This document provides an overview of behavior-based interventions for safety programs. It discusses intervening with activators to specify behaviors, maintain salience through novelty, vary messages, and involve audiences. It also covers intervening with consequences by managing intrinsic/extrinsic rewards and punishments. Intervening with behavior change agents like coaching is described, emphasizing care, observation, communication, and help. Finally, intervening with supportive conversations to cultivate a positive safety culture is addressed.

1. BEHAVIOUR BASED
INTERVENTION
BPS2323

2. LESSON OUTCOME
At the end of this section, you should be able to:
• Understand behavior-based intervention
• Differentiate the different type of intervention in safety programme

3. LECTURE OUTLINE
• Intervening with activators
• Intervening with consequences
• Intervening with behaviour change agent
• Intervening with supportive conversation

4. INTRODUCTION
• Intervention refers to an action taken to intentionally become involved in a
difficult situation to improve it or prevent it from getting worse.
• Education and training are the basic elements focusing on human factors and a
powerful tool aiming for employees' behaviour change regarding safety
improvement.
• An intervention is a deliberate process by which change is introduced into
peoples' thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
• Some only a general msg- Safety is a conditioned of employment; some refer to a
specific behavior- Ear Plug Require in This Area,
• Some signs request the occurrence of behavior-Walk, Wear Ear Plugs in This
Area; others want to avoid certain behavior- Don’t Walk, No Smoking Area
• Reminded of a general purpose-Actively Care for a Total Safety Culture, 100%
Safe Behavior is Our Goal This Year

5. Intervening with activators
 Safety activators can be
overwhelming and ineffective
 Which signs would you
eliminate form the picture?
 How would you change certain
sign to increase their impact?
 What activators strategies would
you use instead of the signs?

6. Intervening with activators
Principle 1-Specify behavior
Some activators are not specific enough Some sign are too complex to be effective

7. Intervening with activators
Principe 2 – maintain salience with novelty
Habituation
- It is natural for activators like sign messages to lose their impact over
time. This process is called habituation, and it is considered by some
psychologists to be the simplest form of learning.
- Through habituation we learn not to respond to an event that occurs
repeatedly

8. Intervening with activators
Principe 2 – maintain salience with novelty
• Figure- illustrates quite clearly
the phenomenon of habituation
and reduced activator salience
with experience.
Some signals we rely on lose impact over time

9. Intervening with activators
Principle 3 – vary the message
• Changeable signs
• Worker-designed safety slogans
• Vary the message
• When activator changes it can be come more salient and noticeable.
• Video screen in break room, lunch rooms, visitor lounges, and hallways that display
many kinds of safety messages.
• Who determine the message??

10. Intervening with activators
Principle 4 – involve target audience
• Promise card- involving people in making a commitment to perform a
particular behavior.
• Written:
• By each individual in a group
• Decide on the duration of the promise period
• Each group member should be encourage
• Assure everybody sign the card is only personal commitment not a
company contract.
• Encourage everybody to sign the card, but not pressure tactics.
• Signers should keep their promise cards in their
possession/ownership, or post them in their work areas as reminders.

11. Intervening with activators
Principle 4 – involve target audience
A promise card activates a behavioral commitment
Some activators imply ownership and increase actively
caring.

12. SMART goals are
effective activators.

13. INTERVENING WITH
CONSEQUENCES

14. The power of consequences
• Focus more on the powerful intervention approach- manipulating
consequences.
• Intrinsic vs. extrinsic consequences
• to the nature of the task in which an individual is engaged. Intrinsically motivated tasks, or
behaviors, lead naturally to external consequences that support the behavior (rewarding
feedback) or give information useful for improving the behavior (corrective feedback)
• motivate us to keep trying, sometimes after adjusting our behavior as a result of the natural
feedback directly related, or intrinsic, to the task
• Internal vs. external consequences

