Construction Health and Safety Management By Dr Simon Smith – licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution – Non- Commercial – Share Alike License

Construction Health & Safety Management Simon Smith (University of Edinburgh) & Philip Matyear (Balfour Beatty) Part 3: Turning Concern into Action - behavioural and cultural approaches to safety

TWO APPROACHES TO SAFETY (Macho and World Class) THE ROLE OF CULTURE

VALUES: Earning money, getting the job done, appearing the all action hero BELIEFS: risk is unavoidable, risk is desirable, “real men and women” aren’t afraid of this ATTITUDE: contempt for safety, rules are there to cover backsides BEHAVIOUR: improvise, break the rules, get the job done at any cost APPROACHES - MACHO

VALUES: people should not have to suffer the pain of accidents or health damage BELIEFS: my accident is my fault, all accidents are preventable ATTITUDE: passion for safety, intolerance for unsafe acts, pride, professionalism BEHAVIOUR: assess risk before acting, proactive, look out for others APPROACHES - WORLD CLASS

HOW DO WE MAKE THE CHANGE WE WANT? LEADERSHIP Convincing Communicating

How important are the role models. Communicating with passion. The effect of enthusiasm. Effect of your true interest on the questions you ask. ROLE MODELS AND LEADERSHIP STYLE

Leadership - The messages we send

HOW DO WE MAKE THE CHANGE WE WANT? Leadership CONVINCING Communicating

What You Get As a manager you don’t get from your people what you say you want... You get... what you really, really want!

How do people find out what you really really want? People will notice: –What we ask about first. –What we are enthusiastic about. –How much conviction we have. –Where we spend our time. –How we behave.

HOW TO BE SEEN AS PERSONALLY SUPPORTIVE Become and stay interested in top quality safety. Be clear that nothing is worth being hurt for and act on this Be there when it counts Respond quickly even to “small” concerns Make your first question about safety “ Walk the talk ”

THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH

KEY FAILURES ?

THE BEHAVIOURAL APPROACH If accidents are caused by unsafe behaviour, then an approach based on: –recognition for safe behaviour –counselling for unsafe behaviour –identifying the key safe behaviours will be successful

HOW DO WE MAKE THE CHANGE WE WANT? Leadership Convincing COMMUNICATING

Relationship as the Foundation of Accomplishment ACCOMPLISHMENT RELATIONSHIP POSSIBILITY FOR FULLFILMENT OPPORTUNITY ACTION RESULTS