Why is safety so hard to achieve? You create polices and rules that are meant to mitigate risky behavior, so your company should be on point right? Wrong! The attached document are the key points from *Marc Green PHD on how human behavior attributes to unsafe behavior no matter how well a safety program is developed.
We as Safety Professionals would do well to keep in mind that human behavior should be considered when building a safety program, policies alone will not make a company safe, drivers are not machines they think for themselves and quite often take risks. Human beings are born bare by nature, with no competence, knowledge, information, awareness or any skill. They are molded for any trade by the society or by self-effort so as to suit to the requirements needed for the job to be performed safely and efficiently; or for suiting to any situation or exposure with safe and healthy conduct.
Behavior plays a major role, in deciding how a person acts in a particular situation. Proper awareness and training are the key factors towards safe response. Regular coaching, management, safety messages and meetings are all ways to begin changing how your entire group determines what is unsafe behavior. Employee involvement in creating policy can create a united thinking that can sway an employee’s thought process to avoid risky behavior.
Safety is hard but the ROI is a sweet reward when you begin experiencing the results of a solid safety program. Rolando Cruz CDS Safety Coordinator
