unsafe condition
Introduction
Behavior-based safety (BBS) is one of the methodologies that allows us to identify, establish, maintain and increase safe behavior and, consequently, reduce or eliminate unsafe behaviors.[1] It involves applying behavioral research on human performance to safety problems in the workplace.[2].
The purpose of SBC is to identify and evaluate unsafe behaviors, including unsafe conditions that may influence such behaviors, in the work environment to: (a) increase the quantity and frequency of safe behaviors, and (b) change unfavorable conditions that promote the occurrence of unsafe behaviors.[3].
Most workplace accidents depend largely on unsafe behaviors at work, so organizations seek to apply methods that allow them to be replaced by other insurance and that, in turn, generate substantial changes in accident rates and associated costs.[1] The behavior-based safety management (PGSBC) process is based on identifying and defining unsafe behaviors, observing workers while they perform their tasks and offering feedback or positive reinforcement in real time, "with the purpose of eliminating behaviors to observed risks, as well as, in some of the most advanced cases, to modify the environmental and organizational factors that give rise to them."[4] This process must be reviewed frequently to ensure its validity and adapt it to the changes that may arise from its implementation.
SBC involves workers in key aspects of safety, while requiring a commitment from leadership, management, managers and supervisors to be successful. Compared to the traditional safety approach, SBC is a worker-driven continuous improvement process.[2].
Behavior-Based Safety is considered obsolete for focusing mainly on the behavior of the worker and making him or her appear as the "guilty" one, when there are multiple organizational factors that influence safety, which is why, for several years now, we have been talking about Process-Based Safety and Organization-Based Safety.
The triconditional theory of safe behavior
In 2007, José Luis Meliá established three necessary, but not sufficient, conditions for a person to work safely: (1) being able to work safely, (2) knowing how to work safely, and (3) wanting to work safely.[1].
The first condition, "being able to work safely", is related to the elements of engineering and industrial hygiene, that is, to those working conditions, tools, equipment, facilities, PPE and work methods. For its part, the second condition, "knowing how to work safely", refers to the information and training that workers must receive about the tasks to be carried out, aimed at developing their capabilities to identify work risks, face or minimize their effects and manage the possible consequences in the event of an event. Finally, the third condition, "wanting to work safely", is associated with the motivations that employees have to behave safely. In addition to "being able" and "knowing" to carry out an activity safely, for this to happen it is essential to have adequate and sufficient motivation. The SBC is one of the most used and most effective methodologies to act on the third condition of the triconditional model.[1].