15. Intrinsic vs. extrinsic consequences
• The behavioral scientist points to the external
consequences naturally motivating the
fisherman’s behavior.
• These cause him to focus so completely on the
task at hand that he is not aware of his wife’s
mounting anger— or he is ignoring her.
• He may also be unaware that his supply of fish is
creating a potential hazard.
• In a similar way,
• Safety can be compromised because of excessive
motivation for production.
• Rewards intrinsic for production can cause this
motivation.
Some tasks are naturally motivating because of intrinsic consequences

16. • In fact, many safety practices have intrinsic negative
consequences, such as:
• Discomfort
• Inconvenience
• Reduced pace
Naturally will discourage
the occurrence of safety
practice.
Thus, extrinsic supportive consequences like
intermittent praise, recognition, novelties and credit
redeemable for prizes needed= TO SHAPE AND
MOTIVATE BEHAVIOURS.
Intrinsic vs. extrinsic consequences

17. • The student expects an extrinsic
positive consequence for completing
an accurate calculation.
• Do you see a problem here?
• The intrinsic consequence of
completing a task correctly should
be perceived as valuable and
rewarding by the student.
• The student should perceive the
important payoff as getting the right
answer
External rewards can reduce internal motivation

18. Internal vs. external consequences
• The intrinsic and extrinsic consequences discussed so far are external to the individual.
• In other words, they can be observed by another person.
• Behavioral scientists focus on these types of consequences to develop and evaluate motivational
interventions because they can be objective and scientific when dealing with external, observable
aspects of people
• Behavioral scientists, however, do not deny the existence of internal factors that motivate action.
• There is no doubt that we talk to ourselves before and after our behaviors, and this self-talk
influences our performance.
• We often give ourselves internal verbal instructions, called intentions, before performing certain
behaviors.
• After our activities, we often evaluate our performance with internal consequences. In the
process, we might motivate ourselves to press on (with self-commendation) or to stop (with self-
condemnation).
• When it comes to safety and health, internal consequences to support the right behavior are
terribly important

19. Managing consequences for safety
Four behavior-consequence contingencies for motivational intervention
A behavior-consequence contingency is a relationship between a target
behavior to be influenced and a consequence that follows. Safety can
be improved by managing or manipulating four distinct behavior
consequence relationships. Specifically, the probability of injury can be
reduced by
• Increasing positive consequences of safe behavior.
• Decreasing negative consequences of safe behavior.
• Decreasing positive consequences of at-risk behavior.
• Increasing negative consequences of at-risk behavior.

20. The case against negative consequences
• To subdue influences supporting at-risk behavior, it is often tempting to use a
punishment or penalty.
• All that is needed is a policy statement or some type of top-down mandate
specifying a soon, certain, and sizable negative consequence following specific
observable risky behaviors.
• Could this contingency be powerful enough not to override the many natural
positive consequences for taking risks? Yes, behavioral scientists have found
negative consequences can permanently suppress behavior if the punishment is
severe, certain, and immediate
• However, before using “the stick,” we should understand the practical limitations
and undesirable side effects of using negative consequences to influence
behavior
• the use of negative consequences to control behavior has four undesirable side
effects: escape, aggression, apathy

21. The case against negative consequences
• ESCAPE
• AGGRESSION
• APATHY
Lack of interest or concern, especially regarding matters of general importance or appeal;
indifference.
• COUNTERCONTROL
Countercontrol can be defined as human operant behaviour as a response to social aversive control.
The individual that is exposed to aversive control may try to oppose controlling attempts through the
process of negative reinforcement, such as by escaping, attacking, or passively resisting.

