Behavior Based Safety

Hello staff members and welcome to this concise e-learning program on Behavior Based Safety (or BBS for short).

This course is broken down into several bite-sized lessons and activities that will help you learn efficiently and at your own pace.

So, let’s start by asking the most obvious question: “What is behavior based safety?”

Behavior Based Safety or BBS, as we will call it from now on, can be thought of as a concept that helps both management and employees improve the overall safety performance of an organization through positive observation of different work behaviors and constructive intervention, when needed.

BBS is intended to focus workers’ attention on daily safety behaviors.  

However, before we discuss BBS any further, let’s first define the term “behavior”.

“Behavior” can be defined as any action you can see someone doing. Thus, the term “behavior” only describes visible actions and does not refer to things you cannot see, such as an employee’s attitude or thoughts.

The goal of BBS programs in different organizations is to improve the safety and health of workers by changing their own behavior from unsafe or “at risk” behaviors to “safe” behaviors.

BBS is NOT about blaming employees for safety mishaps, but about positively reinforcing safe behaviors while providing corrective feedback when unsafe or risky behaviors are observed.

History of BBS

Many of you are probably wondering when or how the interest in BBS began. So, let’s take a quick look at the history of the topic.

BBS is said to have begun following some research conducted by Mr. Herbert William Heinrich, an American industrial safety pioneer, back in the 1930s.

During his time working for an insurance company, Heinrich undertook some research which led to him writing a book called Industrial Accident Prevention, A Scientific Approach, which was published in 1931.

Heinrich claimed that around 88% of all workplace accidents were caused by “man-failure” or behavioral failure.

His work became the basis for the BBS theory. Heinrich encouraged employers and business owners to control hazards and pay attention to the behavior of workers.

Following the publication of Heinrich’s book, companies began to adopt a more systematic approach of analyzing accident data.

While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact origin of BBS as we know it, in the early 1970s, several books and articles were published on the subject.

To conclude this lesson, we will discuss the reasons why BBS is considered to be so important.

You see, according to the ILO, or International Labor Organization, at least 1.9 million people die as a result of work-related injuries and diseases each year.

The root causes of such incidents are not always obvious, but are often, at least partly, the result of one or more unsafe behaviors.

BBS can help to reduce unsafe behaviors in the workplace.

When implemented correctly, BBS programs can provide several benefits, including but not limited to:

• Promote a shared vision of a “zero accident” culture;
• Significantly reduce the number of workplace injuries and illnesses;
• Directly and actively promote involvement and support from top management;
• Engage employees and promote teamwork; and
• Highlight positive reinforcement over placing blame

As a result, thanks to BBS programs, not only is human suffering reduced, but the financial costs associated with accidents are also diminished.

Adopting a BBS program can offer a significant return on investment (or ROI) for businesses.

It is highly believed that with a mindful approach to behavior, safety managers, along with employees and upper management, can create an atmosphere in which safety is a daily priority and second nature to all staff members.