Industrial Safety Behavior

Behavioral-based industrial safety practices provide practical ways for workers to control safety risks at work. Teaching workers how to safely interact with the facility, the equipment and the processes involved in hazardous work can reduce workplace injuries.

Types of Hazards (see ref. 2)

• Industrial hazards fall into three categories: exposure to toxic chemicals; exposure to environmental hazards like extreme temperatures, loud noises and dangerous conditions; and exposure to ergonomic hazards like repetitive motion injuries and strains from improper lifting. Industrial safety behavior modification can help employees recognize potential hazards and change their behavior to mitigate or reduce the risk at hand.

Four Elements (see ref. 3)

• Behavior-based industrial safety focuses on four elements: identifying critical behaviors, gathering information through observation, providing feedback to the workers who were observed, and removing barriers to changing risky behavior.

Team Effort (see ref. 3)

• Behavior-based industrial safety involves the entire organization. Senior leaders enable behavioral changes by signaling to the work force that leadership supports safety measures. Supervisors assist by freeing up co-workers to participate in the observation and feedback loop. Front-line workers contribute to safety by implementing behavioral changes based on the feedback.