22. Countercontrol is usually directed at those in charge of negative consequences.

23. • Doing it wrong
• Most incentive/reward
programs for OSH does not
specify behavior.
• Employee are rewarding for
avoiding a work injury,
achieving certain number of
“safe work days.”
WHAT BEHAVIOR IS
MOTIVATED? not to report
injury?
Safety contests can motivate unhealthy competition
The Do’s and don’t for safety reward

24. • Doing it right: basic guidelines for establishing an effective incentive/reward
program to motivate the occurrence of safety related behaviors and improve industrial
safety and health
This Actively Caring Thank-You Card offers reward leverage.
Rewards with safety messages are special to those who earn them.
The Do’s and don’t for safety reward

25. The behaviors required to achieve a safety reward should be
specified and perceived as achievable by all participants.
Everyone who meets the behavioral criteria should be
rewarded.
Better for many participants to receive small rewards
than for one person to receive a big reward.
Rewards should displayed and represent safety achievement.

26. The Do’s and don’t for safety reward
Contests should
not reward one
group at the
expense of
another.
Groups should not
be penalized or
lose their rewards
for failure by an
individual.
Progress toward
achieving a safety
reward should be
systematically
monitored and
publicly posted for all
participants.

27. INTERVENTION WITH BEHAVIOR CHANGE
AGENT

28. Various intervention approaches
Various intervention techniques are available to influence behavior. Adapted from Geller (1998a).

29. Increasing intervention impact
The success of any intervention program is a direct function of
• 1. The amount of specific response information transmitted by the
intervention.
• 2. The degree of external consequence control.
• 3. The target individual’s perception of personal control or personal
choice regarding the behavior change procedures.
• 4. The degree of group cohesion or social support promoted.
• 5. The amount of participant involvement facilitated by the intervention

30. Intervening as a safety coach
• Coaching is essentially a process of one-on-one observation and feedback.
• The coach systematically observes the behaviors of another person and
provides behavioral feedback on the basis of the observations.
• Safety coaches recognize and support the safe behaviors they observe and
offer constructive feedback to reduce the occurrence of any at-risk
behaviors

31. Intervening as a safety coach
Safety coaches are up-front about their intentions and ask
permission before observing.
Feedback from a critical behavior checklist can be given one-on-one and in
groups

32. THE SAFETY CAOCHING
PROCESS
The five letters of COACH
represent the basic ingredients of
effective safety coaching

33. “C” for care
• Basic underlying motivation for coaching.
• Safety Coach-truly care about the health and safety of coworkers and act
on such caring=ACTIVELY CARE.
• Throughout personal interaction with others.
• Maintains healthy emotional bank accounts- (deposit: feels recognize,
appreciated, or listened to.)/(withdrawals: feels criticized, humiliated, less
appreciated)
• Thus, safety coaches need to demonstrate a caring attitude through their
personal interactions with others.

34. “C” for care
• A shared responsibility.
• People are often unwilling to coach or to be coached for safety because they view
safety from an individualistic perspective.
• To them, it is a matter of individual or personal responsibility.
• This is illustrated by the verbal expression or internal script, “If Molly and Mike want
to put themselves at risk, that’s their problem, not mine.”
People need to consider safety coaching a shared responsibility to prevent injuries
throughout the entire work culture. This requires a shift from an individual to a
collective perspective

35. “O” for observe
 Observing behavior for supportive and constructive feedback is easy if the coach
1. Knows exactly what behaviors are desired and undesired (an obvious requirement for athletic coaching).
2. Takes the time to observe occurrences of these behaviors in the work setting.
Developing a critical behavioral checklist. Observation checklists can be generic or job-specific.
 A generic checklist is used to observe behaviors that may occur during several jobs.
 A job-specific checklist is designed for one particular job.
 Deciding which items to include on a critical behavior checklist (CBC) is a very important part of the coaching process.
A CBC enables coaches to look for critical behaviors. A critical behavior is a behavior that
1. Has led to a large number of injuries or near hits in the past.
2. Could potentially contribute to a large number of injuries or near hits because many people perform the behavior.
3. Has previously led to a serious injury or a fatality.
4. Could lead to a serious injury or fatality

