Managing Behaviour Makes A Difference

1. Managing Behaviour Makes A Difference 19 November 2007 London Health & Safety Group A presentation by: Simon McDermott Brown, Quo Behavioural Systems www.quogroup.com

2. The Quo Group • A creative change management consultancy • Established in 1993 • A wide variety of private and public sector clients • Helping organisations to manage people and behaviour • improving performance • customer service, employee engagement, quality, productivity, safety

4. Why Focus on Behaviour? • Couldn’t we look at peoples’ attitudes, their state of mind? • Couldn’t we try to influence the way they think about work and safety? • If we could change their attitudes, make them more positive, wouldn’t they behave differently?

5. Used successfully by psychiatrists/ clinical psychologists in professional therapy sessions Requires extensive 1:1 interaction (client and specialist) Not cost effective for group/organisational work Attitudes etc are internal and non-observable Few HSE professionals have expertise to implement such an approach Person Centred Approach

6. Attitudes vs Attitudes & Behaviour Yes No  • I am generally a law abiding citizen  • I am safety conscious • I believe its important to be a good safety role model   • I am a competent driver  • I know that hitting someone at 40mph will probably kill them • I know that it’s important to protect the eyes when working with cutting machinery   • I always drive within the speed limit Behaviour  • I wear safety glasses when mowing the lawn • I am always careful to avoid taking any unnecessary risks 

7. B.F. Skinner & Followers Behavioural safety is founded on the research and teaching of B.F. Skinner (1938, 1953, 1974) Applied behaviour analysis is derived from his research Every authentic behavioural safety approach focuses on: • observing what people do • analysing why they do it • applying a research-supported intervention strategy to improve what people do Agnew & Snyder (2002) Daniels (1989) Geller (1996) Krause (1995) McSween (1995) Sulzer-Azaroff (1998)

8. Left to their own devices people The Things People Do • do what interests them • do just enough to get by • cut corners • take personal risks • etc

9. The Things People Do Legislation, policy, procedures, requirements, knowledge etc … don’t guarantee that people will behave as you want them to behave

10. Managing Behaviour Understand which behaviours produce the ideal results Change the behaviour of people to deliver these results Align behaviour throughout the organisation so that everyone behaves as high performers do Improvement in organisational performance Behaviour leads to results

11. Getting People To Behave Safely

12. Lagging Indicators Relying on the absence of accidents can be misleading ! How people are behaving is the real issue…..

13. Unsafe Behaviour ? What Causes Accidents? “ Accidents are typically precipitated through unsafe acts or omissions” - F Bird 1969 1 10 30 600 90% of accidents are caused by Unsafe Behaviours

14. Unsafe Behaviour

15. Unsafe Behaviour

16. Unsafe Behaviour We don’t all perceive risk in the same way…

17. Low High Taking Risks High Risk Perception Incidence Low Risk Slips, trips, falls and manual handling accidents are common

18. Unsafe Behaviour Workplace coaching Systems, procedures and training Performance management Behaviour modification Leadership behaviour Tackling the Behavioural Problem Unsafe Behaviour Reduced Risk Fewer Accidents Safe Behaviour

19. Behaviours higher up the influence chain are often at least equally responsible Unsafe acts are responsible for mostaccidents Accident Whose Behaviour?

20. “action or decision which was not intended” Errors Human Failures Violations “a deliberate deviation from a rule or procedure” Errors & Violations Solution? Make safe behaviour a HABIT Losses

21. People Choose To Take Risks Risk taking is most often a matter of personal choice. We know what we should do but we choose to do something else instead.

22. “a relatively indifferent environment (i.e. one that rarely punishes violations or rewards observance)” + “natural human tendency to take the path of least effort” Violations Happen When… Two things come together… from James Reason

23. A Antecedents Prompts / Cues B Safe Behaviour What we choose to do Unsafe C Consequences What happens to us Behaviour Follows Laws We tend to over-rely on weak antecedents

24. 40 People Tend To Ignore Rules Which sign has the most impact on behaviour? • Systems, training, rules don’t guarantee safe behaviour • People choose to perform behaviours depending on the consequences they perceive will follow them

25. Consequences Can… INCREASE BEHAVIOUR Rate Encourage (R+) or Threaten (R-) Or Time DECREASE BEHAVIOUR Rate Punish (P+) or Extinction (P-) Time

26. Decreasing Performance P+ Punishment Getting what I don’t want • Stress • More regulations or controls • Fines • Criticism • An injury • Problems Punishment will only stop Behaviour

27. Extinction Decreasing Performance P- Not getting what I wanted • No response to safety suggestion • No answer to questions about method • No acknowledgment • No interest in observations The performance just seems to go away after a while

28. Increasing Performance R- Negative Reinforcement Avoiding what I don’t want • Avoid an accident • Less time spent • Avoid negative comments or unpleasant tasks • Avoid Fines • No report • Less stress Behaviour will increase to the minimum standard required - but no more than this.

