Improving Your Safety
With a Behavioral Approach
(Reprinted from Hydrocarbon Processing)

Areas of training for employees

Terry E. McSween

For the behavioral safety process to be successful, employees may need training in at least three areas:

• Observation skills
• Use of the checklists
• The observation procedure
• Feedback skills
• Leading meetings to review safety data
• Job-related skills identified on the safety checklist

Participants also benefit from an understanding of the rationale or basic theory underlying the behavioral safety process, including the observation and feedback procedures. They will often provide better support when they understand the reasons for the behavioral approach.

In addition to identifying the training needed to make implementation successful, your team should decide on the most effective way to deliver training. You will want to plan a training process than balances effectiveness with minimal cost and disruption to the workplace. The options for training include:

Individual coaching (tell, show, observe and provide feedback)

• Mentors
• Seminars or workshops
• Videos or slides

You should consider individual coaching and mentors for training new observers as a less disruptive process than providing workshops or seminars. On the other hand, providing an understanding of the rationale for the behavioral safety process might be done most effectively in larger groups. Often allowing employees to make videos or slides of near-miss accidents, or past accident situations, provides and effective training tool that creates a high level of involvement.

Once you have management's approval and have completed necessary training, you should schedule a series of meetings with small groups of employees to explain the behavioral safety process. Generally, covering all areas and shifts will take several meetings. Small groups of eight to ten are ideal as they provide trainees with a better opportunity for discussion and questions than do large groups. Often the agenda will look very much like the previous presentation to management. In either case, the design team can participate in all presentations, or they can split the responsibility.

You may also want to plan a role for management in your kick-off meetings. You might arrange for either a representative of upper management or the area manager to comment on management's support for the safety improvement efforts.

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This article first appeared in Hydrocarbon Processing (August 1993) and is reproduced here with permission.