Behavior Based Safety (BBS) has improved safety for thousands of organizations. But a BBS process that focuses too heavily or exclusively on the frontline is not an optimal solution. While this focus appears to make sense since frontline employees are the ones in-the-line-of-fire, it is really only part of the solution. Leaders also need to change their behavior in order to maximize safety.
There are some obvious behaviors that supervisors, managers and executives need to do to create and sustain excellence in safety. What leaders say about safety, how they prioritize safety both in words and actions, how quickly they deal with hazardous conditions, etc. are all straight-forward examples of leader behaviors that need to be done with quality and consistency. But there are also less obvious leader behaviors that impact safety.