29. Increasing Performance R+ Positive Reinforcement Getting what I want • Recognition • Choices • Increased autonomy • Anything that meets my needs • Pride in making “safe” • Comfort • Acknowledgement The performer will choose to behave increasingly to get what is wanted - discretionary effort

30. Positive or Negative Its value to the individual • Immediate or Future Consequences can be: How soon after the behaviour it occurs • Certain or Uncertain How certain is it that the consequence will follow Consequence Power

31. Positive, Immediate, Certain (PIC) Negative, Immediate, Certain (NIC) Most • Positive, Future, Certain (PFC) • Negative, Future, Certain (NFC) • Positive, Immediate, Uncertain (PIU) • Negative, Immediate, Uncertain (NIU) Moderate • Positive, Future, Uncertain (PFU) • Negative, Future, Uncertain (NFU) Least Consequence Power

32. Wearing PPE • Affects dexterity • Uncomfortable • Affects communication • Increases fatigue • Impairs vision • Takes time • Adds pressure • Hinders progress • Increases paperwork • Increases stress Following a procedure Natural Consequences … favour risk taking! … because acting safely is often perceived to be a punishing experience

33. 7 0 PIC NIC VS Workplace Consequences Consequences of not wearing a Harness P/N I/F C/U P P P P P P P N N N N I I I I I I I F F F F C C C C C C C U U U U Saves time Less effort Makes access easier ‘Fit-in’ with the culture Appear more experienced Avoid ridicule More comfortable Fall and suffer injury/death Get job stopped Get disciplined Get prosecuted * The consequences are from the performers point of view ….favour risk-taking !

34. Unsafe Habits The natural choice is often the unsafe one! The unsafe option typically is • More comfortable • Less hassle • Less time consuming With frequent opportunity to choose risky behaviors we tend to develop unsafe habits

35. Safe Habits Encourage the choice of safe behaviours by carefully managing the consequences • Make the safe option • Easier • Better recognised • More attractive With frequent opportunity to choose safe behaviours with positive outcomes we develop safe habits

36. Managing Consequences • The challenge is all about motivating people so that in due course • they want to behave as safely as possible • they perform habitually in accordance with best practice • Meeting the challenge requires a behavioural strategy • Primarily the strategy needs to focus on managing the consequences that flow from behaviour • accentuating the positive • eliminating the negative

37. Six Steps For Creating Safe Habits

38. Step 1: Pinpoint Workforce pinpoint and select critical behaviours (3 or 4 at a time only) • Accident data • Brainstorms • Observation • Self-reporting • Risk assessment

39. Step 2: Plan Make choice of the safe behaviour easier Make choice of the safe behaviour more attractive Plan for Change Agree practical issues to do with running theprocess

40. Step 3: Measure Total Y + N % Safe REQUIREMENTS YES NO 60 5 Walkways clear III II IIIII III III Safety glasses on 11 73 Harnesses used IIIII IIIII 10 50 • Workforce take turns to act as observers in own area • Simple yes / no scorecard - safe or unsafe? • Done in seconds - as part of normal working arrangements • Repeated during course of day

41. “50% of an organisations variation in safety performance can be attributed to management commitment” - Robertson et al 1999

42. BEHAVIOURS BEHAVIOURS POINTS YES NO SCORE Conduct an observation and score using a scorecard Help keep graph up-to-date Help keep graph up-to-date Discuss scores with team R+ employee for a safe act R+ employee for a safe act TOTAL POINTS Management Behaviours • The effort required to drive change requires support and reinforcement • Managers and supervisors have a key role to play • Behaviours that support the process are pinpointed • Management involvement and commitment is visible and real

43. Start of day/shift Sub Goal Sub Goal Step 4: Feedback Sustained 100% compliance = a safe habit Baseline Intervention Compliance • Sub-goals agreed • Participative Time

44. Step 5: Reinforcement • Changing behaviour is largely a function of managing consequences Baseline Intervention • Positive reinforcementis the key to achieving ‘want to’ behaviour 100% Safe Sub goal • Sub-goals encourage effort and provide R+opportunities Sub goal

45. Step 6: Monitor & Evaluate Continuous Improvement

46. And Finally • Managing behaviour isn’t: • rocket science • common sense • sinister • It’s all about … Bringing Out The Best In People

47. Managing Behaviour Makes A Difference 19 November 2007 London Health & Safety Group A presentation by: Simon McDermott Brown, Quo Behavioural Systems www.quogroup.com