Building the Positive Safety Culture by Focusing on Safe Behavior New Developments/Trends in Behavioral Safety

Transcription

1 Building the Positive Safety Culture by Focusing on Safe Behavior New Developments/Trends in Behavioral Safety CAGC Conference Greenville, SC July 30, 2015 John Kello, Ph.D. -- Davidson College & Kello & Associates, Inc.

2 Introduction John Kello Industrial-Organizational Psychologist. Professor at Davidson College and Graduate Faculty Affiliate at UNC-Charlotte. President of Kello & Associates, Inc. Work with many companies in Leadership and Safety Developed the streamlined Behavior-Based Safety approach that has been implemented successfully in several industries. Contribute columns in the Positive Safety Cultures series in the Industrial Safety & Hygiene News since 2005.

3 The Behavior-Based Approach to Safety Takes a positive approach to build the Positive Safety Culture. Assumes that people do what they are rewarded for. Focuses on high-risk situations. Identifies proper safe behaviors ( best practice ) as the key to safe work. Activates/coaches and rewards those behaviors. Supports all employees in becoming safety leaders.

4 The Basics of the Behavior-Based Approach The behavior-based approach says that at least three kinds of factors influence safety: Environment ( Working Conditions ), Person, and Behavior. The behavior-based approach does not minimize or ignore the importance of the Environment/ Conditions or Person factors. It simply highlights the under-emphasized Behavior factor, which is the primary contributing cause of accidents (more than 80%).

5 The Basics of the Behavior-Based Approach A Behavior-Based Safety Model: The Chain Most accidents have multiple causes and are the end product of a chain of events, each event often, in and of itself, minor. Most accidents could have been intercepted at any of several links in the chain they could have been avoided, isolated, and corrected or contained through safe behavior.

6 A Typical Accident Eastern On the evening of December 29, 1972, Eastern Airlines Flight 401 went down in the Florida everglades, killing 99 passengers and crewmembers. The wide-body L-1011 jet had developed a mechanical problem. The mechanical problem was a burned-out landing gear indicator bulb. As the 3-man crew struggled to remove the bulb over a period of several minutes, somehow the autopilot disengaged; and instead of holding at their assigned altitude of 2000 feet, they began descending into the swamp. The disengagement of the autopilot was accompanied by a loud alarm, clearly audible in the cockpit voice recording that was recovered after the accident. None of the crewmembers showed any indication of noticing or responding to the alarm. They were all preoccupied with that stubborn bulb. Air traffic control at the Miami International Airport apparently noticed that Eastern 401 was well below its assigned altitude; and at one point, the tower called out Eastern 401, how are things coming along out there? Eight seconds before impact one of the crewmembers finally noticed that they were not at 2000 feet and alerted his crewmates. In the remaining eight seconds, no one took any evasive action.

7 A Typical Accident An experienced loader operator in a rock quarry is in a hurry to get trucks loaded with stone because previous equipment problems with his loader have caused him to fall behind. He cuts corners out of a sense of personal responsibility to get material shipped out, including not keeping his supervisor informed as to his current location and status. In a rush, he has neglected to leave the cab and carefully physically check behind his loader before starting it and backing up. In the meantime, an experienced maintenance man has gotten a call to come to that part of the quarry to work on a different piece of equipment. The directions to him were unclear, and he did not verify them. He arrives in the designated area of the quarry, sees a stopped loader, and gets out of his truck and walks behind it, mistakenly thinking it is the one he is supposed to work on. As he is bent down behind the loader, where he could not be seen by the loader operator, the operator quickly starts the loader and backs up, running over and fatally injuring the maintenance man.

8 Critical Competencies to Promote Safe Work World-class safety research in High Reliability Organizations has identified the following: **Communication and Feedback **Situational Awareness Group Problem-Solving Workload Distribution Stress Awareness

9 Safety Coaching Coaching others in safe work is at the heart of the behavior-based approach, as I implement it. Simpler and less expensive than conventional BBS programs. Empowers all associates to operate as safety leaders Can dramatically reduce accidents, near misses, and unsafe acts. Is foundational to a Positive Safety Culture.

10 Safety Coaching Effective Coaching... Is based on Caring Is based on accurate Observation Includes Analysis is it done safely? Requires Communication and Feedback (positive and corrective) Aims to Help Is done in a professional manner, with mutual respect no abusive language or personal attacks

11 Safety Coaching Things to Say I notice that... Let me show you a safer way... Hold on a second before you... Safe work is important to us all... let me show you... I am concerned... It is important to me... Before we start, let s be sure... Let me help you... I care about our safety... and I know you do too... Great! That s just the way we need to do it...

12 Safety Coaching Things Not to Say What are you doing? Why are you doing that? Do you think that s smart? You dumb a--, you are going to hurt yourself! Do you want to have an accident!? What the #!**! are you thinking? What s wrong with you!?

13 Typical Results A Division of an Industrial Company Had an Incident Rate Approaching 6.0, Worst in the Company (Corp. Goal Less than 2.5). Once Implemented, Annual Incident Rate Less than 1.5, Sustained, With No LTA in 18 Months.

14 Positive Safety Culture When We Do This Right Safety meetings and other safety communications really activate safety awareness and safe behavior Near misses are discussed and learned from, without jeopardy Associates are willing and able to coach each other in safe work even coach upward Hazardous conditions are identified, communicated, and promptly corrected

15 Summing Up Focus on Behavior good choices /safe acts as well as Working Conditions and Personal Factors. Take a positive approach. Think in advance, observe, communicate, give constructive feedback, review once the task is done coach. Expect others to do the same.

16 Questions/Discussion? Dr. John Kello