The Six Biggest Mistakes in Implementing a

Behavior-Based Safety Process

Jan 1, 2001 12:00 AM, By OH EDITORIAL STAFF

A behavior analyst uncovers the six biggest mistakes companies make when
attempting to implement the behavior-based safety process and explains
how misunderstanding the process can inherently destroy it.

Warning: In all probability, your organization's behavior-based safety process will

soon collapse.

Statistics show that 70 percent of such initiatives undertaken by American companies

fail, resulting in billions of dollars in lost time and revenues.

Yet, worse than the financial loss is the pervasive skepticism of both management
and hourly employees that follows -- skepticism often expressed as, "Our company is
incapable of change."

Safety is often the starting point for positive-change initiatives within organizations.
Planning and managing change is a strategic advantage if successfully executed. If
not, however, a downward spiral of negative expectations can eventually paralyze
any willingness to confront change. Therefore, in addition to being an important area
for positive change, a safety initiative's success or failure may foreshadow the
success or failure of future change efforts.

Fortunately, today's companies, both national and international, have come to the
realization that antecedent and results-only safety programs cannot maximize safe
performance. Safety processes that target the root cause of most accidents and
incidents human behavior once ignored or rarely heard of, have now claimed the
spotlight. The new acceptance and implementation of behavior-based safety methods
is a step in the right direction, but a few common missteps can prematurely cripple
your organization's process.

The six biggest risks your company might take in implementing behavior-based safety
fall under the categories of "how" you implement and "what" you are trying to get
people to do.

RISK NO. 1

Thinking that observation and participation are the core of behavior-based safety

The origin of this first and biggest risk can usually be traced to the numerous
consulting companies selling behavior-based services. Most of the consulting firms
selling and delivering behavior-based instruction are safety professionals by training
and experience. Their understanding of the behavior approach is limited, resulting in
applications which rigidly duplicate and emphasize random pieces of applied
behavioral science.