Quality Safety Edge: Behavior Based Safety -- Values and Behavior: Building a Culture that Promotes Safety

Values often describe behavior that has become second nature, activities that we perform almost without thinking about them. A common example in our culture is donning clothes, an activity common to most members of our culture. No rational individuals would consider leaving their domiciles without first putting on clothes. We would like all employees in our organizations to have the same consistency in their safety practices and experience the same level of personal discomfort should they compromise their value for safety.

Our value for wearing clothes is in many ways a good analogy to our value for safety. Just as different organizations have different commitments to safety, different cultures have different values for forms of dress. Some native cultures in various parts of the world wear little clothing or none, which is comparable to organizations that have little or no concern for safety. Similarly, an organization may have a unit or group that does not reflect the organization's total commitment to safety just as we have subcultures, such as nudist communities, where wearing clothes is not considered necessary or even condoned. Our society also includes individuals who choose to “streak,” or run naked through public places, in order to get attention or perhaps be a “hero” within their subcultures. In comparable manner, some individuals within organizations will intermittently disregard safety practices or maintenance in order to be a “hero” by saving their organizations money.

Published in Proceedings of ASSE's Professional Development Conference, American Society of Safety Engineers. Nashville, TX, June 2002, and also presented at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) meeting April 11, 2005.

What is the Relationship Between Values and Behavior?