Critical success factors for behavior-based safety: A study of twenty industry-wide applications1

One-on-one interviews and focus-group meetings were held at 20 organizations that had implemented a behavior-based safety (BBS) process in order to find reasons for program successes/failures. A total of 31 focus groups gave 629 answers to six different questions. A content analysis of these responses uncovered critical information for understanding what employees are looking for in a BBS program. A perception survey administered to individual employees (n=701) at these organizations measured a variety of variables identified in prior research to influence success in safety efforts. The survey data showed five variables to be significantly predictive of employee involvement in a BBS process: 1) perceptions that BBS training was effective, 2) trust in management abilities, 3) accountability for BBS through performance appraisals, 4) whether or not one had received education in BBS, and 5) tenure with the organization. Also, employees in organizations mandating employee participation in a BBS process (n=8 companies) reported significantly higher levels of a) involvement, b) trust in management, c) trust in coworkers, and d) satisfaction with BBS training than did employees whose process was completely voluntary (n=12 companies). In addition, employees in mandatory processes reported significantly greater frequency of giving and receiving positive behavior-based feedback.