Behaviour based Safety Patricia Murray Senior Organisational Psychologist

Behaviour based Safety Patricia Murray, Senior Organisational Psychologist, HSA Feb 2014 OHSI

BBS focuses on many behaviours, not just the one directly ‘linked’ to the event • • • Puncture People Root causes

Puncture • • An occasional occurrence for most of us – a predictable ‘accident’? We ‘know’ how to ‘fix‘ it; equipment, know-how. To avoid puncture , we focus on avoidance behaviours – don’ t drive on glass/nails/hardcore ground Bill’s puncture

Bill’s Behaviour focus: usability • • • Get the tyre back in working order Return to status quo Reduce instability of situation Have it ‘sorted’ Seeking the ‘phew, glad that’s over’.

Bill avoided seeking root cause • • • Second puncture one week later Proper examination of wheel Wheel crack – cause of puncture NOT the tyre

People • • We are motivated by self serving interests From childhood, we avoid being ‘blamed’. In our families we grow up to fear exposure as the guilty one/wrong one, silly one. We become adults and avoid hassle – consciously and sub consciously we avoid frustrating paths/choices We avoid feeling foolish We avoid being wrong We avoid our ‘in group’ being shown to be wrong -it reflects on us Don’t get caught!

Bill and Barbara • • • Ferry to France Event – alarm, dead battery Outcome – hassle, potential blame, shame, argument Remedy? Avoid root cause consideration. Why? They are people so each doesn’t want to be found to have caused it. Circumstances – beginning of holiday – strong urge in each to avoid argument. ‘Move on’ approach. What was really happening? - Incorrect suppositions/opinions, explanations of ‘cause’ kept to themselves

Bill and Barbara • • • Return ferry from France Event - alarm, dead battery Discussion with crew – alarms malfunction during turbulent crossings Most passengers disable their alarms Bill and Barbara wish someone had told them; they wonder why they did not seek out this information They each know that they avoided finding out, purposely.

Behaviour based safety … • We all collaborate in deceptions to avoid being blamed and to avoid hassle-- this leads to more accidents as it covers up or denies finding root causes and potential dangers/risks • We have behaviours which run counter to keeping us all safe, and they preserve our sense of who we are (PA) ; if that is in battle with the root cause. . which will dominate? -- circumstances can help or hinder us alter our behaviour to reduce this inate ‘cover up’. • If there are two or more of us, we can back each other up in deceptions around what is happening, to preserve our relationship/harmony of team, peace. • When we don’t know much about something (punctures) we leave it to others (experts) to sort out, when their function is merely to ‘remedy’ Remedy is not charged with finding the cause

Behaviour Based Safety • • • Any system which takes a BBS approach looks at many behaviours at different times and from different angles Individuals behaviour AND team and group behaviours – group dynamics, couple dynamics differ from individual ones Don’ t assume links where there are mere correlations Avoid systems where there is blame…. a BBS system tries to over turn much of what we have learnt from early childhood. The urge to avoid being blamed will be stronger for most of us than the urge to avoid potential danger. Vulnerable circumstances -shift changes, end of shifts, novelty situations should be given more attention as they have been found to lead to more behavioural deviations Knowing relationships in different working groups is crucial to understand safety culture and climate – at micro and at broader levels. The need to belong will be stronger for most of us than the need to be obedient.

Thank you