Behavioural Based Safety

Introduction

OHSAS18001:2007 – Clause number 4.3.1(e) specifies that the procedure for Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) shall take into account human behavior, capabilities and other human factors. The importance of human behavior can be seen from the above.

While the word “Behavior” is defined by the free dictionary as below, 

·         as the action or reaction of something (as a machine or substance) under specified circumstances, or

·         the way a person behaves toward other people,

·         manner of acting or controlling yourself,

the implicit meaning as required by the standard is the attitude, which is defined as “a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways”

Hence, what is required to assess as a part of 4.3.1 (e) is the hazards and risks resulting from the attitude of the employees while working in operating processes using machines or carrying out manual operations. It should be noted that the attitude as defined above is a dynamic state and hence the hazards identified in an office, may not reflect the reality in the work area.   While carrying out HIRA, majority of the risks are measured based on the activities and invariably this aspect of behavior is grossly overlooked.

Measurement of human behavior/human factors

How do we measure the above dynamic nature of the risks attributed by the human behavior and other human factors? While the risk assessment identifies 2 major factors, namely- unsafe conditions and unsafe acts, statistics reveal that the significant causes of the workplace accidents are due to “unsafe acts”, putting the blame entirely on the employees. The question is whether there is a link between the “unsafe conditions” which is the responsibility of the employers and the “unsafe acts” which are related to the behavior of the employees while at work.

Examples of unsafe acts that can arise can be summarized into internal and external to the organisation.

Some of the internal issues that can lead to unsafe acts can be visualized as below

Sl. No.	Conditions	Actions	Result	Causes
1.	Process /machine unsafe conditions	Unknown  to the process owner	Continues to operate –leads to unsafe act	Ignorant
2.	Process /machine unsafe conditions known to the process owner	Informs the management, who ignores and does not correct	Leading to unsafe act	Behavior by management
3.	Process/Machine in good condition	Operator flouts instructions, procedures, etc.,	Leading to unsafe act	Willful behavior by employee
4.	Process/Machine in good condition	Operator given defective PPE's	Leading to unsafe act	Willful behavior by management
5.	Process/Machine in good condition	Operator does not know correct operating conditions	Leading to unsafe act	Inadequate training- management
6.	Machine in good condition	Operator acts independently beyond the limits of working	Leading to unsafe act	Willful behavior- unwarranted initiative by employee
7.	Everything is fine. Operator is unhappy with the working conditions	Expresses resentment through unsafe acts	Leading to unsafe act	Willful behavior by employee
8.	Everything is fine Operator unhappy with Management	Intentional unsafe act to catch the attention	Leading to unsafe act	Unwarranted behavior y employee
9.	Everything is fine a group of bad elements  unhappy with Management	Intentional unsafe act to catch the attention	Leading to unsafe act	Unwarranted behavior by employees

Some of the external issues that can lead to unsafe acts can be visualized as below

Sl. No.	Conditions	Actions	Result	Causes
1	Unhappy at home, disturbed mind	Unintentional unsafe act	Leading to unsafe act	Human factor- employee
2	Unwell and physically disturbed	Unintentional unsafe act	Leading to unsafe act	Human factor- employee
3	Falls sick while at work	Unintentional unsafe act	Leading to unsafe act	Human factor- employee
4	External forces incite to create unsafe conditions inside the workplace	Intentional unsafe act	Leading to unsafe act	Human factor- employee

Solutions

Remedies and solutions to prevent/minimize unsafe acts falling out of human behavior and human factors are given below:

·         Behavioral safety is the inclusion of behavioral approach in the traditional training programmes. Behavioral safety is the awareness and mindfulness of the hazards and risks in their workplace and use the knowledge and skills to prevent the incidents. 

·         Traditionally, significant reduction in work place accidents due to unsafe acts is done thro’ structured training programmes on the implementation of SOP’s, Safe Work Practices, etc., However, it is not enough. The following are some of the remedies and solutions that can be implemented.

·         Company needs a Leadership with personal accountability and responsibility. It is an everyday affair looking for warning signs, cultural clues and verifying “what could go wrong” on that particular day. The question is why a person chooses an unsafe behavior putting every one around him in an unsafe condition. The answer to this is the approach of “walk the talk”, looking at early warning signs, listening to the employees about their problems, to highlight the negative behavior, to discuss as to how it can harm the person and the work place and solving the problems proactively.  This is to be done on every day basis by the Safety Managers, Executives, and Shop floor managers.

·         During the above, some of the following actions will be helpful to identify  individuals who are likely to affect the safety culture of the company

o   Individual mentoring

o   Predict the likely mob behavior and implement solutions proactively

o   Providing engineering solutions as an alternate to use of PPE’s in a speedier manner

o   Active listening to identified problems during walk the talk

o   Initiating preventive health care, company wide

o   Prevention of monotony at the work place

o   Relying less on administrative controls

o   Initiating job enlargement/enrichment opportunities

Conclusions

Behavioral safety is a dynamic phenomenon and there is no standard solution to the unsafe acts falling out of human behavior and human factors. Solutions vary due to the company culture, products/services provided, level of unsafe conditions, type of leadership, etc.,