| Changing behaviour in the workplace |
During April 2006, Hanson’s north region recorded three lost work time injuries which could have been avoided and were directly attributable to behaviour rather than failure of plant and equipment.
It was decided that there was a need to carry out a safety-specific audit at all Hanson sites to gain a greater level of ownership for health and safety. A meeting was called amongst the operations managers to try and understand why workers had failed to report or rectify unsafe conditions or behaviours.
It was felt that the company had got the safety messages across but failed to practically demonstrate the behaviours expected and how to use the health and safety systems to deal with unsafe conditions. This analysis led to the development of the Behavioural Modification Exercise.
The objective of the exercise was to:
- Provide a clear explanation to employees on their personal performance regarding unsafe behaviour
and how to deal with unsafe conditions;
- Explain to employees how violations of safe systems of work would be dealt with; and
- Inform employees of the tools available to deal with unsafe acts and conditions.
A system was devised to review a number of unsafe practices and decide what practical steps should be completed to remedy them. This was developed into a presentation which was given to the workforce. The result was greater awareness of potential risks in the workplace with buy-in achieved at all levels through a joint exercise rather than a lesson. |