Psychological Science and Safety

Abstract

The traditional fault-finding enforcement approach toward addressing the human dynamics of injury prevention is contrasted with behavior-based safety, which is based on applied behavior analysis. Behavior-based safety is flourishing worldwide and having measurable success, because it activates interdependent engagement of employees in identifying hazardous conditions and risky behaviors and designing interventions to reduce them, and increase the frequency of safe behaviors. People-based safety, which evolved from behavior-based safety, adds cognition (or self-talk), perception, and person states to behavior-based safety and has been developed for application in health care and industrial settings. With more widespread and long-term adoption of this application of psychological science, more injuries and fatalities from vehicle collisions, medical errors, and monumental disasters like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill will be prevented.

Keywords

actively caring behavior-based safety behavioral coaching behavioral science injury prevention people-based safety work culture

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