36. Sample critical behavior checklist
• Scheduling observation sessions
• There is no best way to arrange for
coaching observations.
• The process needs to fit the setting
and work process.
• This can only happen if workers
themselves decide on the frequency
and duration of the observations and
derive a method for scheduling the
coaching sessions

37. “O” for observe
• Critical features of the observation process. Duration, frequency, and
scheduling
• Procedures of CBC observations vary widely. Still, there are a few common
features.
• First and foremost, the observer must ask permission before beginning
an observation process.
• The name of the person observed must never be recorded. To build trust
and increase participation, a “no” to a request to observe must be honored

38. “C “ communicate (SOFTEN)
• A good coach is a good
communicator
• Active listener and persuasive
speaker
• Individual feedback

39. Maximize the
beneficial impact of
rewarding and
correcting feedback
with these key points

40. “H” for help
• The word “help” summarizes what safety coaching is all about.
• The purpose is to help an individual prevent injury by supporting safe work practices
and correcting at-risk practices.
• It is critical, of course, that a coach’s help is accepted.
• The four letters of HELP outline strategies to increase the probability that a coach’s
advice, directions, or feedback will be appreciated

41. • Safety is certainly a serious matter, but
sometimes a little humor can add spice
to our communications, increasing
interest and acceptance.
• It can take the sting out what some find
to be an awkward situation.
• In fact, researchers have shown that
laughter can reduce distress and even
benefit our immune system

42. • People who feel inadequate, unappreciated, or unimportant are not as likely to go beyond
“the call of duty” to benefit the safety of themselves or others as people who feel capable
and valuable
• The most effective coaches choose their words carefully, emphasizing the positive over
the negative, to build or avoid lessening another person’s self-esteem.

43. • One of the most powerful and convenient
ways to build self-esteem is to listen
attentively to another person.
• This sends the signal that the listener
cares about the person and his or her
situation.
• And it builds self-esteem—”I must be
valuable to the organization because my
opinion is appreciated.” After a safety
coach listens actively, his or her message
is more likely to be heard and accepted.
• “seek first to understand, then to be
understood”

44. • Praising others for their specific accomplishments is another powerful
way to build self- esteem.
• If the praise targets a particular behavior, the probability of the behavior
reoccur- ring increases.
• This reflects the basic principle of positive reinforcement and motivates
people to continue their safe work practices and look out for the safety of
coworkers.

45. Standard feedback more often depreciates than appreciates a
person’s self- esteem
People need frequent rewarding feedback

46. Conclusion
• Safety coaching is a key intervention process for developing and maintaining a
Total Safety Culture. In fact, the more employees effectively apply the principles
of safety coaching dis- cussed here, the closer an organization will come toward
achieving a Total Safety Culture
• Systematic safety coaching throughout a work culture is certainly feasible in
most settings. Large-scale success requires time and resources to develop
materials, train necessary personnel, establish support mechanisms, monitor
progress, and continually improve the process and support mechanisms
whenever possible
• Safety coaching is a critically important intervention approach, but keep in mind
the many other ways you can contribute to the health and safety of a work
culture. In other words, safety coaching is one type of intervention for the “I”
stage of the DO IT process

47. Intervening with supportive
conversation

48. Intervening with supportive conversation
Interpersonal conversation defines the culture in which we work. It can
create conflict and build barriers to safety improvement, or it can cultivate
the kind of work culture needed to make a major break- through in injury
prevention.
Interpersonal conversation also affects our intrapersonal conversations or
self-talk, which in turn influences our willingness to get involved in safety-
improvement efforts

49. The power of conversation
• The power of conversation comes from face-to-face communication.
• One-to-one interpersonal conversation about safety- improvement, in
turn, benefits people’s self-talk about safety, increasing their sense of
personal control and optimism regarding their ability to prevent
occupational injuries.

50. The art of improving supportive conversation
• The do not look back- focus on future talk
• Seek commitment
• Stop and listen
• Ask question first
• Transition to nondirective to directives
• Beware of bias

51. THANK YOU