g. follow SOP’s level?
Behavioural Safety - Some Key Issues 1) Leadership 2) Awareness Recognising how Ensuring all staff are safety leadership aware how their ‘behaviour and attitude’ influences ‘Safety can influence safety Culture’ through practice action or inaction Behavioural Based Safety 3) Ownership 4) Measurement and Promoting ‘ ownership of Analysis safety’ as a core business Understanding why safety value for all Leaders; ‘goes well’ and analysing Managers; Colleagues; why things ‘go wrong’ Contractors and Clients
Session Two Behavioural Psychology
Human Safety Behaviour – What do you Believe? Heinrich 1930’s James Reason 1990 Rather than being the main instigators • 88% of all workplace accidents of accidents operators tend to inherit caused by “man - failure” (human system defects created by: error or mistake) poor design; incorrect installation; • employers and business owners faulty maintenance need to control hazards as well as pay attention to the behaviour of poor management decisions. workers Social Psychology Behaviourism/Behaviourist
Behavioural Safety How does your HSMS view your staff? Workers: Workers: A problem A solution Sydney Dekker 2011 to Control? to harness?
Human Psychology – The Safety Debate On your tables briefly discuss the following: What drives safety behaviour? 1. Is everything okay as long as we follow instructions? (Behaviourism) 2. Do we always think through what we learn and make safety decisions based upon training and rational thinking? (Social Psychology) 3. Do we always think before acting? (Conscious V Subconscious)
A summary of Psychological Approaches Behaviourist Psychology Social Psychology • Human Behaviour changed by external • Human behaviour a response to internal influences - Safety Rules or Manager thinking and external influence control • People are complex with value and • Worker ‘errors and violations’ controlled belief systems, through ‘one best method’ (SOP’s) • You can ‘train out’ human errors and • Behaviour control uses reward (Near Miss violations reporting) and punishment for rule • Use of reward and punishment should violations and sometimes errors/mistakes be last control option – not effective • Anticipates conscious thinking re SOP’s long term • Popular from 1920’s to 1970’s • More popular theory of human behaviour from 1980’s onwards • Reward and Punishment still used in many • Behaviour based on conscious thinking HSMS systems today
Human Error & Violation HSG 48
HSE - Human Factors (HSG 48) ‘Human factors refer to: environmental; organisational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics which influence behaviour at work in a way which affects health and safety’. This involves addressing human factors in: • relevant job, individual and organisational safety; • risk assessment; • accident investigation; • design and procurement; • day-to-day operations; • involving the workforce and their representatives; • selecting from a range of effective control measures.
Sydney Dekker – Understanding Human Error
Safety Failure - Latent or Active Active failures: On your table discuss: • have immediate consequences - made by front- 1. In your organisation identify line workers; operators; engineers etc. colleagues who have a latent Latent failures: - safety role? • made by non operational colleagues; e.g. 2. What safety training do you designers, leaders and managers; CEO’s give these colleagues so that they understand their part in Latent influences: safety management? • subtle safety influences 3. How many times do ‘latent • difficult to see unless questions asked during safety’ issues get recorded as auditing or following accident or incident a ‘near miss or safety investigations violation’ ?
Latent Safety – a Summary • poor design of plant and equipment; • ineffective training; • inadequate supervision; • ineffective safety communication; • uncertainties in roles and responsibilities
Common Sense Common sense is a much misused term in everyday life but what might it actually mean in safety terms? A definition: “ The ability to see what is in front of someone else's eyes rather than your own – that’s what would make it common” Robert Ludlum
Behavioural ‘Common Sense’ in Safety • How an organisation communicates and engages with their employee’s on safety and • How it uses staff ideas to empower their human behaviour risk management strategies (Bartholomew 2019) Examples: • Using staff perception of where ‘errors and mistakes’ are most likely to occur in operations; • Creating risk assessments and method statements that discuss and reflect on conscious and unconscious behaviours
Session Three Safety Leadership and Culture
Leadership and Management A healthy organisation requires both safety managers and leaders
Safety Leadership – What safety leaders should do! Suggestions: On your tables discuss these questions? 1. Acts as a good role model 2. Regularly promotes safe work Name 5 things you do regularly practice to support safety practice? 3. Is approachable and receptive to Name 5 things your CEO does colleague ideas on safety regularly to support safety? 4. Develops a team ethos where everyone looks out for each other Name 5 things board members 5. Respond quickly to safety concerns do regularly to support safety? and feeds back on actions taken How do you measure success regarding the above activities?
Leadership Roles Supervising Leading Supporting Culture shaping role Technical role Functional role Coaching and motivating role
Safety Leadership – Dr Dominic Cooper
Safety Leadership Styles - Transactional Style: • Leader tends to talk at people • Leader thinks people perform best when clear chain of command • Leaders use Reward and punishment to motivate staff • Does not encourage innovation or change
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