Behavioural Safety in the Construction Industry

Behavioural safety, also known as behaviour modification, is an increasingly popular approach that companies use to reduce the number of workplace accidents caused by human behaviour. By using evidence of behavioural science, companies hope to shape workplace safety culture and eradicate inappropriate behaviour that increases risks at work.

In Reducing Error and Influencing Behaviour, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) states that an estimated 80% of workplace injuries can be attributed, either wholly or in part, to the actions of people. Behavioural safety aims to limit the kind of employee actions or omissions that add to this statistic. With construction being the industry with the highest number of fatal injuries for 2019/20, it stands to reason that construction companies should use a combination of proven and effective approaches to reduce workplace incidents.

Key Features of Behavioural-Safety Methods

The first step to implementing your behavioural-safety strategy is in establishing what safe behaviours are and what behaviours you deem to be unsafe. This will form your assessment for how you monitor compliance and safety performance, so it should be very specific.

This kind of safety model is built around education and re-education. Complacency from workers is a huge risk to industries like construction, so it’s imperative that management nips bad habits in the bud and continues to emphasise the importance of health and safety on-site. Managers should also proactively educate workers on the hazards associated with all tasks — even jobs that are considered low-risk — and the importance of maintaining high safety standards on construction sites. This helps workers to identify hazards by having a true understanding of what is meant by risk.

As well as education, behavioural safety relies on observation from everyone involved. Management needs to emphasise that the model will only work if all workers are observing behaviours in the workplace and identifying any that are deemed unsafe. It’s crucial that management nurtures a culture of reporting that workers feel comfortable utilising without fear of retribution. Construction-site management should promote the benefits of reporting and positive outcomes for workers following behavioural-safety guidance. In doing this, workers will feel empowered to take control and contribute in this way.

Advantages of Implementing Behavioural Safety in Construction

Research shows that people’s behaviour accounts for 56% of all potentially serious injuries and fatalities. The ultimate benefit of implementing behavioural safety in construction is that it can reduce incidents of workplace injury in the industry. Behavioural-safety leadership can positively impact people’s safety behaviour by up to 86%, and it has the potential to reduce incidents by around 35%. Not only does this increase safety at work, but it will also reduce insurance premiums for construction companies and reduce the cost of absence due to workplace injury.

Another key advantage of implementing the behavioural-safety model is that it encourages workplace participation. By making both workers and management a part of the process, everyone becomes accountable. Management should recognise and reinforce positive ownership to encourage everyone on-site to identify and report unsafe behaviour.

Implementing behavioural safety can also help improve site-wide communication. As there will be more shared ownership of safety measures, workers must know how to report unsafe behaviour. This relationship between management and workers will create open communication and increased correspondence. This can help make management feel more visible and accessible to workers, especially on construction projects with huge numbers of people on-site.

Unsafe behaviours can spread through a workforce, and construction sites with large numbers of workers are no different. If unsafe behaviour goes unchecked, this can influence the rest of the workforce who begin to realise what they’re able to get away with. If existing employees cut corners, new workers learn from them and may pick up those bad habits. Similarly, implementing behavioural safety can have a positive ripple effect on workplace culture. New starters or contractors coming on-site will see the high safety standards set, the importance of accountability and, perhaps most importantly, the attitude of workers and their eagerness to contribute to the system. On seeing the level of compliance expected from staff, workers coming on-site will more naturally adhere to those same standards.

Challenges of Behavioural Safety in Construction

One criticism of behavioural safety is that it can shift responsibility from management onto more frontline workers. Construction management must continue to make great efforts in identifying and addressing safety risks. Behavioural safety is not a delegation of the responsibility, it is shared accountability between the entire workforce.

Behaviour changes don’t always happen overnight, so construction companies implementing behavioural safety should be prepared for the time and effort it takes to make positive changes. Any new health and safety measures will take a while to implement, and behavioural safety is no different. Setting achievable goals for when behavioural safety is implemented will help management see how the process is working and give insights into what to expect after a longer period.

Reliable reporting can also be a challenge with behavioural safety in construction, as workers will often underestimate the risks associated with some behaviours. The HSE study, Reducing Risk and Influencing Behaviour, notes that people within the same workplace, but with different roles, judge risks differently. It uses the example of construction workers who were asked to estimate the risk of falls for different tradesmen. Each of these groups made consistent judgements but overestimated the risks in trades other than their own by about 10%. In general, people tend to make a lower risk estimation in their jobs than in other jobs. 

As modification in behaviour can be difficult to quantify, behavioural safety can prove a challenge to enforce. It’s important for management to identify which areas need improving and what they expect from workers to achieve higher safety standards. 

Behavioural-Safety Assessment Methods

Some of the challenges of adopting a behavioural-safety approach in construction can be addressed with consistent and well-managed assessment measures. Regular observations to monitor the progress of new methods and standards will help construction companies gauge the success of implementing behavioural-safety measures.

Consider if you will use targets in your behavioural-safety approach to help offer clear goals to workers and give you a way to measure progress. Consistent feedback from all parties will help provide insight into any improvements that could be made to get the most out of behavioural safety. Consult with workers about how comfortable they feel in the process and how easily they are able to take actions alongside their regular roles. 

It’s key that, when implementing behavioural safety in construction, companies continue to check that the new approach doesn’t conflict with any existing health and safety processes. If existing health and safety practices need amending to accommodate behavioural safety, make sure workers are aware of changes in processes to avoid confusion and non-compliance on your construction site. Behavioural safety should be apparent from the top down, it’s important that management set an example. Leading by example demonstrates the standard expected of workers and reinforces the importance of behavioural safety. 

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