Signs like ‘think safety’ have almost zero impact on behaviour
There’s a large banner in the entry way of a workplace. It says, “Think safety.” It’s a big sign and it makes a big statement, right?
Those who put up the sign certainly hope so. They hope it sends the message that safety is of the utmost importance. Unfortunately, such signs are more often an indication of misguided efforts and misunderstanding of what it really takes to make a safe workplace.
To be clear, these motivational safety signs are always hung with the best of intentions. Sadly, intention doesn’t equal impact. Safety signs, particularly the general ones like “Think safety,” have almost no impact on safe behaviour on the job.
To understand why that is and what to do instead of hanging up signs, managers and safety professionals need to understand more about human behaviour. Those that understand the science of behaviour know not to invest in such signs. More importantly, they know where efforts should be focused to have a solid impact on safety.
The science tells us that behaviour — including safety behaviour — is influenced by two things. The first is antecedents, which come before behaviour and are what prompt action. The second is consequences, which come after behaviour and either strengthen or weaken it.
Signage
The science is clear: Antecedents are necessary, but not sufficient for lasting improvement — consequences are what drive improvement. Despite this fact, many of the tools and practices used in safety are antecedents.
Safety signage is the perfect example. Ask any employee and they will say most safety signs don’t change their behaviour. In particular, inspirational signs such as “Safety is no accident” or “Be alert, don’t get hurt” have little or no impact safety. Why? Signs don’t change the consequences for safe and at-risk behaviour in the workplace.
Some safety signs are a requirement, such as those indicating a confined space, and are necessary to make clear what people need to do to stay safe. However, even these signs by themselves do not guarantee people will make the right choice. If signs alone changed behaviour, people would never speed on freeways, smoke cigarettes, or take more than two pieces of carry-on luggage on airplanes.
In order to understand why some at-risk behaviours persist, organizations must look at what happens to people after they engage in safe and at-risk behaviour. Positive and negative consequences have more to do with whether safe habits develop or not. Keep in mind that consequences can be natural (safety glasses fogging up), can come from peers (recognition or teasing for safe practices) and come from leaders (reprimands for at-risk behaviour, praise for safe behaviour). All sources of consequences — those that encourage and discourage the safe behaviour — need to be evaluated. Making changes to such consequences will have greater impact on safety than any sign ever will.
Training
Training provides another example of the limited impact of antecedents. Predictably, the most common outcome of safety training is a temporary change in behaviour followed by a gradual return to old habits. The problem is not that people don’t care or don’t want to change. The problem is that training is only an antecedent and does little to affect the consequences in the workplace where the behaviour occurs. Like signs, training will get behaviour started, but that behaviour must then be reinforced in the workplace.
Checklists
Inspection checklists, procedure checklists, audit checklists and behaviour-based safety checklists are useful tools, but do not improve safety. There are countless examples of safety checklists of various sorts being pencil-whipped. The only behaviour that changes when a checklist isn’t linked to meaningful consequences is the behaviour of filling out the checklist.
Employers should consider the following to improve worker safety:
Signage
In order to maximize effectiveness, only use signs that direct specific behaviour, such as, “Hearing protection required in this area.” Without the clutter of signs that have no meaningful information, employees may be less likely to ignore important signage. Understand that, at best, signs will have a temporary effect on behaviour. Plan positive consequences to reinforce the behaviours identified on the signs.
If you are looking for a way to demonstrate your commitment to safety, do so through your behaviour rather than purchasing inspirational signs. Talk about safety daily, ask about safety as you interact with others and positively reinforce safe behaviour. In doing so, you will be demonstrating your commitment to a safe workplace.
Training
Before you turn to training as a solution to a safety problem, establish whether the problem is truly a training problem. Safety problems are rarely the result of performers not knowing what to do. The problem is often workers don’t have the resources they need to do the job safely, or on-the-job consequence systems favour at-risk behaviour.
If the problem is training, aim for fluency as the outcome. Fluency means the performer can complete the task accurately and without hesitation.
Create a follow-up plan that includes evaluation of behaviour change after the training. If performance has deteriorated, fluency wasn’t trained, there is ineffective reinforcement or reinforcement was too infrequent. Revisit these elements and continue to do so until
the desired level of safety is maintained.
Checklists
Make sure a check on the checklist represents behaviour or accomplishments that have been completed in the proper and safe way. Build in reliability checks by observing the checklist items separate from the checklist process to ensure quality and safety of the performance. Finally, ensure the use of checklists is paired with positive reinforcement. By following a checklist with reinforcement, the checklist becomes an important tool for producing long-lasting change.
Once you understand behaviour from a scientific perspective, you can see that the analysis and adjustment of the consequences for important safety behaviours is where long-term solutions lie.
Judy Agnew is the senior vice-president at Aubrey Daniels International, an Atlanta--based behavioural safety organization. She can be reached at [email protected] or (678) 904-6140.
