Behavior-based safety is not a new concept but finding new ways to implement the concept is always evolving.  Behavior-based safety can be as simple as giving a small gesture of appreciation when a safe behavior is observed to very complex and detailed plans managed by a team of employees.  One type of behavior-based safety is the behavior observation.   The general rational behind observing behaviors is to observe the employee, analyze the work practices, provide feedback about the observation and have all parties learn from what has been observed.

We recently came across an article in which behavior observations could have assisted in helping prevent unsafe and highly costly behaviors from occurring.  In this case the plant was fined $147,000 for a variety of OSHA violations.

Russell Associates is working with a client to help them automate and streamline their behavior-based observation program.  Our client was completing behavior based observations monthly using paper cards, but was faced with the reality of having to manually enter the observation data into a spreadsheet.  As a result corrective-actions were often delayed because the data was not available until a month after the observations were completed.  After implementing and using inspectiTRAC, the customer is able to manage the process, develop trend reports, analyze zone safety concerns, and implement corrective actions more efficiently and effectively.  The program is saving our client over 25 hours per month that can now be spent on our tasks within the organization.

Read more about our client here.