Behavior-Based Safety

Behavior-based safety is a proactive approach to safety and health management, but there is more to it than that.

People really do care about their own health and safety. Safety is really a process, and that means it’s continuous. To reduce work-related injuries, and continue to reduce them, thinking and doing safety must become a way of life. Safety should be involved in daily activities consistent with the vision of a Total Safety Culture.

Behavior-based safety recognizes unsafe or at-risk behaviors as a frequent cause of both minor and serious injuries. Most people believe that if a training or intervention process attempts to change behavior, the approach is behavior-based safety; however, there are distinguishing elements between behavior-based and other approaches.

The aim of the behavior-based approach is to reduce the occurrence of at-risk behavior by modifying such behaviors through observation, feedback, and positive interventions. Ultimately, safer work habits will evolve.