The Basics of Safety: Behavior-Based Safety vs. Process-Based Safety

Behavior Based Safety is not without critics. Perhaps the harshest critics deride BBS for blaming the victim and contend that BBS is little more than a means of pitting workers against one another. These critics contend that because workers do not actually want to get hurt, then penalizing them for getting hurt by withholding a bonus literally adds insult to injury.

Many critics describe the techniques used to raise awareness as condescending. As one frustrated worker described it, “they give us a pizza party once a week if we don’t kill anyone.” The worker went on to complain that management acted as if the only reason workers were concerned about safety was the prospect of reward.

In some poorly executed BBS programs, incentives were shown to decrease incident reporting rather than reducing actual injuries. The pressure to conceal job-related injuries can be profound. With coworkers facing the loss of everything from Safety BINGO game pieces to bonuses of $500 or more, an injured worker has a very real incentive to conceal the injury. It is not unheard of for a worker to seek medical attention at his or her own expense to avoid a recordable because the cost of treatment is far less than amount forfeited in the loss of a bonus.

Still others will acknowledge the effectiveness of a BBS system but argue that the cost of observations, data analysis, and the significant safety infrastructure needed to sustain the gains achieved by BBS are far more than is necessary or practical.

All of these criticisms are hotly contested by BBS proponents who point to reams of research that support their methodologies, but critics counter that research conducted by individuals with a financial stake in the findings is intrinsically unreliable. Some critics focus on a more basic position: that the level of variability in human behavior is so great that any attempt to manipulate it on a system scale is unrealistic and impossible.

Even the harshest critics begrudgingly agree that the largest contributor to injuries cannot be ignored. But what lies at the heart of the conflict is whether the root cause of workplace injuries is deliberate behavior or the processes and systems that encourage bad decision-making. In either case, most safety professionals will agree that behavior plays a pivotal role in workplace safety, although it is unlikely that either side will ever agree on whether it is more effective to prevent the unsafe behavior or to shield workers from the consequences of unsafe behaviors.

Worker injuries still represent a significant threat to workplace productivity and profitability. As long as billions of dollars continue to be wasted and lives lost, safety professionals will bitterly argue about the most effective way to attack the problem.

Next month . . . a look at process safety.