Over 300 people attended the 1st International Symposium on Behavior-Based Safety (BBS) and Safety Management this September, in Beijing, China: all of them eager to learn about the latest innovations and successes of the BBS process.
Quality Safety Edge’s Beth Foate, Ph.D., Vice President, Asia Market, presented the keynote address, “Applications of Behavior-Based Safety (BBS): Mining in U.S. and Manufacturing in China.” Foate shared the details of two successful BBS implementations while demonstrating the universality of behavior-based safety applications. As Foate pointed out, “The mission of Quality Safety Edge is to work with our clients to design a successful BBS process so that all their employees can return home safely to the things that are important to them.”
BBS uses positive reinforcement (foreign to many companies when it involves safety) to increase safe practices and, therefore, reduce injuries and the variation in safety performance. Describing a BBS implementation in a China manufacturing organization, Foate pointed out that the number of injuries occurring at the company was steadily increasing. “Since the launch of the BBS process, you can see they have collected over 1100 safety observations every month. Incidents reported on a monthly basis are decreasing and zero incidents occurred in August of this year, which is historically the month of highest incidents for this organization,” she said. “These results are typical of many companies. A high number of safety observations and conversations coincides with a decrease in injuries.”
Organized by China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing) and supported by China Association of Occupational Safety and Health and the Institute of Public Safety, Tsinghua University; the symposium opened the door to the increased and successful use of BBS in China.