There is a misconception that construction is all about the hands. People go out, work with their hands, and build great things. In reality, every construction manager knows that construction is also about the head. You have to think and plan for every project, and behavior-based safety is proof of that.
Behavior-based safety is a type of behavioral psychology that helps construction managers identify behaviors in order to reduce injuries. With as many as 80 percent of injuries occurring because of changeable behaviors, behavior-based safety is a critical component of a construction company’s safety plan. Construction managers have to be knowledgeable of the various strategies in order to get the most out of behavior-based safety, though. There are several components involved in a good behavior-based safety plan.
Review Your Data
Data is the foundation of any new safety plan, and behavior-based safety plans are no exception. Start by reviewing your accident data so you can find out where you have the most issues. Then, you will know where you need to focus most of your time and energy.
While you could rely on your foremen to provide you with the data, it’s easier to use your construction management software. You can analyze your safety data from one jobsite to the next to see if you have a problem across the board, or if you have a crew-specific issue. This data is up-to-date and accurate, so you can get all of the information you need to understand where you have safety issues.
Then, you’ll be ready to learn your ABCs.
The ABCs of Behavior-Based Safety
If you’re going to excel at behavior-based safety, you have to know your ABCs. The ABCs are:
Activators
Behaviors
Consequences
The activator is the trigger. It is the person or thing that causes a behavior. It can be a goal or a policy, or it can be a training aid. It can even be something as basic as a ringing phone. Basically, if something causes someone to take an action, it is considered an activator.
The behavior is the action taken because of the activator, while the consequence is what happens because of the action. Consequences can be positive or negative, and they can make the behavior better or worse.
Understand Consequences
When you learn the alphabet, all of your ABCs are just as important. The letter A is no more important than B, and so on. With behavior-based safety, though, the C in the ABCs is the most important letter. Your safety plan will only work if you know how to handle the consequences.
There are two types of consequences – those that increase behavior and those that decrease behavior. Because you want your employees to be safe, you need to understand both types of consequences.
Consequences that Increase Behavior
Consequences that increase behavior consist of positive and negative reinforcement. First, let’s look at positive reinforcement.
Positive reinforcement is a success-based consequence. It occurs when someone gets a reward for doing something positive. For instance, someone might report a hazard, and in doing so, prevent an injury. The employee does something that goes above and beyond, so he or she receives a reward.
Because of that, he or she is more likely to repeat the behavior. The employee is likely to look for additional hazards and report them so he or she can receive more rewards. That will make your jobsite even safer. There won’t be any hazards because your employees will be on the lookout for them.
It is easy to see why this is a successful strategy. You want people to look for hazards around the construction site, and providing them with incentives is an easy way to do that. The key is to make sure they receive the incentives in a timely fashion. Don’t wait a week or a month to give them their rewards. They need to know when it is coming, and it needs to come quickly. Otherwise, they won’t have the incentive to do something good. They will put off reporting the hazard since they know you’ll put off giving them the reward.
Negative reinforcement is used to make people work to avoid something. Unlike positive reinforcement, which is reward-based, negative reinforcement is avoidance-based. If your main focus is on compliance, this can work really well. For instance, if you want to make people wear their eye protection, you can use the desire to avoid injury as a negative motivator. You can also make discipline a motivator with negative reinforcement.
Think of this as the hot stove approach. Most kids have never touched a hot stove, but they are afraid to do so because their parents have warned them over and over again that they will get burned. Parents have burned the image of burning skin into their minds. You can do the same with your employees.
Avoiding danger won’t make your employees seek out and report hazards, but it will make them comply with the current regulations. Of course, this type of approach only works on certain personality types. Some people are more prone to avoidance-based strategies than others are. You will quickly be able to pick out employees that don’t respond to negative reinforcement. You will need to try a different approach with those employees. Remember, this is a learning process, and everyone learns differently.
Consequences that Decrease Behavior
Punishment and extinction are the consequences that decrease behavior. Punishment is used to stop the undesired behavior. When an employee does something that you don’t want him or her to do, you punish that employee. You can’t predict what will happen when you punish the employee, but you can determine the punishment. For instance, if someone doesn’t wear his or her safety goggles, you can suspend that person. You do not know how the employee will react to the suspension, but you can remove the employee from the situation.
Extinction refers to the withdrawal of positive reinforcement. You will accomplish this by ignoring the employee’s performance altogether. If you use extinction, you will have apathy in your organization.
You do not want to use extinction in your workplace, but you might have to use punishment. However, you should rely on consequences that increase behavior as much as possible, and use punishment as a last resort. You will have to punish employees who refuse to comply, but hopefully you will be able to create a positive workplace with a high rate of compliance and a high safety rating.
Then, if employees fail to respond to consequences that increase behavior, you can dole out punishment as needed. Just like positive consequences, punishment should be given in a timely fashion so employees know what to expect. You can’t be unpredictable with consequences.
Remember That Change Starts at the Top
You have to think beyond consequences and remember that change starts at the top. As a construction manager, you will likely want to spend most of your energy on your hourly employees. Unfortunately, management plays an important role in behavior-based safety, so if you put all of your time and energy into your hourly employees, you won’t be able to create real change in your organization.
If you are serious about having a safe workforce, you have to start with management. Even if your management team doesn’t spend much time in the field, behavior-based safety requirements must start with them and trickle down.
You should use checklists with various points for your behavior-based safety training. Hand the checklists out to all of the construction managers, and then go down to hourly employees. This will show your hourly employees that this is a company-wide initiative and not just a way for the higher-ups to control them. When they see that it is a way to keep everyone safe and not just a method of control, they will be more willing to jump on board. You want everyone to see this is a positive change, and starting at the top will help.
Behavior-based safety is a great way to make your construction site a safer place. You can cut down on injuries and make your projects much more efficient. Implement these strategies to improve your behavior-based safety plan. Then, you can get your employees onboard and show them that you are serious about keeping them safe whenever they are on the job.
Have you had success with behavior-based safety at your business? Let me know how you handled things in the comments section below.