When it's necessary to make change happen, the touchstone lies in changes in observable behaviour. Diverse combinations of these components are possible and result in differing levels of productivity, safety and health. The process is sometimes summarised in the CLEAR abbrevaition.
Channelling behaviour constructively
Our central concern is to stimulate and support partnerships betwen management and their workforces by continually focusing everyone's attention and actions on their own safety beheaviour, health and wellbeing and on that of the people with whom they work.
In reality, many events in life and in work can appear to be 'random', in the simple sense that they are outcomes with an equal chance of occurring as any other outcome. For that reason,they can be usefully analysed statistically. As occupational psychologists, we offer human potential economics of statistical reasoning so you are in a position to better get to grips with important but ambigiuos aspects of behaviour of people, both leaders and followers, in many work situations.
Safety, health and human resource management are areas of work in which appropriate statistical reasoning can reduce or eliminate many sources of error, physial and psychological harm as well as open up paths of reinforcing desired behaivour. Perhaps by introducing relevant tools and techniques to you, and providing templates and guides, we can help you to improve the productivity in these areas in your own organisation.
Basics and beyond
Complying with HSC/E regulations is necessary if you want to avoid penalties afor failing to achieeve minimal standard safeguards for employees. So, if you need it, we may be able to help you as the person you are legally required to appoint as 'competent' about safety and health and work.
Yet there's more to enabling people to work safely than appointing someone that will meet with the approval of your insurers. You can get much more for your investment by stimulating and supporting your managers to adopt the lead about safe behaviour at work and about creating safe work environments and climb through stages of maturity in safety management.
Sometimes, managerial attitudes of 'bystander apathy' make up a tough barrier to paths to managing safety and health. We can help you to inject the vital forms of conversation necessary for them to become sources of energy, dedication and postive reinforcement.
How you can make safe behaviour productive
Cultivating safe, productive forms of behavour requires attention to several action-steps:
- Clear objectives: pinpoint key forms of behaviour vital to working productively and safely; and measure these critical forms of behaviour in ways that are reliable, valid and unbiassed;
- Locate problems: explain clearly to managers, team leaders and front line staff why these critical behaviours matter and how they can measure them reliably, validly and without bias; provide coaching in observation and recording of the target behaviours; Analyse and record percentages of safe, productive behaviour;
- Execute a change strategy: Arrange for people at all levels to deliver and receive feedback about the target behaviours, which they can use to foresee and control errors and to promote forms of behaviour that are both productive and safe; design constructive and viable rewards, of various kinds, that result in consistent practice of the desired forms of behaviour.
- Assess current progress: gather reliable data on percentages of safe behaviour;
- Review and adapt: take whatever action is needed - including adapting jobs, new tools or equipment, training, supervision - to narrow the gap below 100% safe behaviour.
Acting safely may not always be the easiest, most comfortable way to do your work. But, for individuals and groups, it is the most reliable way to control errors consistently. In that sense, it is part of a larger system of paying attention to key realities about what people do, understanding them and dealing sensibly with the implications.