Exploring the antecedents, drivers, and outcome of Behaviour-based safety: A literature review

Abstract

Organisations good at managing safety tend to manage operations well. Safety culture is a subset of organisational culture and is the observable degree of effort with which all the organisation members exert their attention and action towards safety. People neither deterministically controlled by their environments nor entirely self-determining. They are in a state of reciprocal determinism with their settings, where they and their environments influence one another. Safety leadership can positively impact an individual’s safety-related behaviour by up to 86% and reduce accidents by around 35%. Evidence directs us towards safety culture and safety leadership as prominent precursors to workers' safety behaviour (WSB). This study conducts a rigorous review of approximately 20-25 published papers from 2000 to 2019, related articles in books and articles published in the corresponding field journals. The research evidence shows that Cooper's reciprocal model of safety culture encompassing psychological, behavioural and situational factors is well supported by most studies. They offer non- existent to a weak relationship between psychological factors and strong and steady situational and behavioural factors with the safety outcomes. Organisations should concentrate 80% of their safety culture improvement efforts on situational and behavioural factors to prevent process safety and SIF’(Significant incidents and fatalities). Behavioural-based safety (BBS) process serves as a comprehensive tool in altering at-risk behaviour positively. BBS will help the practitioners design enhanced BBS intervention for a more sustainable and persistent impact on workers' safety behaviour (WSB). Further research should be undertaken to establish the empirical links of safety culture and safety leadership constructs with safe outcomes.