What are we to make of safe behaviour programs? |
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| Institution: | 1. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA;2. Construction Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;3. University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, USA;4. Industrial and Systems Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA;1. Mary Kay O’Connor Process Safety Center, Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3122, USA;2. Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-3116, USA;1. School of Psychology, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia;2. Business school, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley 6009, Australia;1. School of Business, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, 46150 Bandar Sunway, Selangor, Malaysia;2. Psychology Faculty, Division of Arts and Sciences, El Centro College of the Dallas County Community College District, Dallas, TX 75250, United States;3. Supply Chain Operational Consultant, Dallas, TX, United States |
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| Abstract: | Safe behaviour programs are currently a popular strategy for improving safety in large organizations. This paper provides a critical look at the assumptions that underlie such programs and identifies some of their limitations.Safe behaviour programs run the risk of assuming that unsafe behaviour is the only cause of accidents worth focusing on. The reality is that unsafe behaviour is often merely the last link in a causal chain and not necessarily the most effective link to focus on, for the purposes of prevention.One major drawback of these programs is that they miss critically important unsafe behaviour, such as attempts by workers to re-start processes that have been temporarily interrupted. Conventional safe behaviour programs aimed at front line workers are also of no use in preventing accidents in which the behaviour of front line workers is not involved.Given that it is the behaviour of management that is most critical in creating a culture of safety in any organization, behavioural safety observations are likely to have their greatest impact if directed upwards, at managers.The paper concludes with an appendix about accident repeater programs that are sometimes introduced along with safe behaviour programs. |
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