Safety Observation and Feedback

by Terry McSween

During my “Introduction to Behavioral Safety” workshop this year at the Behavioral Safety Now Conference, I had a number of companies participating that already had behavioral safety processes in place. Many of these companies were looking for ways to enhance the functioning of their existing behavioral safety process. In our discussions about management support, our recommendation that leadership participate in behavioral safety observations received a great deal of discussion. One of the participants raised an important question, “how do we transition to management participation in observations, after ten years of promoting ‘employees only’ observations?” While clearly beyond the scope of an introduction to behavioral safety, this is an important question.

The Complacency Index: The Value of Voluntary Observations
by Terry McSween

This quarter we introduce a new section to the newsletter; Terry McSween, the president and Chief Executive Officer of Quality Safety Edge, will share his experience on a current topic in Behavioral Safety. Terry welcomes your questions and invites you to email him about an issue you would like to see him address in future columns.

Terry’s first column introduces The Complacency Index; a simple measure for you to detect if your employees are becoming complacent about the risks they face and the practices necessary to keep them safe.

by Tom Burns

Common Elements – Ergonomics and Behavioral Safety Processes

Traditional Ergonomics and Behavioral Safety processes typically have much in common. The elements common to both processes usually include the utilization of teams with members from all levels of the organization to drive the processes and the observation of workplace tasks by team members. From a broad perspective, the objective of each of these processes is to identify critical risk factors and to implement effective methods for eliminating or reducing the risks.

By Grainne Matthews

If you are interested in improving performance (whether it be safety or any other dimension of workplace performance such as quality, productivity, or leadership), you probably think of feedback as one of the essential components of any program you plan to implement. For example, in behavioral safety, observation and feedback is often said to be the heart and soul of the process.

And, in leadership development, individual coaching that includes feedback on critical leadership practices is the basis for most programs. Efforts to improve quality or productivity, to reduce waste or downtime, or to enhance customer service typically all include feedback. Is this feedback really necessary?