It’s imperative to understand the difference between caring and acting. From our conversations with thousands of employees in the corporate world, it’s clear no one wants to see anyone injured on the job. This is caring. Yet, when asked to muster the courage to say something to a peer who is working at risk and could be hurt, the majority admit they do not act on their caring by giving their co-workers corrective feedback. Nor do many feel comfortable providing personal appreciation when observing a co-worker’s safe behavior. Thus, these employees do not actively care. They don’t go beyond their intrinsic caring to proactive action.
At a power plant in Maryland, 31 year-old Benjamin Heron fell to his death in August of 2007 after wearing his safety harness 150 feet above ground but not tying off when he moved on the platform from one tool to another. Two co-workers on the platform noticed he had unhooked and then did not tie back on. But these workers said nothing and Benjamin fell to his death moments later, slipping between the platform and the first rail.
There are too many stories like this, where chances to help are passed up and the ultimate price is paid. It’s not that Benjamin’s co-workers didn’t’ care; it’s that they didn’t act on their caring. They said nothing to remind Benjamin to tie off. His wife and three children likely wonder every day why someone didn’t go beyond caring to acting by giving Benjamin corrective feedback. Of course, they had their excuses (e.g., “We’re only contractors and aren’t supposed to tell full-time employees what to do”), just as we all rationalize our lack of proactive AC4P behavior. It’s likely, however, these men do not experience many days without thinking, “If only I had…”
Behavior-Based Safety and AC4P
Many companies have implemented an AC4P process for safety called BBS (e.g., Geller, 1996, 1998, McSween, 1995) or People-Based Safety (Geller, 2005, 2008b). Its purpose is to help people develop the confidence and skills to take care of each other every day (i.e., to be brother/sister keepers) before injuries occur – to be continuously proactive. Employees use a critical behavior checklist (CBC) to pinpoint safety-related risks to look for when systematically observing each other (Geller, 1996, 1998, 2001). Then they observe their co-workers and check “at-risk” or “safe” on the CBC, based on the behavioral definitions they previously determined in a group meeting with their work team.
After completing the CBC, the observer provides supportive feedback to the observed worker for the safe behaviors recorded and corrective feedback for any at-risk behavior noted. This behavioral feedback is not given to direct behavior change, but to empower personal acceptance and self-accountability. A nondirective or humanistic approach to feedback delivery is most likely to be appreciated and considered (Geller, 2014a).
The CBCs are given to a data processor who tallies the information and distributes a summary to all employees. At-risk behaviors occurring at the highest frequencies are identified, specifying targets for further improvement. This information is shared with all employees so together they can learn where more mindful focus is needed for injury prevention. The purpose: to cultivate an AC4P culture in which 100% of the time, every day, any worker seeing another worker at risk (including breaking a safety rule) speaks up to prevent the possibility of an injury.
The real value of using a CBC is to help people develop and to grow in confidence and competency, so they provide feedback every time they see someone at risk of being injured. It is not the acquisition of tick marks for a computer program and summary output. The formal observation-and-feedback process helps participants become more skilled and comfortable at providing and receiving interpersonal feedback regarding safe and at-risk behaviors. Such formal observations are actually completed as practice to develop people’s competence and courage to provide BBS feedback any time they see someone in potential danger of an injury.
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