BBS programmes are typically driven by frontline
employees; however, supervisors and managers
play an integral role in promoting, modelling and
reinforcing the programme. Without strong safety
leaders, a BBS programme will suffer, and the
expected positive results may not be observed.
Managers and supervisors affect the work group in
many ways:
1. Their own behaviour acts as a model for
those reporting to them.
2. Their attitudes, witnessed in what they say
formally and informally, for instance in the
canteen as well as at the start of a shift in front
of senior managers, make their mark.
3. The most important effect comes from what
the supervisors really do and think, not what
they say they do and think.
4. They behave ‘on behalf of’ large groups of
employees at times where time is short or
energy reduced. For instance, if employees
are tired, their behaviour very much
depends on what the supervisor does, says
and accepts as reasonable from their group
of reportees.
Safety is not flexible, yet supervisors and managers
have to be. This is one difficulty with keeping a
stringent, consistent approach to safety: letting
someone do something unsafely even once
diminishes every other attempt to do it properly.
Leaders and managers can show flexibility in other
matters, but not safety. Remember, there are two
main requirements for employees:
• Participation and engagement on safety
issues so that all employees are informed
and can debate the issues.
• Total compliance with behaviours agreed to
most effectively reduce errors, all the time.
Leaders play a very important role in the safety
process. Leadership should not consist of auditing a
performer but rather listening to the performer and
asking questions, such as “are there any parts of
your job that you don’t see the need to do?”.
The leader’s job is to listen and learn from their
employee – one of the best ways you can build
relationships is to let somebody teach you
(Uhl, 2012).
With regard to the specific areas of BBS addressed
in the current document, the leader plays particular
important and essential parts in the process:
1. ABC model
It is the leader’s responsibility to identify and
communicate antecedents and consequences to
safe and unsafe behaviour. If a leader can
identify why an unsafe act is occurring, and what
is maintaining the unsafe behaviour, then the
leader is in a position to change conditions to
ensure that the alternative safe behaviour
results in more preferable consequences.
Additionally, a strong leader will teach his/her
employees to conduct ABC analyses so that all
employees can identify consequences to safe
and unsafe behaviour, and all can contribute
positively to behaviour change.
2. Reinforcement
When consequences have been identified, a
strong leader will assess whether reinforcement
can be implemented for the desired safe
behaviours. That is, a leader will boost social
reinforcement for safe behaviours and assess
whether or not this increases the safe behaviour.
A strong leader will listen to his/her employees
to see what they find important. For example, if
an employee is discussing how he/she came up
with a particular initiative, then a clever leader
Behaviour Based Safety Guide
Leadership influence
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