Behavior-Based Safety: The Power of Care

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 5,486 fatal work injuries, or 3.7 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers, were reported in the United States in 2022, representing a 5.7 percent increase year over year. The Air Force Times reports seventy-five noncombat U.S. Air Force mishaps occurred in fiscal year 2023, representing an approximate 12 percent increase year over year.

Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 60577.07 defines a mishap as “An unplanned event or series of events that results in damage to DoD property; occupational illness to DoD personnel; injury to on- or off-duty DoD military personnel; injury to on-duty DoD civilian personnel; or damage to public or private property, or injury or illness to non-DoD personnel, caused by DoD activities.”

Ensuring the safety and security of all U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force personnel and assets is of utmost importance for maintaining force readiness. “Our goal is to understand the associated hazards and to eliminate or mitigate them to the greatest extent possible in both training and combat operations,” said Maj Gen Sean Choquette, U.S. Air Force Safety Chief, in an April 8, 2023, Air Force Times feature article.

Avoiding preventable workplace injuries, mishaps, accidents, or fatalities is essential to preserving Air Force operational efficiencies. Behavior-based safety (BBS) principles support intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to improve safety protocols, standards, and compliance. E. Scott Geller, Ph.D., describes this humanistic and behavioral approach as Actively Caring for People, or AC4P. Geller argues that by encouraging self-efficacy and accountability by recognizing achievement, behaviors are more likely to be replicated than with more traditional punitive-consequence avoidance techniques.

“Each occurrence of the desired behavior facilitates fluency and helps to cultivate a good habit,” says Geller in “Behavior-Based Safety and Occupational Risk Management.”

Empathy, empowerment, and engagement are key in risk management principles. By equipping workers with the skills and knowledge to understand the ripple effect of safety management, compassion and care for others become the central tenets of personal accountability.

Geller recommends that safety management begins with a focus on observable behaviors. Much like the principle of “if you see something, say something” regarding security protocols, this statement can be restated as “if you see something unsafe, care enough to say something to your colleague” regarding occupational hazards. Next, evaluate the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that ay inadvertently promote risky behaviors. Consider the environment, culture, and support provided in a given situation to recommend and make improvements. Although Gellar promotes the concept of achievement-based analysis, he notes that consequences can make powerful motivators. He emphasizes that with a compassion mindset, picturing the consequence of an at-risk behavior may provide the necessary motivation to correct course. With this concept, using checklists, assessments, and other data collection activities may improve efficacy by providing more of a scientific method-styled approach to evaluating achievement-based goals. Evaluating outcomes with a curiosity mindset rather than judgment promotes active listening and learning opportunities. Lastly, he recommends that all interventions emphasize empowerment, choice, trust-building, and community.

BBS and other occupational safety programs work effectively when the culture promotes confidence, communication, collaboration, and community. This safety-minded culture is achieved and maintained through continuous correct practice with open and honest communication to build confidence, enhance collaborative work, and develop community through a culture of care.

“We are all in this together,” Geller says in his 2013 TEDx talk on the psychology of self-motivation. “We need each other.”