Behavior-based safety in industry: Realizing the large-scale potential of psychology to promote human welfare

Abstract In the spirit of giving psychology away in this “Decade of Behavior,” this article reviews the behavioral science approach to preventing workplace injuries, which is currently being applied successfully in numerous companies worldwide. Unlike the traditional command-and-control approach to occupational safety, behavior-based safety (BBS) provides tools and methods employees can use to take control of their own safety performance. The author offers strategies he and his colleagues have been using for more than a decade to teach BBS to safety leaders and line workers. In addition, two conceptual models are explained. One model suggests ways to match the awareness and behavior of an individual with a particular BBS intervention technique. The second model proposes that five psychological states or “establishing conditions” increase the probability a person will use the BBS tools and procedures to actively care for the safety and health of others.

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